Before the Torah returns to describing the work of building the Tabernacle, it first reminds us of the six days of labor and the commandment of Shabbat. The Torah says: Moses gathered the entire community of Israel and told them: “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do. Six days work shall be done, but the seventh day shall be holy to you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord." Whoever performs work on that day shall be liable, and the Torah even adds the specific prohibition: “You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath."
This introduction highlights the deep importance of human labor. Rabbi Tarfon teaches in Avot D’Rabbi Natan that labor is so great that the Divine Presence did not dwell among Israel until they themselves performed work, as it is written: “They shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them." Likewise, the Rambam explains that the Torah repeatedly emphasizes labor to show that God values human effort and wishes to reward those who engage in it.
Labor is not merely practical - it reflects humanity’s role in completing creation. The Torah tells us that God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden “to work it and to guard it." According to the Maharal, the world was created intentionally incomplete so that human beings could perfect it through their actions. Human life is defined by the ability to act, to create, and to bring new potential into reality. The more a person produces and contributes, the more they fulfill their nature as a creative being. Moreover, work protects a person from moral decline; idleness often leads to sin.
The Sages even state in the Talmud that one who benefits from the work of his own hands is greater than one who merely fears Heaven. Therefore, Torah study should ideally be combined with derekh eretz - productive work - so that the two together elevate a person.
The Rambam strongly emphasizes this idea. In Hilchot Talmud Torah, he writes that many great sages worked in simple professions - cutting wood, drawing water, or performing other trades - and did not rely on public charity. He goes so far as to say that someone who intends to live off charity while studying Torah profanes God’s name and diminishes the honor of Torah.
Similarly, in Hilchot Matnot Aniyim, the Rambam teaches that a person should always strive to avoid dependence on others. Even a respected scholar who becomes poor should take up a trade - even a humble one - rather than rely on charity.
All this shows the immense value that Judaism places on labor during the six working days of the week. Yet above this stands the holiness of Shabbat. On the seventh day, even the sacred work of building the Tabernacle - whose purpose was to bring the Divine Presence into Israel - is suspended. Shabbat takes precedence because it serves as a sign between God and Israel, reminding us both of the creation of the world and of the Exodus from Egypt.
From this juxtaposition, the Sages derived the thirty-nine categories of forbidden labor on Shabbat, all based on the types of work required to build the Tabernacle. Yet even within these prohibitions, we see the Torah’s sensitivity to the value of labor. Only a full, direct act of work performed in its normal manner is biblically prohibited. If two people perform a task together that one person could have done alone, they are generally exempt. Similarly, indirect or unusual forms of work are not biblically forbidden.
When Shabbat arrives, it brings not only physical rest but also spiritual renewal. The Midrash teaches that this Torah portion is unique in beginning with the word “Vayakhel" - “and he gathered." From here, the Sages learned that communities should gather on Shabbat to study Torah and the laws of Shabbat together.
Thus, we see a hierarchy of values within Jewish law. Labor is important, but Shabbat is holier - even when the work is for a mitzvah such as building the Tabernacle. Yet there are commandments that take precedence even over Shabbat.
One example is circumcision. The Torah commands that a boy be circumcised on the eighth day, and the Sages explain that this applies even if the eighth day falls on Shabbat. Both Shabbat and circumcision are described as “signs" of the covenant between God and Israel, but circumcision represents a permanent covenant inscribed upon the human body itself. The Maharal explains that the eighth day symbolizes a level beyond nature, while the seventh day - the day of Shabbat - represents the natural order created in seven days. Therefore, circumcision can override Shabbat.
Another commandment that overrides Shabbat is the daily Temple offering. The Torah commands that the communal sacrifices be brought at their appointed times. Because these offerings represent the service of the entire nation, they are brought even on Shabbat.
From all this, we can identify four levels of holiness:
Place - the sanctity of the Tabernacle.
Time - the sanctity of Shabbat.
Person - the sanctity expressed through circumcision.
Nation - the sanctity of the Temple service performed on behalf of all Israel.
Yet above all of these stands the sanctity of life. The principle of pikuach nefesh - saving a life - overrides Shabbat and nearly every other commandment in the Torah. The Sages derived this from the verse “You shall live by them," meaning that the commandments are given so that people may live, not die, by them. Therefore, whenever there is even a doubt of danger to life, Shabbat must be set aside in order to save the person.
For this reason, the Rambam rules that a doctor must treat a life-threatening illness on Shabbat without hesitation. Even if one physician says treatment is necessary and another disagrees, we follow the opinion that preserves life.
The same principle applies to circumcision itself. If a baby is ill and circumcision would endanger him, the procedure must be postponed, because preserving life takes precedence over all.
These cases do not represent a conflict within the Torah but rather a structured hierarchy of values. Sometimes a positive commandment overrides a prohibition; sometimes a higher value overrides a lower one. Shabbat overrides ordinary labor. Circumcision and the communal sacrifices override Shabbat. And the preservation of human life overrides them all.
The Sages also debated whether Shabbat is merely “overridden" in cases of danger to life or whether it becomes entirely permitted in such cases. The Rambam holds that Shabbat is overridden - meaning its sanctity remains, even though it must yield to life-saving needs. The Rema, Rabbi Moses Isserles, suggested that Shabbat become permitted in such situations, though he still recommends minimizing desecration when possible.
Despite these differences, all authorities agree on the central principle: when life is at stake, saving life comes first.
Ultimately, the Torah’s commandments form not a set of contradictions but a moral structure guiding us to fulfill God’s will. We strive to keep the commandments faithfully, yet when conflicts arise, the Torah itself teaches us how to determine which value must prevail.
Through this hierarchy, we learn that while sacred places, sacred times, and sacred rituals are all essential, the preservation of human life is the highest expression of the Torah’s purpose.
Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the Beit Yosef, rules that when Shabbat must be desecrated in order to save a life, the act should not be delegated to a non-Jew, nor to minors or women, but rather carried out by responsible adult Jews. As he writes in Orach Chaim 328:12, the mitzvah of saving life should be performed openly and decisively, by those capable of acting with knowledge and authority.
The Rashba offers a helpful analogy from the laws of the Temple service. When the majority of the people are ritually impure, the communal offerings may still be brought in impurity. Nevertheless, if pure priests are available, it is preferable that they perform the service. The service is therefore not entirely permitted but rather “overridden" - the sanctity of the Temple remains, even while another value temporarily takes precedence. In the same way, when Shabbat is set aside for the sake of saving a life, the sanctity of Shabbat remains intact, even as the sanctity of life overrides it in an emergency.
By contrast, those authorities who maintain that Temple service in impurity is fully permitted when most of the people are impure see no need to search specifically for pure priests. A similar logic may apply to actions taken on Shabbat for the sake of pikuach nefesh. From a conceptual standpoint, Shabbat represents the sanctity of time, while pikuach nefesh represents the sanctity of life. When life is endangered, the sanctity of life calls upon us to act, even within the framework of sacred time. In this understanding, there is no true conflict between the value of Shabbat and the value of preserving life.
A similar principle applies to circumcision on Shabbat. As long as a Jew has not been circumcised, the covenant remains incomplete. The straightforward explanation is that circumcision overrides Shabbat not because of pikuach nefesh, but because the Torah explicitly commands: “On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised." The obligation of the eighth day is fixed and therefore takes precedence even when it falls on Shabbat. Yet conceptually, the covenant of circumcision - marking the completeness of the human being within the covenant with God - bears a resemblance to the way pikuach nefesh overrides Shabbat. Just as life itself takes precedence, so too the completion of the covenant within the person cannot be delayed when its appointed time arrives.
In our own generation, these principles also illuminate the reality faced by the State of Israel. The nation is engaged in defending itself and confronting forces of evil that threaten its existence. The struggle to protect the lives of its citizens and the future of the Jewish people is not a desecration of Shabbat but rather an expression of the Torah’s deepest values. When actions are taken to defend life and protect the nation, even on Shabbat, they are carried out under the principle that the preservation of life overrides the ordinary prohibitions of the day.
Thus, the sanctity of Shabbat remains, yet it is harmonized with the sanctity of the Land of Israel, with the sanctity of the people who dwell within it, and with the responsibility to safeguard the life of the nation. Those who stand in defense of Israel act not in contradiction to the holiness of Shabbat, but in fulfillment of the Torah’s command to preserve life and protect the community.
May the hands of all those who defend the people of Israel be strengthened. Their actions, undertaken with self-sacrifice and dedication, are permitted because they serve the sanctity of life and the protection of the entire nation. In this way, the sanctity of life reveals the deeper meaning of Shabbat itself. The holiness of sacred time - the Shabbat that marks the rhythm of creation and the renewal of the months - grants Israel the privilege and responsibility of sanctifying time through righteous action.
Atty. Rabbi Shalom Wasserteil is the CEO of the real estate company Tzifha International