Our Torah selection this week, the first half of the double portion of Vayakhel-Pekudei, opens with the command to work six days and for the seventh day to be a solemn day of holy rest - the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is a major foundation-stone of Judaism, which majestically appears as the crown of G-d's creation (Genesis 2: 1-3), and proudly stands as the fourth of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8). And then, after the two Biblical portions of Terumah and Tetzaveh delineated the exquisite Sanctuary furnishings and the richly 
The Sabbath is a major foundation-stone of Judaism.
symbolic priestly vestments to be worn for the Sanctuary offerings, the Sabbath comes once again as a kind of warning: "But my Sabbaths shall you observe because it is a sign between Me and between you for your generations that I am the Lord who makes you holy." (Exodus 31:13,14) From here it would seem that the Sabbath day indelibly unites Israel with G-d in a special bond.
However, within this context the Sabbath seems to be an introduction to the tragic drama of the Golden Calf transgression. In this week's portions, the Sabbath appears as a kind of conclusion to the Golden Calf episode, at the same time that it is an introduction to the resumption of the detailed performance of the actual Sanctuary construction: "Six days shall you do your creative activity and the seventh day shall be for you holy, a Sabbath of Sabbaths unto the Lord; anyone who does creative activity on it shall die. You shall not burn a fire in all of your habitations upon the Sabbath." (Exodus 35:2,3) Why so many repetitions, and is there a connection between the Sabbath, the Sanctuary and the Golden Calf?
Before attempting to interpret these passages, I must first address the apparent age of the universe. Despite Jewish calendrical calculation that we are in the 5,769th year since the creation of the world, modern science (as a result of carbon dating applied to various fossils that have been dug from previous ages and earlier civilizations) maintains that the world is billions, if not trillions, of years old.
For some religiously inclined people the scientific numbers must be rejected, but for me, carbon dating never posed a serious theological problem. Since the Bible records that the creation of the sun and the moon, the source for our 24-hour day, did not take place until the fourth day, it means that the Hebrew yom ("day"), when used in the Bible for the days of creation, could not possibly refer to a twenty-four hour day. Indeed, the Midrash refers to the primordial days of creation as being G-d's days, and for G-d "one thousand years in your eyes are as the day of yesterday," as the Psalmist records. Thus, expanding the age of the universe does not contradict the claims of the Torah.
But if that's the case, then why does the Bible record the creation story as having taken place in one week? Why not picture six or seven indeterminate epochs for the creation of the various aspects of life on Earth?
I believe the answer lies in the most vital commandment in the Bible, the central injunction, "And you shall walk in His ways." Following the sin of the Golden Calf, part-and-parcel of our atonement and forgiveness is the revelation of the Divine attributes, with the critical command of our sages, "Just as G-d loves unconditionally, so must you; just as G-d is long-suffering and patient, so must you be." Indeed, we must walk in G-d's ways.
Most importantly, every one of our human, calendrical weeks must repeat the very cycle of the Divine primordial week: just as G-d was engaged in creative activity for six 'days' and rested on the seventh, so must we be engaged in creative activity for six days and rest on the seventh. In effect, our very first commandment is to be creative; just as G-d stood at the brink of black, inchoate abyss and declared "Let there be light," so must we go into dark corners and bring illumination.
Now, what does it mean that G-d rested from creation on the seventh day?
I'd like to suggest that the verse implies that G-d created an incomplete and imperfect world, a world with darkness as well as light, with chaos as well as order, with evil as well as good (Isaiah 45:7) - a world which "G-d created for the human being to do," for the human being to complete and perfect. This is the meaning of the Divine command to Moses and Israel, "Make for me a Sanctuary so that I may dwell in their midst." In effect, G-d is saying, 'I made for you a world, albeit an imperfect one, and I want you to return the compliment, to recreate a world for Me, a world in which I will feel comfortable to reside.'
G-d rested from creation in order to leave room for the human being to create. But herein lies an inherent danger: if the human being has the freedom and the power to create, it follows necessarily that he also has the ability to destroy should he make the wrong choices. Wisely, the Shabbat captures a taste of a perfect world; of the elusive goal of the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life, the experience of familial peace, communal harmony and Divine love.
Hence, immediately after the initial command to construct the Sanctuary and its accoutrements comes the 
Remember to create and recreate, not to destroy.
warning: "But My Sabbaths shall you observe"; remember to create and recreate, not to destroy. Place in front of your eyes the dream of Shabbat, the vision of the era which is entirely Sabbath, the Messianic era which is the sanctity of time and relationship. The Sanctuary must be the means to a world in which G-d resides within each individual's heart, mind and soul; the Sanctuary dare not become a physical object which itself is worshipped and idealized.
Tragically, the nation failed and worshipped the Golden Calf; they lost sight of the Sabbath goal and destiny. And so, immediately after reading of the perversion and idolatry, we again receive the command of the Sabbath, but this time before the Sanctuary is concluded and actually erected. The purpose of a magnificent Sanctuary is to inspire the nation to rendezvous with G-d. The Sabbath is our dance with the Divine, to the music of the Song of Songs. The Sabbath and G-d's rest expresses at one and the same time the period of perfect peace, as well as our human role of co-creators without which the goal of Sabbath - Eden - can never be realized. After all, the G-d of love has decided, when He rested on the Sabbath from creation, that He will never dance alone.