Doing and bittul complete each other

אלה הדברים אשר צוה ה' לעשות כו'.

"These are the things that Hashem commanded to do…"

The pasuk opens Parshas Vayakhel with a command "to do," yet the very next subject is Shabbos, on which we refrain from doing.

וקאי אשבת ומלאכות המשכן.

And it refers both to Shabbos and to the labors of the Mishkan.

The phrase encompasses two opposite things: building the Mishkan and resting on Shabbos.

ומקשין דמצות שבת שלא לעשות.

And they ask: but the mitzvah of Shabbos is precisely not to do!

How can "to do" apply to Shabbos, whose essence is refraining from melachah?

אבל האמת כי גמר והשלמת כל המעשה הוא ע"י ביטול המעשה לשם ה' וביטולו של דבר זה קיומו לכן יש בשבת עלייה ותיקון לכל המעשים ע"י ביטול המעשה בשבת.

But the truth is that the completion and perfection of all action comes through the bittul (nullification) of action for the sake of Hashem — and the nullification of a thing is its true fulfillment. Therefore Shabbos brings an elevation and a tikkun (rectification) to all the deeds of the week through the bittul of action on Shabbos.

Work reaches its true purpose only when it is laid down before Hashem; resting on Shabbos is not the absence of accomplishment but the crowning of all the week's labor by surrendering it to Him.

וב' אלה המצות שבת ומלאכת המשכן הם ב' הדברים במשנה.

And these two mitzvos — Shabbos and the work of the Mishkan — are the two matters [spoken of] in the Mishnah.

He links the pair to a teaching in Pirkei Avos that contains two parallel directives.

עשה רצונו כרצונך הוא ודאי נדבת המשכן שכל מלאכות הי' במשכן וע"י הנדיבות תיקנו העשי'.

"Do His will as your own will" — this is certainly the donation for the Mishkan, for all manner of labors were in the Mishkan, and through the generosity of giving they perfected the dimension of doing.

"Do His will as your own" is the active, positive avodah — pouring one's own desire into building for Hashem, as Bnei Yisrael did with their freewill gifts for the Mishkan.

דכתיב כל נדיב לבו והול"ל כל נדיב לב.

As it is written, "everyone whose heart is generous" (kol nediv libo) — when it could have said simply "everyone of generous heart" (kol nediv lev).

The extra word "his heart" is deliberate and demands explanation.

אבל הפסוק מדבר לכל פרט שיביא הנדבה בכל הנדיבות שבלבו והיינו דכתיב בכל מאודך שכל מיני אהבה ורצון שבלב האדם יתננו לשמים.

Rather, the pasuk addresses each individual, that he should bring his contribution with all the generosity that is in his heart — and this is what is written, "with all your might (me'odecha)," that a person should give to Heaven every kind of love and desire in his heart.

"With all your heart" means holding nothing back: every form of yearning and affection a person has is to be channeled toward Hashem in the act of giving.

זהב וכסף נחושת כו' כל מיני הנדיבות רצונו כרצונך כו'.

"Gold and silver and copper…" — all the varieties of generous giving: "His will as your will."

The different metals represent the different forms of desire a person devotes to Hashem when he "does His will as his own."

ומצות השבת הוא ביטול המעשים בטל רצונך מפני רצונו.

And the mitzvah of Shabbos is the nullification of deeds: "Nullify your will before His will."

Shabbos is the second directive of the Mishnah — setting aside one's own will entirely before Hashem's.

ועי' בחידושי תורה של אא"ז מו"ר ז"ל ענין שנאמר קודם החטא מצות המשכן אחר כך השבת.

And see in the Torah novellae of my grandfather, my teacher and master, of blessed memory, the matter that before the cheit (the sin of the Golden Calf) the command of the Mishkan was stated first, and afterward Shabbos,

He cites the Chiddushei HaRim on the order of these commands: in Parshas Terumah/Ki Sisa (before the sin) the Mishkan comes first, then Shabbos.

ואחר החטא שבת קודם המשכן.

but after the sin, Shabbos comes before the Mishkan.

In Parshas Vayakhel (after the sin) the order is reversed — Shabbos is mentioned before the Mishkan.

ופי' שכשהיו בנ"י במדרגה טובה היו ימי המעשה הכנה לשבת.

And he explained that when Bnei Yisrael were on a high level, the weekdays of action served as a preparation for Shabbos.

On a lofty madreigah, the active avodah of the week naturally builds toward the rest of Shabbos — so doing comes first.

ואחר החטא צריכין למשוך כח מקדושת שבת לתקן המעשה בחול כו'.

But after the sin, one must draw strength from the kedushah of Shabbos in order to rectify the deeds of the weekday.

Once weakened by sin, we must reverse the flow: first absorb the holiness of Shabbos and then use it to repair our weekday labor — so Shabbos comes first.

וכמו כן יתפרש עפ"י דברינו הנ"ל כי במשנה איתא עשה רצונך קודם בטל שכן צריך להיות החול מכין לשבת.

And likewise it can be explained according to our words above, that in the Mishnah "Do [His will as] your will" comes before "Nullify [your will]," for so it should be that the weekday prepares for Shabbos.

The ideal order in Avos — active devotion first, then self-nullification — mirrors the ideal where weekday "doing" leads into Shabbos "resting."

אבל מי שאינו במדריגה זו מ"מ ע"י ביטול הרצון יכול אח"כ לבוא לעשות רצונו ית' באהבה ובהסכמת רצון הנפש.

But one who is not on that level can nevertheless, through the bittul of his will, afterward come to fulfill His blessed will with love and with the full assent of the soul's desire.

For one who has fallen, the path begins with self-nullification (Shabbos first); that surrender then enables him to return to active, loving service of Hashem.

ובמשנה באחד באדר משמיעין על השקלים ועל הכלאים.

And the Mishnah teaches: on the first of Adar we announce concerning the shekalim and concerning the kilayim (forbidden mixtures).

He now applies the same two-sided pattern to the proclamations of Rosh Chodesh Adar.

הם ג"כ ב' ענינים הנ"ל.

These too are the two matters mentioned above.

Shekalim and kilayim correspond to the active giving and the self-restraint respectively.

כי השקלים הם נדבות המשכן עשה רצונו כו' וכלאים הוא מניעה וביטול הרצון להיות האדם כמו בבית אסורים שנאסר ידיו ורגליו מלעשות נגד רצון הבורא ית'.

For the shekalim are like the donations of the Mishkan — "Do His will [as your own]" — while kilayim is a holding-back and a nullification of the will, that a person should be as one in a prison-house, his hands and feet bound from doing anything against the will of the Creator.

The shekel is positive devotion; the prohibition of kilayim is the restraining side — binding oneself, like a willing prisoner, from any act contrary to Hashem's ratzon.

וחז"ל הקדימו קודם ניסן אלה הפרשיות שקלים זכור פרה.

And Chazal placed before Nissan these special parshiyos: Shekalim, Zachor, Parah.

The three readings precede Nissan as preparation for accepting the kingship of Heaven.

כי ניסן הוא קבלת מלכות שמים וצריך להיות בכל לבבך נפשך מאודך.

For Nissan is the acceptance of malchus Shomayim (the kingship of Heaven), and it must be "with all your heart, your soul, and your might."

Entering Nissan means crowning Hashem as King, which requires the threefold devotion of the Shema — heart, soul, and might.

ומאודך הוא שקלים לבבך זכור כי זכירה בלב.

"Your might" corresponds to Shekalim; "your heart" to Zachor, for remembrance is in the heart;

He aligns the three readings with the three phrases of the Shema: "might" (resources/money) with Shekalim, "heart" with Zachor (since remembering is a function of the heart).

נפשך פרה טהרת הנפש:

"Your soul" corresponds to Parah, the purification of the soul.

The ashes of the Parah purify, matching "with all your soul" — completing the threefold preparation for accepting Hashem's kingship in Nissan.

Summary: The single command "to do" embraces both the Mishkan and Shabbos because the completion of all action is its bittul before Hashem. These two poles — active giving ("do His will as your own") and self-nullification ("nullify your will before His") — appear in Pirkei Avos, in the order of Mishkan and Shabbos before and after the cheit, in the Adar proclamations of shekalim and kilayim, and finally in the three pre-Nissan parshiyos, which correspond to loving Hashem with all one's might, heart, and soul.