Motzai Shabbos: Vi’yehi Noam – Moshe’s Blessing

וִיהִי נֹעַם ה' אֱלֹקֵינוּ עָלֵינוּ וּמַעֲשֵׂה יָדֵינוּ כּוֹנְנָה עָלֵינוּ

May the pleasantness of Hashem, our God, be upon us, and may He establish our handiwork for us.

The parshiyos of Vayakhel and Pekudei are devoted to detailing the construction of the Mishkan. The verse relates that when the people had finished manufacturing the Mishkan and its vessels, they brought it to Moshe and he blessed the people.[1] Rashi, citing the midrash, informs us as to the content of that blessing:

He said to them, ‘May the Divine Presence rest on the work of your hands. May the pleasantness of Hashem, our God, be upon us etc.'

In our experience, it is with these words, recited immediately after Shemoneh Esrei on Motzai Shabbos, that we usher in the new week. What is their message for us as we embark upon the following six days?

Moshe’s blessing to the people was not just that the Divine Presence should rest in this Mishkan which the people had constructed. Rather, the blessing was that with the Mishkan residing in the center of the camp, everything the people did would be inspired and elevated accordingly so that the Divine Presence would rest on the work of their hands in all that they would do.

Our intent in saying these words is similar to that of Moshe, for Shabbos is to the week what the Mishkan was to the camp – it is a sanctuary within time. Thus, as we take leave of Shabbos and prepare to engage the week ahead, we voice our hope that, like the Mishkan, the sanctity which we encountered and absorbed over Shabbos should spill out into the week and that the pleasantness of the Divine Presence should be upon us – in all that we do.[2]

Shabbat Shalom and Besoros Tovos for all of Am Yisrael.

[1] Shemos 39:33.

[2] R’ Chaim Friedlander, Sifsei Chaim.