Exodus · Chapter 35

And Moses assembled the entire congregation of the children of Israel and said to them: These are the words that Hashem has commanded to do them.

ויקהל משה AND MOSES ASSEMBLED [ALL THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL] — on the morrow after the Day of Atonement when he came down from the mountain. It (the word ויקהל) is used in the verbal form that expresses the idea of causing a thing to be done, because one does not actually assemble people with one’s hands, but they are assembled by his command. The Targum therefore should be ואכניש (not וכנש as some editions have).

AND MOSES ASSEMBLED ALL THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. The expression all the congregation of the children of Israel includes the men and women, for all donated to the work of the Tabernacle. Thus Moses, after having commanded Aaron, and the rulers and all the children of Israel — the men — all that the Eternal had spoken with him in Mount Sinai, following the breaking of the Tablets, and after he had put the veil on his face [as all this is narrated in the preceding section], again commanded that the people be assembled, whereupon the whole congregation gathered to him — men, women, and children. It is possible that this occurred on the day following his descent from the mountain, and he told all of them the subject of the Tabernacle which he had been previously commanded, before the breaking of the Tablets. For since the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled with them and gave Moses the second Tablets, and also made a new covenant that G-d would go in their midst, He thereby returned to His previous relationship with them, and to the love of their “wedding,” and it was obvious that His Presence would be in their midst just as He had commanded him at first, even as He said, And let them make Me a Sanctuary, that I may dwell amongst them. Therefore Moses now commanded them all that he had been told at first. THESE ARE THE THINGS WHICH THE ETERNAL HATH COMMANDED, THAT YE SHOULD DO THEM. 2. SIX DAYS SHALL WORK BE DONE. The expression, these are the things which the Eternal hath commanded refers to the construction of the Tabernacle, all its vessels and all its various works. He preceded [the explanation of the construction of the Tabernacle] with the law of the Sabbath, meaning to say that the work of these things should be done during the six days, but not on the seventh day which is holy to G-d. It is from here that we learn the principle that the work of the Tabernacle does not set aside the Sabbath, and not from the interpretation of the word ach (but — ‘but’ you shall keep My Sabbaths), as I have explained in the section of Ki Thisa.

"Blessed is God Most High, who in His strength led His people; by the hand of His messenger He radiated like the light of the sun; He commanded him on the mountain to prepare for Him a Tabernacle for His dwelling — as it is written in the portion Vayakhel, Vayakhel." The meaning of "Vayakhel" is that everyone should hear from his mouth the matter of the Tabernacle, so that they would donate. The meaning of "these are the things" is the Tabernacle and its vessels — to make them; therefore it is written "to make them." The sense is: Hashem commanded me that you shall do what I tell you. He has forewarned you that, although you are obligated to do the work of Heaven, take heed not to do any work on the Sabbath. One who transgresses in the presence of witnesses is to be put to death by the court; and elsewhere it explains that this is by stoning.

ויקהל משה אלה הדברים אשר צוה, the matters I told you about earlier when I commanded you what to do during the weekdays, things G’d had told me when I was on Mount Sinai.

ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל, Moses assembled the entire Jewish community, etc. Why would the Torah mention that Moses assembled the people, something that occurred every time he was told by G'd to address the people? I suppose that seeing the people were afraid to face Moses after they had seen how his face emitted rays of light, he had to issue a call for a general assembly so that some people would not stay at home for fear of being blinded or burned by those rays. This may also be the reason that the Torah emphasised that Moses assembled "the entire Jewish community." Another reason for the word כל, all, may be similar to what I explained on Exodus 25,2 "from every man, etc." The word included orphans, minors, women, etc. Moses actually used two expressions of amplification, i.e. את כל. The reason Moses used only two amplifying statements here, namely את כל, and not a third one representing the wealthy (see page 756), is simple. There was no reason why the wealthy person would not come even if not especially invited seeing he would be happy to be part of the community. We are told in the Zohar volume 3 page 196 that Moses assembled the men separately in order to separate them from the women seeing that Satan was present and Moses wanted to forestall giving Satan a pretext to harm the Israelites during such an assembly. Since women were not normally present when Moses explained Torah legislation to the people except when they brought the donations for the building of the Holy Tabernacle, Moses did not normally have to take measures to counteract the presence of Satan, the seducer. We have proof of what the Zohar wrote in verse 22 where the arrival of the men and of the women is reported separately, i.e. ויבאו האנשים על הנשים, "the men came in addition to the women." This is only emphasised because it was not the norm for women to participate in these assemblies. The best proof that in our instance Moses assembled the men and women separately is in the word בני, the males. If the men and women had been assembled jointly, the Torah should only have written: את כל עדת ישראל, and not את כל עדת בני ישראל. אלה הדברים אשר צוה השם, These are the words which G'd has commanded, etc. We need to analyze the need for the unusual introduction: "these are the words." In Shabbat 97 Rabbi deduces from the word אלה that there are 39 basic categories of forbidden activities on the Sabbath. The numerical value of the word אלה is 36, the word דברים (pl) counts as 2, and the letter ה which is superfluous counts as 1 making a total of 39. This is obviously not the plain meaning of the verse. We also need to know why the Torah had to write the extraneous words: לעשות אותם. How can the word אותם, "them", be applied to the performance of a single commandment, i.e. the Sabbath? Perhaps we may best understand this after reading a comment in Horiot 8 concerning Numbers 15,22 where the Torah speaks about the Israelites committing the sin of idolatry, albeit inadverten...

ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל, “Moses assembled the entire congregation of the Children of Israel;” he did so as soon as he had descended from the Mountain with the second set of Tablets. אלה הדברים, “these are the words;” he wished to tell them that he had authorization to proceed with the building of the Tabernacle in which G-d would have his residence on earth. [He warned them that in spite of what appears to be a task of the highest priority, even that task must not interfere with the regular observance of the Sabbaths and the restrictions to perform creative activity on that day. The rationale of this was to teach the people that just as the Tabernacle is G-d’s, so the Sabbath is G-d’s, i.e. it is the holiest day in the universe, and that is why on occasion the Day of Atonement is called שבת שבתון, “the Sabbath in its ultimate degree.” The Torah applies that same definition to the Sabbath here. Work on the Tabernacle cannot override the sanctity of the Sabbath.]

אכל בני דבש כי טוב ונופת מתוק על חכך. כן דעה חכמה לנפשך אם מצאת ויש אחרית ותקותך לא תכרת, “My son, eat honey for it is good and the honeycomb for it is sweet on your palate. So shall knowledge of wisdom be to your soul if you have found (it); there is a future; your hopes will not be crushed.” (Proverbs 24,13-14). Solomon compared wisdom which is a spiritual delight to honey which is a physical delight. This is a method Solomon employs in most of his parables in the Book of Proverbs. His purpose is to teach man to relate his spirit, his intellect, to his nature. Seeing that man is made up of a physical part and a spiritual, disembodied part, the only way he can relate the one to the other is by the use of the parable. Comparisons between the physical and the spiritual have to be illustrated for man in order for him to comprehend their validity. We know that the phenomena in this terrestrial world are comprised of four distinct categories, beginning with the lowest, most primitive form and culminating in the most sophisticated creature. The most primitive category of physical phenomena are the ones called דומם, inert objects such as stones, etc. Such objects do not possess any degree of mobility. The next higher category are plants; they are rooted in the earth but grow both vertically and horizontally. Next in terms of sophistication are all living, mobile creatures; finally the most sophisticated physical phenomenon is man inasmuch as only he can communicate his thoughts and feelings by means of language. Man’s advantage over other mammals is not his physical mobility but his intelligence. You will find the report in the Torah of the progress of creation of the universe in Genesis describe the creation of the inert, followed by the creation of vegetation, followed by the report of the emergence of a variety of more and more sophisticated forms of life, and only at the very end does the Torah describe the creation of man, G’d’s crowning handiwork. Only of man does the Torah report that he reflected part of the Creator Himself, was created “in His image” (Genesis 1,25). The report of the phenomena in the terrestrial world coming into existence follows the opposite pattern of the report of the phenomena of a celestial (extra-terrestrial) nature. When reporting on the creation of physical phenomena the Torah begins with the lowest, i.e. the mass of dry land becoming visible on the third day (Genesis 1,9), it continues with the report of the creation of vegetable matter (Genesis 1,11), etc., etc., whereas when it comes to describing phenomena in the celestial spheres (or at least in the world of the planets, the galaxies, a world between earth and heaven), the Torah begins with the creation of “light,” followed by the creation of a רקיע, “a firmament,” etc. The luminaries sun and moon, which were placed in orbit on the fourth day are another example of celestial phenomena being created in a descending order of their sophistication or lack of physicality. Seeing that man shares common features with the essence of vegetation as well as with the essence of the mobility of the animals, he had to be equipped with an abstract intelligence in order for him to represent a higher stage of development than the stages of physical phenomena which preceded him. Even though all these facts are something we observe daily with our own eyes, Scripture nonetheless confirmed these facts. This is why we read in Job 35,11: “who gives us more knowledge than the beasts of the earth, makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?” By means of this additional intellect man proceeds to examine both his physical dimension as well as his spiritual dimension. He evaluates their respective worth. When man succeeds in making his spirituality his dominating feature he is likened to מלאך ה' צבאות, “an angel of the Lord G’d of Hosts” (Malachi 2,7), whereas when he allows his physicality to dominate him, placing his intellect into the service of his body, he is compared to the beasts as we know from Psalms 49,21 נמשל כבהמות נדמו, “he is like the beasts that perish (have no afterlife).” David is at pains to warn man not to allow this to happen when he says (Psalms 32,8) “Let me enlighten you and show you which way to go; let me offer you counsel; my eye is on you.” He warns man further not to follow his “nature,” i.e. physicality, saying in verse nine of the same psalm: “be not like a senseless horse or mule whose movement must be curbed by bit and bridle; far be it from you!”... In the course of the entire Book of Proverbs Solomon is at pains to demonstrate to us the superiority of intellect, wisdom, spirituality, etc. over the influence of man’s body.” He points out the ineffectiveness of the body demonstrating that it is lazy and inert by definition. Allowing it to dominate man would result in his having neither food, shelter nor clothing. Seeing that the acquisition of these things is necessary for man’s survival, unless he followed the dictates of his intellect he would perish as nature had not provided him with these necessities at birth. It is clear that the intellect should play a dominating role in man. The body does not know that clothing protects against cold, for instance. In order to know this one needs a brain, intelligence. It is because of such considerations that Solomon said: (Proverbs 12,27) “the lazy man does not roast his game; diligence is man’s precious possession.” The meaning of the verse is that a lazy man will not hold on to his wealth. Seeing that it is the custom of the hunter to burn the wings (feathers) of the birds to prevent them from escaping, Solomon says that that he who steals and expects to hang on to his stolen game will not get to roast it. The only wealth a person can expect to hang on to is that which was earned by diligent effort. If man were to rely on nature, he would become an opportunist or worse, a criminal. His intellect teaches him which activities are worthwhile and which even if successful in the short run will ultimately result in his being shamed. In Proverbs 20,17 Solomon elaborates further by writing “bread gained by deceit may taste sweet; but later his mouth will be filled with gravel.” Whereas “nature,” i.e. the body desires instant gratification, partying, sexual activity, etc., man’s intelligence warns him of the tenuous nature of all such joys. The reason that sexual activity is a physically gratifying experience is because G’d wants to encourage people to procreate and to ensure the continuity of the human species. [In order to show man that such joy may turn into the reverse, Solomon describes the temptress as dripping honey from her lips which eventually turns bitter as wormwood (Proverbs 5,3-4). [The author continues, illustrating his view of the parables employed by Solomon in his book of Proverbs. I have only quoted a brief selection of a long list of examples. Ed.] Solomon also addresses apparent contradictions which man could expect if he were to make Torah-principles his sole guidelines such as giving charity generously. He explains that contrary to human logic “giving” does not impoverish the giver but enriches him (Proverbs 11,24). A similar thought is voiced in Proverbs 28,27 i.e. “he who gives to the poor will not be in need.” It is important to realize that all such parables need to be based on life’s experiences, matters man experiences with one or more of his five senses. Unless the parable is something with which we are familiar it cannot hope to achieve its purpose, i.e. to convey the moral lesson it is meant to convey. The meaning of this statement is also that just as the body derives physical gratification from the consumption of honey, so the soul derives spiritual gratification from the absorption of words of wisdom. This is one of the meanings of Exodus 24,11: “they saw G’d and ate and drank.” In other words, just as eating and drinking provided physical gratification, so a vision of the divine provides man with spiritual gratification. One of the reasons Moses could spend 40 days on Mount Sinai going without bread or water, i.e. physical food, was that the divine visions he beheld during that time did more for his soul, his spiritual essence, than even the vision described as being had by the אצילי בני ישראל, ‘the nobles of Israel” in Exodus 24,11. Moses drew on this spiritual food-reservoir for practically 120 days seeing that the brief time he spent in the camp between his three sojourns on the mountain amounted to less than a full day each time. [The author had already explained the logic that if physical food which originally derived from the celestial regions can sustain our bodies on earth, then spiritual food, i.e. food at its source, not diluted by various detours before it reaches man, such as soil, trees, etc., would most certainly not do any less for the person absorbing it. In our day and age the best illustration is probably to compare that celestial, “pure” food to patients on earth who have to be fed intravenously. These patients do not suffer by their food by-passing the mouth, the stomach, and the intestines which are the body’s primary organs for food intake. Ed.] The author demonstrates that when Moses ascended the mountain on the first of Elul (the third time) this was a Monday so that his return on Yom Kippur occurred on Thursday. This is why the sages determined that courts were to sit on Mondays and Thursdays of each week. This is the allegorical meaning of the words דרשו ה' בהמצאו, “seek out the Lord when He is liable to be found” (Isaiah 55,6). The days which have proved particularly propitious are Mondays and Thursdays. The commandment to construct the Tabernacle was issued on the morrow of Yom HaKippurim, hence this is where our portion begins. ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל ויאמר אליהם אלה הדברים אשר צוה ה' לעשות אותם “Moses assembled the entire community of the Children of Israel and said to them: “these are the things that Hashem commanded.” If you take a good look at the order of these things you will find that the construction of the Tabernacle and all its appurtenances have been mentioned many times over. G’d mentioned it to Moses on two separate occasions. The first time it has been mentioned in detail occurred in Exodus 25,2 where the Torah commanded that Moses should accept a contribution from the people, listing the various materials needed for its construction. The second time this commandment is phrased more generally in Ki Tissa (31,2). The third time it is mentioned by Moses at this point in a general way when he commanded them that every wise-hearted person amongst them should get involved and not only donate materials but participate in the conversion of these materials for the construction. The fourth time the Torah reports that the instructions had been carried out (36,8). The Torah mentions the word ויעש, “he constructed” in connection with every stage of the building of the Tabernacle and its components. The fifth time the Torah mentions the Tabernacle and all its components is in Exodus 39,33-42 where separate mention is made of all the components handed over to Moses after they had been completed. The reason the Torah troubles itself to mention all this on five separate occasions is to demonstrate how beloved the Tabernacle and its construction was to G‘d. In Numbers 8,19 where the name בני ישראל occurs five times in the same verse in which the Torah warns that the Israelites must avoid becoming victims of G’d’s retribution, the reason for using the name בני ישראל five times in a row when pronouns would have sufficed is also in order to demonstrate how beloved the people were in the eyes of G’d at that time. Our sages (Vayikra Rabbah 2,5) comment by illustrating the matter with a parable. A father who had an only son of whom he was extremely fond sent him off to school. When the son would come back, the father would ask him: “did you eat my son, did you drink my son, do you want to go to sleep my son?” We find a similar demonstration of how G’d reports matters which He liked when looking at the conversations conducted by Eliezer, servant of Avraham when he went to secure a wife for Yitzchak. Eliezer’s words are repeated by the Torah in great detail (Genesis, chapter 24). This prompted the sages in Bereshit Rabbah 60,8 to say that the mundane conversations of an Eliezer were more pleasing to G‘d than even the Torah-inspired discourses of later Torah scholars.” The truth of this is best illustrated when we reflect on the fact that the Torah devoted only a single word, or even letter, in order to inform us of some of its commandments. This is so in spite of the fact that the principal function of the Torah is to teach us the commandments. A Midrashic approach to the verses ויקהל משה: The commandment for Moses to assemble all the people at this point was to compensate for the time Aaron had assembled all the people at the time of the golden calf. This new assembly was to atone for the previous assembly which had such tragic results. Similarly, the words Moses spoke at this time were intended to diffuse the impression Aaron’s words had left behind when he addressed the people at that ill-fated assembly (32,1). The wording אלה הדברים, “these are the words,” were meant to counteract the words אלה אלוהיך ישראל, “these are your gods O Israel,” spoken at the time when Aaron assembled the people. The gold donated for the construction of the Tabernacle was to atone for the gold donated for making the golden calf. אלה הדברים אשר צוה ה' לעשות אותם, “these are the things G’d commanded to do them.” These words are followed by the instruction to work during six days. This teaches that construction work of the Tabernacle was not to override the work prohibitions of the Sabbath and should be carried on only on the six weekdays (Mechilta Vayakhel 1). The reason that the Torah writes the verb תעשה in the passive form, i.e. te-asseh instead of ta-asseh, is to teach the Jews that if they observe the laws of the Torah faithfully, the work to be performed on the six days of the week will be performed for them by Gentiles. If, however, the Israelites would not observe the commandments of the Torah, not only will they have to perform their own menial tasks but they will also have to perform menial tasks for others (Mechilta Ki Tissa 1).

And Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, etc. Rashi explains [this happened] on the day after Yom Kippur, etc. And in the portion of Jethro it is written (Exodus 18:13), And it came to pass on the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and Rashi explains there that this was the day after Yom Kippur. It seems to me that it is known that this assembly was to inform them about the commandment of the Tabernacle and the donations, as will be explained shortly. Moses was concerned lest one of them donate something to the Tabernacle that was not his own, thinking that he rightfully possessed it. This would be inappropriate for building this great and holy house from theft, [as it is written] in the place of justice, there is wickedness. Therefore, Moses first announced: “Whoever has a legal matter, let him approach me for judgment,” so that all the people would come to their place in peace, and each one would know what is his and what is not his through his judging between them. Then he would inform them about the matter of the donation, saying, “Take from yourselves a contribution to the Lord.” “From yourselves” means from what is yours and not from what belongs to your fellow, otherwise the phrase “from yourselves” would be superfluous. Although undoubtedly he could not judge all the people in one day, and even on that day he was not judging the entire day, for although it is said (Exodus 18:13) from morning until evening, this is as Rashi explains: anyone who judges a case with true justice is credited by Scripture as if he became a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the work of Creation, as it is said (Genesis 1:5), And there was evening and there was morning. Otherwise, when would he have informed them about the making of the Tabernacle? Nevertheless, the donation was also not completed in one day, and perhaps he informed them that anything over which two people had a dispute should not be donated until the judgment was first clarified as to whom it belonged. And by way of allusion, we may say that this gathering was to mediate peace among them, for a person cannot dwell with a snake in one basket. And after he wanted to inform them about the construction of the Tabernacle, in which they would all be partners, it was as if he seated them all in one dwelling. Therefore, he needed to gather them first so that they would be united as one group. That is why Rashi explained that this occurred on the day after Yom Kippur, because all their encampments were filled with disputes and complaints, except for the encampment before the giving of the Torah, as it is said: And Israel encamped there (Exodus 19:2), etc. So how could he gather them at a time when they were divided, their opinions differed, and the time was not appropriate? For this reason, Moses found it suitable to gather them as he wished on the day after Yom Kippur, because on Yom Kippur peace is mediated between them, and on that very day they are all united as one group. Therefore, it was easy to gather them the following day while yesterday’s peace still existed. But if a day or two had passed, peace would not have been maintained, for the bond would have already been broken, and each person would have turned to his own way. And in order that their monetary disputes between individuals not interfere with the peace of Yom Kippur [since Yom Kippur peace does not address these matters], Moses also sat to judge on that very day so that there would be peace among them in every respect. Then they would be worthy to dwell in one abode, namely the shared Tabernacle. And after they were united through the Tabernacle that bound them together, from then on we find many instances where Moses gathered them, even though it was not the day after Yom Kippur. This is especially true according to what is written in the Akeidah as a play on words of the verse You shall not kindle fire, etc. — that they should not ignite the fire of discord on the Sabbath when they are idle from work, and there is greater concern then for the fire of discord to ignite amidst idle talk. If so, he appropriately said Vayakhel [and he gathered] — that he gathered them to be as one group through the commandment you shall not kindle fire, for through his word they were assembled. “These are the things [devarim] which the Lord commanded to do them.” The word devarim [things] implies two things, but at that time He only told them about the commandment of Shabbat. For one cannot say that devarim also refers to the Tabernacle which He mentioned afterwards, because it says [later in verse 4] This is the thing [davar] which the Lord commanded. Thus, regarding “this thing” He was referring to the Tabernacle. So how do I explain these are the things? Furthermore, it is difficult that it says Six days work shall be done [te’aseh], it should have said “you shall do [ta’aseh]” because te’aseh implies that the work will be done by itself. Additionally, this entire verse seems superfluous. And regarding what is written in the Ten Commandments Six days shall you labor, we have already explained this in the portion of Yitro, see there. But this verse does not bear that interpretation. Therefore I say that it mentioned [the word] “things” [devarim], because the main essence of this commandment was to command about the work of the Tabernacle, that they should engage in it all six days of work, but on the seventh day they should not engage in it, because the Tabernacle does not override Shabbat. And there were two things [matters] here: one, to command about the making of the Tabernacle; the second, that they should not engage in it on Shabbat. And what is stated work shall be done is because the main essence of this commandment was about bringing the donations, for this too is called work as our Sages learned (Shabbat 96b) from the verse Let no man or woman make any more work and it is written and the people were restrained from bringing. If so, bringing donations from one domain to another is called work. And regarding that work, it says shall be done [passive form], because it could not say “you shall do work” as a command, since something given as a donation is not a command or obligation, but rather every person whose heart moves him will give of his own accord. Therefore it says work shall be done — meaning it happens by itself. And on the seventh day, a Sabbath to the Lord, it is forbidden to even bring donations from one domain to another. And according to the Midrash of our Sages which says that the Tabernacle was partially made by itself (see Shemot Rabbah 52:4), like the Menorah that was made by itself, and also the setting up of the Tabernacle was by itself, as it is said the Tabernacle was set up (Exodus 40:17) — therefore it says work shall be done, implying that it happens by itself.

ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל, “Moses assembled the entire community of the Children of Israel. The comprehensive term עדה includes both men and women. Seeing that both the men and the women had contributed of their belongings for the work on the Tabernacle they were all entitled to be addressed here directly. The assembly mentioned here, occurred on the day after Moses had returned from his last trip to the Mountain on Yom Kippur and had informed the people that the instructions to build a Sanctuary for G’d were living proof that they were back in G’ds favour. While it is true that Moses himself had already received such instructions on his first ascent to the Mountain, to wit chapter 25,8 ועשו לי מקדש, seeing that the sin of the golden calf had intervened, and G’d’s manifest Presence had withdrawn in the interval, these instructions now had to be renewed. אלה הדברים וגו', “these are the things, etc.” Some commentators feel that the words אלה הדברים focus on the Sabbath legislation which follows immediately. The reason the Torah used the plural mode אלה instead of זה הדבר, is to make the point that the Sabbath and all it entails is a commandment that is considered as weighty as the remainder of the laws of the Torah. [Deliberate violation of the Sabbath makes one a heretic, even if one conscientiously observes all the other commandments. Ed.] Alternatively, the fact that the Sabbath legislation includes the prohibition of 39 categories of activities known collectively as אבות מלאכות, makes the plural mode אלה perfectly appropriate. Nachmanides writes that the words אלה הדברים refer to the instructions relating to the building of the Tabernacle, and its various components. The reason why the Torah mentioned the sanctity of the Sabbath before proceeding with the details of the Tabernacle, was to stress that the work for the Tabernacle was not to override the laws of resting on the Sabbath.

ויקהל, he assembled the people in order to collect the half shekel from all those who were of age. He also warned the people concerning the building of the Tabernacle.

Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day it shall be holy for you — a Sabbath of complete rest before Hashem. Whoever does work on it shall be put to death.

ששת ימים SIX DAYS [MAY WORK BE DONE] — He intentionally mentioned to them the prohibition in reference to the Sabbath before the command about the building of the Tabernacle in order to intimate that it does not set aside (supersede) the Sabbath (cf. Mekhilta).

וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קדש, and you may not violate the Sabbath even in order to complete the Tabernacle sooner, although the work on the Tabernacle is also a sacred task.

ששת ימים תעשה מלאכה, "during six days work shall be performed, etc." The reason the Torah emphasises the work to be performed on the weekdays may simply be a hint that if one observes the seventh day as a holy day, the work required for our maintaining ourselves during the subsequent six days will take care of itself. The Torah may also wish to remind us that performance of work on the Sabbath is prohibited regardless of whether it is performed by a Jew or by a Gentile on his behalf. The vocalisation of the word te-asseh (passive form), is intended to convey that whereas it is permissible for a Jew to have his work performed by Gentiles during the week, on the Sabbath it must not be performed at all. This would correspond to the opinion expressed in the Talmud that if one tells a Gentile to perform work for one on the Sabbbath, one violates a biblical prohibition (Mechilta Parshat Bo). The reason the Torah writes ששת instead of בששת, is to remind us that work performance during the six days of the week is a מצוה, a positive commandment. There is also a lesson here that the success of the work performed during the six days of the week depends on the observance of the seventh day as a holy day. The reason is that the Sabbath is the soul of the world as we explained in our introduction to Genesis on Genesis 2,2.

ששת ימים, “during six days, etc;” the Torah repeats itself so as to make clear that this rule applies also to the work on the Tabernacle.

וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קודש שבת שבתון, “and the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest.” In this passage Moses does not warn the people that they are to observe the Sabbath, i.e. ושמרתם את השבת “you shall observe the Sabbath” (Exodus 31,14 or 31,13). It appears therefore that we derive from here that the mystical dimension of the Sabbath is not to be revealed to the masses. When the Torah used the expression ושמרתם את השבת instead of ושמרתם את יום השבת, this is an indication that in chapter 31 the Torah addressed itself to the philosophical and hidden meanings of the Sabbath. Seeing that in our paragraph Moses spoke to all the people, including women and children, this was not the time and place to reveal hidden meanings of the Sabbath. In 31,13, on the other hand, G’d had instructed Moses with the words דבר אל בני ישראל, “speak to the Children of Israel,” implying that he should reveal to them both the obvious as well as the hidden meanings of the Sabbath legislation. The manner in which the Torah phrases what went on here is a hint to us not to reveal hidden meanings of the Torah to people who are not on the spiritual level enabling them to appreciate such meanings. There is another proof for what we just said from the Talmud in Megillah 3. The Talmud says that when Onkelos was engaged in translating the Torah, a heavenly voice was heard to exclaim: “who is this who reveals the hidden dimensions of the Torah?” If restrictions are in place when one merely translates the written text of the Torah, how much more so must one be careful not to reveal the mystical dimensions of the Torah which have not been spelled out for all to see in the text to people not on the appropriate spiritual level? Anyone who becomes guilty of violating this principle is known as a מגלה סתרים, someone revealing mysteries. Only slanderers do something like that (Proverbs 11,13). כל העושה בו מלאכה יומת, “anyone performing (forbidden) work on it will be executed.” This line is immediately followed by the prohibition of lighting a fire on the Sabbath. It is possible to interpret these two verses as examples of forbidden work on the Sabbath. First the Torah prohibits the performance of certain categories of activities called מלאכה; the Torah describes the lighting of fire as an example of such a forbidden category of activity. The expression מלאכה applies primarily to activities connected to the building of the Tabernacle which are forbidden to be performed on the Sabbath. This is the reason the Torah does not speak here of כל מלאכה, “any manner of work,” as it does on other occasions when the work-prohibition on the Sabbath is mentioned (compare Exodus 20,10). Following the prohibition to perform such work on the Sabbaths during which the construction of the Tabernacle was in progress, the Torah goes on to prohibit such activities on the Sabbath for all future generations also. This is the meaning of the additional words בכל מושבותיכם, “in all your dwellings” (as opposed to G’d’s “dwelling’). The example of lighting a fire is merely representative of all the other categories of activity which are prohibited on the Sabbath. Making fire is an appropriate example of basic human activity seeing that most of the principal activities we are engaged in cannot be performed satisfactorily if one were not able or allowed to make fire. This is the reason that the sages instituted the benediction over fire during the הבדלה ritual at the end of the Sabbath to signify that this crucial activity (as well as other activities) which was prohibited on the Sabbath is once again permitted. Fire, i.e. light, was the first of the activities G’d engaged in when creating the universe (Genesis 1,2). The ritual known as הבדלה comprises a total of four benedictions (wine, fragrances, fire/light, and the benediction reminding us of the difference between the holy and the profane). This number corresponds to the letters in the holy name of the Lord, the tetragrammaton. The benediction over wine is alluded to in Genesis 1,1 in the word הארץ, a reference to Gan Eden. The grape vine was one of the trees in that garden. The benediction over the fragrances is also alluded to in the word רוח אלו-הים, “the spirit (whiff) of the Lord” in the same verse. Fragrance is central to wind, i.e. the wind carries the fragrance, the odor. It represents the air man breathes through his nostrils, the organ of smell. Finally, fire is represented in that same verse we quoted from Genesis 1,2 where the word “light” has a dual connotation, also meaning “fire,” i.e. the source of warmth. In the ritual of the הבדלה we refer to the whole concept of fire and light as a separation between light and dark.

Six days shall work be done, etc. Rashi explained that He prefaced the warning about the Sabbath to the command about the work of the Tabernacle to indicate that it does not override the Sabbath. People question this because in Parashat Kedoshim (19:3) it states, Every man shall fear his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths, and Rashi explains there that if your father tells you to violate the Sabbath, do not listen to him. There, it did not place the Sabbath first, yet nevertheless explained that it overrides honoring father and mother, while here Rashi attributes the matter to the Sabbath being mentioned before the work of the Tabernacle. It seems there is no difficulty at all here because there Rashi derived this from the phrase keep My Sabbaths being written in plural form when it should have said “keep” in singular form, since the verse begins in singular, saying Every man shall fear his mother and his father, meaning each and every individual. Granted, regarding the fear of parents, even though it begins in singular and then switches to shall fear in plural, it still needed to say this to indicate that both men and women are obligated to fear their parents. For one might have thought that since a woman is under the authority of others, she would be exempt from fearing her father, as Rashi explained. But regarding the Sabbath, why did it say keep in plural form? Since there is no reason to distinguish between men and women in this regard, it must mean that “you and your son are obligated in My honor.” Just as shall fear implies two — both man and woman — so too keep implies two — you and your son. Therefore, whenever one commandment precedes another, the one mentioned first is primary and overrides the one mentioned later. Similarly, in the verse Keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary (Leviticus 19:30), the Sabbath is also placed before the sanctuary for this reason. The case there is different because the verse limited it by saying keep in plural form. And the reason why it did not reveal this to us through precedence is because it needed to place the fear of parents first in order to equate their fear to the fear of Heaven. And regarding why in Parashat Ki Tisa (31:13) He preceded the Tabernacle before the Sabbath, and wrote Nevertheless you shall keep My Sabbaths to derive from the additional word nevertheless that the Tabernacle does not override the Sabbath — He should have mentioned the Sabbath first and would not have needed the extra word nevertheless. Now, according to what we explained above in Parashat Ki Tisa regarding the extra word nevertheless, there was a need to write the word nevertheless. However, Rashi’s words can be resolved in a different way, and along with this, it will also explain why Moses changed the order, because the Holy One, blessed be He, first commanded him about the Tabernacle, but Moses put the Sabbath first. This is because the Sabbath is solely about the honor of God, to teach that He, blessed be He, renewed His world, while the Tabernacle entirely indicates the honor of Israel, that the Holy One, blessed be He, made concessions to them and caused His Divine Presence to dwell among them, and forgave them for the sin of the Golden Calf. The Holy One, blessed be He, is especially concerned for the honor of Israel, therefore He mentioned the Tabernacle first. And so that they would not err and say that He mentioned it first to indicate that the work of the Tabernacle overrides the Sabbath, He added the word nevertheless. But Moses thought that for the honor of God, it was appropriate to put the Sabbath first, which indicates His honor, blessed be He, and afterwards the Tabernacle, which indicates the honor of Israel. And from this precedence, it will be understood automatically that the Sabbath overrides the work of the Tabernacle, because which one is pushed aside for the other? You must say the lesser for the greater. And above, in Parashat Ki Tisa, you will find another reason why the Tabernacle is set aside for the Sabbath. And the reason why God, blessed be He, in the Ten Commandments, placed the commandment of Shabbat before honoring father and mother, was in order to align the five commandments opposite the [other] five, because the commandment to honor [parents] corresponds to you shall not covet, and He needed to conclude the commandments with you shall not covet to teach that all the commandments are included in you shall not covet, and at the end of all things, everything is heard. This is clear and correct, and one should not ask from where would [we think] that it would be pushed aside, as the construction of the Tabernacle is only a positive commandment, while Shabbat involves both a positive and negative commandment, and [its violation carries the penalty of] stoning. The answer to this is that in any case, we find that Shabbat is set aside for the Tabernacle through the sacrifices that were offered on the Sabbath day, and one might have thought that Shabbat is completely set aside for the Tabernacle — this [verse] comes to teach us [otherwise].

כל העושה בו מלאכה יומת, “anyone performing forbidden categories of work on that day deserves to be executed.” Even if the person concerned was busy doing work sanctioned by heaven, it does not take precedence over the legislation governing the rules of the Sabbath. One of these rules, for instance, is what follows:

You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.

לא תבערו אש YE SHALL NOT KINDLE A FIRE [THROUGHOUT YOUR HABITATIONS ON THEE SABBATH DAY] — There are some of our Rabbis who say that the law about kindling fire is singled out (more lit., goes forth from the general proposition; i. e. it is specially mentioned here although it is included in לא תעשה כל מלאכה, the law prohibiting all work on Sabbath) in order to constitute it a mere negative command (thus indicating that, like all other negative commands, its infringement is punishable by lashes but does not make the offender liable to death as does the doing of other work on Sabbath). Others, however, say that it was singled out in order to separate the various kinds of work comprised in the term כל מלאכה (thus indicating that each transgression of the Sabbath law is to be atoned for separately if several of them have been committed at the same time and under the same circumstances) (cf. Shabbat 70a; Yevamot 6b; Sanhedrin 35b; cf. also Pesachim 5b).

YE SHALL KINDLE NO FIRE THROUGHOUT YOUR HABITATIONS UPON THE SABBATH DAY. The meaning of this verse is clearly to prohibit also on the Sabbath doing any work necessary for the preparation of food, since He said, whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death, and He further explained that they should also not kindle fire, in order to bake bread and boil meat, for fire is needed in the preparation of all food. This had to be stated because He did not say here: “whosoever doeth ‘any manner’ of work,” just as He said in the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not do any manner of work, but instead He merely said “work” without specifying any type. Therefore we might have excluded from the general statement [whosoever doeth work …] all activity necessary for the preparation of food, for we find it said about the feast of unleavened bread, thou shalt not do work therein, and yet the preparation of food is not included [in the scope of its prohibition]. It is for this reason that here He mentioned expressly that the preparation of food is also forbidden on the Sabbath. I have found a similar text in the Midrash: “Rabbi Nathan says: Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath-day. Why is this said? Because it is stated, And Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel. I might think that one should be allowed to light a candle, to put away food to be kept warm, and to make a fire on the Sabbath. Therefore Scripture says, Ye shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath-day.” This corresponds closely to that which we have said, that these works [mentioned in the Mechilta], since they are of direct benefit to the body, were not included in the first prohibition. Thus Rabbi Nathan wanted to say that the purpose of the verse here is not to prohibit baking, cooking, and the rest of the activities involved in the preparation of food, for these have already been prohibited to them by the verse, Bake that [on the sixth day of the week] which ye will bake [i.e., which ye intend to bake on the Sabbath], and seethe that which ye will seethe. But yet I might think that all activities which benefit man in such a way that the benefit is only to the body — such as lighting a candle, making fire, or washing one’s whole body in hot water — should be allowed, for these are part of the delight of the Sabbath. Therefore it says, Ye shall kindle no fire — to prohibit all [mentioned activities even if done for these purposes].Our Rabbis in the Talmud have yet another Midrash on this verse, because it does not say: “whosoever doeth any manner of work therein shall be put to death,” or: “whosoever kindles fire throughout your habitations shall be put to death.” Therefore they said that the kindling of fire was singled out in order to make it punishable in a less stringent manner, [namely by stripe], since it is a mere negative command, [whereas violation of the Sabbath by doing any of the other kinds of work is pun...

"You shall not kindle" — Because the verse above (12:16) regarding the first and seventh days of Passover stated that work shall not be done on them, which permits the preparation of food, it now states regarding the Sabbath that one may not kindle fire to bake bread or cook meat, for fire is needed for all food preparation. The Gaon Rav Saadia composed a distinguished book of responsa against those who disputed our ancestors regarding the Sabbath lamp.

לא תבערו אש, even though generally speaking, lighting a fire is not a productive but a destructive activity, seeing that it is an almost indispensable ingredient in most activities the Torah prohibited it as unsuitable for the Sabbath.

לא תבערו אש, “do not kindle a fire;” some of our Rabbis claim that the reason that of all the work prohibitions on the Sabbath, only the act of kindling a fire has been singled out by name, is to teach us that lighting a fire is the only one of these prohibitions which, instead of being punishable by death when performed knowingly, is punishable only by 39 lashes, as are other negative commandments when violated on purpose. This is the view of Rabbi Yossi in the Talmud, tractate Shabbat folio 70. Rabbi Nathan, on the other hand, holds that the reason why this mode of activity has been singled out by name is: לחלק, i.e. to give us a definition of the nature of the activities that are prohibited on the Sabbath. It was singled out as a basic activity. Just as this activity is prohibited on the Sabbath on pain of death, so are all the other activities which were indispensable for building a Tabernacle equally forbidden to be performed on any Sabbath for any purpose. Any activity required to be performed for building or functioning of the Tabernacle is considered a basic activity, or אב מלאכה, in Hebrew, and is punishable separately even if performed as part of a number of activities. We have a rule in the Talmud, that if something had at one time been part of a number of items under the same heading, and had subsequently been singled out, it was singled out as an example in order to teach that what applies to it now, also applies to the other items that it had been part of under the same heading, i.e. been under the same “umbrella.” In our situation it means that the other 38 types of basic activities connected with the construction of the Tabernacle or its functions must also not be performed on the Sabbath, each such on pain of death. This is the way in which Rashi explains the verse in general terms. The reason why just the activity of kindling light was chosen by the Torah as the example in question, is that lighting a fire is something that for the onlooker hardly seems like an activity at all, involving neither skill, nor physical strain. If you were to say that granted that actually lighting a fire on the Sabbath is forbidden, but activities preparatory to lighting a fire after the Sabbath are permitted, this too is prohibited. The Sabbath is not a day to be used as a preparation for the activities on the six weekdays. A different interpretation: the reason that the legislation about work prohibition is repeated here is in order that people would not say that just as in Parshat Bo (Exodus 12,16) certain kinds of work were prohibited on the festivals, but preparation of foodnecessitating lighting a fire was exempted, the same was true during the Sabbaths during which work on the Tabernacle was in progress. The Torah therefore categorically prohibited this kind of work, implying that, of course, all other kind of work would be prohibited also. בכל מושבותיכם, in all of your dwellings, i.e. the Tabernacle was exempt from all of these restrictions as it was not a residence for human beings. Communal sacrifices were offered as usual. (Mechilta Vayakhel 7)

You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day. The Torah singled out kindling [fire] from the general [prohibition], either to permit kindling in the Temple and to say specifically in all your dwellings you shall not kindle but in the Temple it is permitted to kindle, (Shabbat 20) or so that we should not say that just as He forbade us from doing all work of our houses even in the Temple, likewise what is permitted in the Temple is also permitted in the house. Therefore, it teaches us you shall not kindle — this serves as a prototype for all the activities of the Tabernacle that even though they are permitted there, nevertheless they are forbidden in all your dwellings. And by way of allusion, it alludes here to the punishment of Sabbath desecrators, as it states (in Shabbat 119b): Rav said, “Fire is only found in a place where the Sabbath is desecrated,” as it is said (Jeremiah 17:27), But if you do not listen to Me to sanctify the Sabbath day, etc., then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will consume the palaces of Jerusalem and not be extinguished. Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said, “At a time when people are not available to extinguish it.” Rashi explains this is referring to the Sabbath. And this is what is said here, Whoever performs work on it [the Sabbath] shall be put to death. And it says, You shall not kindle fire — meaning, do not cause for yourselves, through not properly observing the Sabbath, that fire should burn in all your dwellings, in your luxurious houses, on the Sabbath day, at a time when people are not available to extinguish it. See all of this in Olelot Ephraim, discourse 269.

לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם, “do not kindle any fire in any of your dwellings;” we find a disagreement between the scholars of the Talmud (Shabbat 70) concerning this particular verse. Some hold that the reason why this particular work prohibition is the only one specifically mentioned in the Torah, is to place it in a different category from the other prohibited categories of activities, i.e. all the others are subject to the death penalty, whereas this one is punishable only by thirty nine lashes, (according to Rashi, not even that) as are most other negative commandments when violated deliberately. [the technical term for this view by Rabbi Yossi is ללאו יצאה, “it was singled out as a lesser transgression.” The other opinion views this prohibition as an example, לחלק יצאה, “singled out, [as representative of the rules applying to all thirty nine categories. Ed.] The thirty-nine categories themselves are based on activities without which the work on the Tabernacle could not have been carried out successfully; hence they are appropriate as guidelines as to what is and what is not prohibited on the Sabbath. Some scholars feel that the reason why kindling a fire had to be mentioned especially, is that the general public does not view this activity as “work,” seeing that it is permitted on the festivals when used to prepare food. Still other commentators feel that a basic activity, such as kindling a fire, is so necessary that people could not have imagined that it was forbidden on pain of death if the Torah had not spelled it out for them specifically. Nachmanides writes that seeing the Torah does not add here that anyone performing forbidden work will be put to death, we might have thought that when this kindling of fire is performed in order to enable us to have hot meals on the Sabbath, that this is not forbidden, just as it is not forbidden on Passover or the other festivals, although the Torah writes that no work may be performed on those festivals. By specifically stating that lighting a fire on the Sabbath, for whatever reason, is forbidden, we are reminded that the Sabbath is different from the festivals in this respect.

לא תבערו אש, seeing that in connection with the festivals the Torah wrote that work in connection with the preparation of food was permitted on such days, meaning that the handling of fire was permitted. (Exodus 12.16) Moses had specifically permitted baking and cooking (Exodus 16,23). In view of this the Torah considered it as necessary to repeat the prohibition of handling fire on the Sabbath. If this kind of work was prohibited on the Sabbath, other work which was far less urgent was certainly prohibited also.

לא תבערו אש, “do not kindle fire;” the reason that the Torah singled out lighting a fire on the Sabbath as a forbidden activity by naming it, is that to the average person lighting a fire seems hardly as something that can be called “work.” If it had not been specifically singled out, people might have said that they would certainly not perform activities even remotely connected to creative activity, but they would never have dreamt that lighting a match would be considered by the Torah as on a par with that of sowing, ploughing, or kneading a dough, for instance. In the Talmud, tractate Shabbat folio 70, there is a dispute about whether this activity has been mentioned specifically in order to tell us that the penalty for violating it is not the same as for other work prohibitions, or that it has been singled out to tell us that even such an activity is forbidden on pain of the death penalty.

And Moses spoke to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, saying: This is the word that Hashem has commanded, saying:

זה הדבר אשד צוה ה׳ THIS IS THE THING WHICH THE LORD COMMANDED me, לאמר TO TELL you.

"And Moses said" — He now began to explain to the entire congregation what Hashem had commanded him.

אל כל עדת בני ישראל לאמור, "to the entire community of the children of Israel, to say;" In view of the word לאמור, we are entitled to ask to whom the Israelites were to tell these laws seeing all of them were assembled when they were informed of them? We may have to look for the answer in something Rabbi Meir is quoted as saying in the Sifri 131 on Deut. 23,22 that it is better not to make vows at all than to fail to honour them, but that best of all is he who does not make any vows at all. Rabbi Yehudah counters by saying that it is best to vow and to honour one's vow. We are taught in Nedarim 9 that Rabbi Meir may have agreed that certain types of vows called Nedavah as opposed to Neder are welcome to G'd even according to the view of Rabbi Meir. The former is the type of vow which is totally within the control of the donor to fulfil so that there exists no danger of defaulting. The Talmud quotes an example in which Hillel brought the animal he meant to sacrifice to the Temple before sanctifying it as a potential sacrifice. There was therefore no danger that the animal would become disqualified and his (Hillel who vowed to offer it as a sacrifice) being unable to fulfil his vow. On the other hand, the opinion is expressed that when Rabbi Yehudah described the person who fulfils his vow as the most commendable person, he referred to just such a situation, i.e. a נודב, someone who makes a vow at a time and in circumstances when he does not risk inability to honour his undertaking. Rabbi Yehudah would agree that someone who makes his vow in the form of a נדר would be better off if he had not made such a vow at all. According to the above, our verse comes to teach us that seeing that the Torah has told us in verse five קחו מאתכם תרומה לה׳ כל נדיב לבו, "take from among you an offering for G'd, everyone who is of a generous heart, etc.," it is clear that the Torah refers to the kind of vow called נדבה. G'd warned the people זה הדבר…לאמור, to be careful to phrase the commitment in such way that they could not become guilty of not honouring it. Our interpretation is compatible with both the viewpoints expressed in Nedarim as to what Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Yehudah had meant.

This is the thing that the Lord commanded. In the portion of Matot, Rashi explained that all the prophets prophesied with So says the Lord, but Moses went beyond them by prophesying with This is the thing that the Lord commanded, because Moses saw the matter clearly with his own eyes through a clear lens [aspaklaria hame’irah]. And the reason Rashi did not explain this regarding what is said here “This is the thing” is because the Tabernacle is not an indication of his [unique level of] prophecy, since the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses the Tabernacle on the mountain, as it says According to all that I show you, the pattern of the Tabernacle, etc. (Exodus 25:9). Therefore, he said This is the thing that the Lord commanded, as if pointing with a finger at something he saw with his own eyes. And this does not indicate any superior quality that wasn’t present in other prophets, since Ezekiel also saw the entire pattern of the Temple.

Take from among you a contribution before Hashem; everyone whose heart is willing shall bring the contribution before Hashem: gold, silver, and copper;

נדיב לבו [WHOSOEVER] IS OF A WILLING HEART — Because his heart prompts one to generosity, he is called נדיב לב, one who is prompted to generosity by the heart. I have already explained the various materials which formed the contribution towards the Tabernacle and the work done for it in the passages where the commands about them were given.

Y’VI’EHA’ (LET HIM BRING IT), THE ETERNAL’S OFFERING. This is like “yavi (let him bring) the Eternal’s offering.” But Scripture mentions a pronoun and then returns to explain it. Similarly: And she opened and saw him, the child; when he went in, the man; the nation and the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar; which I do give to them, the children of Israel. There are many similar instances. By way of the Truth, [the mystic lore of the Cabala], the phrase here is like “let him bring it ‘with’ the Eternal’s offering,” meaning that he is to bring the higher offering as alluded to in the secret of and they take for Me an offering. I have already explained it. Our Rabbis have a Midrash on the verse, and she opened and saw him, the child, that she saw with him the Divine Glory. Now it was necessary for Moses to tell the whole congregation all the work which G-d had commanded him, in order to let them know that they had to bring large donations, for the work is great. That is why he told them, The Tabernacle, its tent, and its covering etc., mentioning all in a general way. The reason for the definite article in ‘eth hamishkan’ (the Tabernacle), ‘eth ha’aron’ (the ark), ‘eth hashulchan’ (the table), and all those mentioned with the definite article, is as if to say: “the Tabernacle and the vessels which we will explain to the wise men doing the work in their details and measurements,” but speaking now to the whole congregation, he told them only their names in general.

"Take" — The opposite of "give," yet when mem follows the root of taking, it has the sense of giving. "Take for me, please, a little water" (I Kings 17:10) means: the taking is for me, i.e., on my behalf — and so too "take from yourselves a gift for Hashem." The phrase "every generous-hearted person" (kol nediv libo) is unusual for "everyone whose heart moved him" — like "with the greatness of Your arm" (Exod. 15:16) meaning "with Your great arm," and "the memory of Your great goodness" (Ps. 145:7) meaning "the memory of Your abundant goodness." R. Yeshuah said that the vav is pleonastic, as in "the wild beasts" (Ps. 104:11) and "son of Beor" (Num. 24:3). After mentioning that one should bring it, he then adds and clarifies that it is a gift to Hashem — similarly many other passages, such as "he commanded me, my brother" (I Sam. 20:29). Some say that silver (kesef) is called thus because it is coveted by the eyes, from the root of nakhsefah (Ps. 84:3); and likewise copper (nechoshet), because women divine (menachshot) with copper.

קחו מאתכם, you shall select from amongst yourselves men to collect the donations for G’d. כל נדיב לבו, the donations must not be forced contributions. 'יביאה את תרומת ה, he shall bring the voluntary donation together with the terumat Hashem which is mandatory (the half shekel). The latter is known as beka lagulgolet.

יביאה את תרומת השם, "let him bring it, i.e. the offering for the Lord." This verse clearly demonstrates that in the building of the Tabernacle we encounter both tangibles, perceptibles, and intangibles, imperceptibles. This is what is meant in Tikkunim 21 where we read that the תרומה, the donations for the Tabernacle, contained an intangible element, i.e. a contribution from the שכינה. The Torah calls this element תרומת השם, "G'd's contribution." It was this intangible contribution that enabled the tangible parts to be joined together and to form a sustainable whole, a tent that would not collapse. The most essential part in the construction was G'd's goodwill, i.e. an intangible. When the Torah writes יביאה, "he (the generously minded donor) is to bring it," this means that the donor is to elevate his gift to such a spiritual level that it may merge with the תרומת השם, G'd's contribution. When the Torah speaks of the כל נדיב לבו, it defines the kind of person whose gift will be of the calibre that can merge with G'd's intangible gift. If the human donor does not possess the spirit the Torah describes as נדיב לב, then the gift of such a person has no chance of merging with the Divine contribution described here as the invisible contribution תרומת השם. זהב וכסף, "gold and silver." I have given special attention to the manner in which the various items listed as materials required for the Tabernacle are connected to one another by the conjunctive letter ו. At first glance, the presence of that letter and the absence of that letter seem arbitrary. There are 13 items (verses 5-9) all of which are joined together with the conjunctive letter ו. On the other hand, sometimes three different kinds of materials are lumped together and joined by only a single conjunctive letter ו (compare verse 11). In verse 13 the Torah resumes the method of presenting each item by joining it to the following item with the conjunctive letter ו. What prompted the Torah to be so selective in the use of the conjunctive letter ו? In order to comprehend this we have to quote a statement by our sages in Shemot Rabbah 30,3 that the letter ו indicates an addition to something that was recorded previously whereas the absence of such a letter where one could have expected it suggests that what is introduced at that point has no connection with what had been reported previously. Having learned this, we can proceed to evaluate the respective presence or absence of the letter ו in different parts of this paragraph. The paragraph begins by listing contributions for the construction of the Tabernacle, listing thirteen different materials and joining each one to the other with the conjunctive letter ו to show that each of these materials was of equal importance in the construction of the Tabernacle and was equally indispensable. All of these materials could be subsumed under the heading תרומת השם. The Torah considered someone who had contributed copper as on the same level as someone w...

יביאה את תרומת ה', “he shall bring it as a gift for the Lord.” We have already dealt with the meaning of this verse in our commentary on Exodus 25,2.

“Take from yourselves a contribution to the Lord.” We have already explained above that from yourselves comes to exclude stolen property. Additionally, from yourselves includes that each person should hasten to fulfill the commandment on their own initiative, because there are people who don’t give anything until they see others giving and become envious of them. Consequently, they give in order to make themselves equal to others, and this is not from yourselves, since they themselves are not the cause of the giving; rather, others are the cause for it. And some say from yourselves literally, because one who gives from the generosity of their heart is considered as if they offered their own body. Furthermore, the poor person who gives is as if they are diminishing from their own flesh and giving, in the way it is said And from your flesh do not hide yourself (Isaiah 58:7) — meaning, do not refrain from taking even from your own flesh to give. Every willing heart shall bring it. Initially it says take from yourselves, and the language of “taking” implies that they would take from him forcibly. Afterward it says every willing heart shall bring it, implying that he would bring it of his own accord. Similarly, in Parashat Terumah, it also mentions the language of “taking.” Furthermore, here it says every willing heart, while there it says from every man whose heart motivates him [yadvennu], when it should have said “whose heart is willing” [yindavennu]. However, it is speaking about two types of giving. There it speaks of two offerings that are obligatory, and one is compelled to give even if he is not willing-hearted — on the contrary, his heart is troubled [doveh] and worried and pained over the giving — nevertheless, you shall take from him against his will. Therefore it says from every man whose heart motivates him [yadvennu], as if to say “his heart troubles him [yadonnu],” since the letter bet is interchangeable with vav in the bumaf letters, especially a soft bet. The meaning is: one whose heart is troubled and does not give his obligation willingly — you shall take My offering from him against his will. Similarly, what it says take from yourselves an offering for the Lord also speaks of an obligatory offering, namely, the half-shekel per person. Perhaps that is why it says from yourselves — from your head [gulgolut]. Afterward, it speaks generally of the voluntary offering, that every willing heart shall bring it of his own accord without compulsion, for the willing-hearted is the opposite of one whose heart troubles him; he will bring his donation on his own and not wait until the treasurer comes to demand it from him. Additionally, it seems to me [regarding] what was stated first “from you a contribution,” and afterward it says “the contribution of the Lord.” It is according to the mindset of the giver, because one who does not give willingly does not think that he is not giving any of his own, but rather from that which belongs to the Holy One Blessed be He, since the silver and gold belongs to Him. But such a person errs in his thinking and believes that his own strength and the might of his hand produced this wealth. Therefore, it is said take from you a contribution to the Lord, meaning from those groups who think that you are taking from what is theirs for God. But every generous heart who knows that silver belongs to God and is giving from what is His, therefore he will bring on his own the contribution of the Lord, meaning that which already belongs to the Lord. That is why it is called here the contribution of the Lord, to be understood that it already belongs to the Lord. And therefore it is said, and they brought to him more offerings morning after morning. What does more mean? Rather, it says that two good signs were seen in them, which are proofs that they gave their offerings with joy. First, that they brought of their own accord before the collector came to them to demand what they had already pledged. Second, that they brought it in the morning with shining faces, for anything given with a shining face is given in the morning, and the manna proves this, as Rashi explained in the portion of Beshalach (Exodus 16:7). And it further alludes with “in the morning” that each one of them who could present himself before others would do so early, therefore “morning” is mentioned twice. First, corresponding to what they gave with shining faces. Second, corresponding to how diligent they were in presenting themselves early.

יביאה את תרומת ה', “he shall bring it as his contribution to Hashem.” The meaning is the same as if the Torah had written יביא, without the letter ה at the end. It happens quite frequently in Scripture that the pronoun is used, as in this case, prematurely, and only afterwards does the Torah explain to what this pronoun [in this instance the letter ה for “it” referred. Another such example is found in Exodus 2,6 ותפתח ותראהו, “She opened it and saw him, את הילד, “the boy.” Moses now proceeds to tell the entire congregation all the details of the work to be performed, not because all the people would participate in it, but to make them aware of the gigantic nature of this project, undertaken in the desert in the absence of workshops, etc. It was also to bring home to them that substantial contributions were required to ensure the successful conclusion of the project. Interestingly, when referring to the Tabernacle as well as to its furnishings, Moses uses the definitive article, i.e. the letter ה, making it sound as if all these phenomena were already familiar to the people whom he addressed. By use of this definitive article, he intimated that the details would be conveyed to the artisans commissioned to actually carry out the work.

and blue, and purple, and crimson dye, and linen, and goat hair;

"And crimson thread" (tola'at shani) — here without mem; elsewhere it appears with mem. "If your sins be as scarlet" (Isa. 1:18) — they may be a plural form.

and reddened rams' skins, and purple-violet skins, and acacia wood;

"And skins" — masculine, like lukhot (tablets) and "firstlings of your herd" (Deut. 14:23). "Acacia wood" (shittim) — with a mem, like nashim (women).

and oil for illumination, and spices for the anointing oil and for the incense spices;

"And oil" — It does not specify "pure olive" because that is understood; therefore "for the light" follows the customary usage. He thus stated that the donors shall bring their contributions, and those who are skilled — the wise-hearted in craftsmanship — shall come and perform the work. He began with the Tabernacle, for it is the encompassing structure, and the tent is its cover over it; he mentioned its covering, which comprises two coverings.

ולקטורת, you should bring various kinds of spices in order to prepare the incense.

and onyx stones and stones for setting, to be inlaid in the ephod and in the breastpiece.

And let all the skilled of heart among you come and make all that Hashem has commanded:

את המשכן את אהלו, the materials which Moses had already told the people about in 34,32.

the Tabernacle, its curtain and its covering, its clasps and its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets;

את המשכן THE TABERNACLE — The lower curtains which were visible within the building are called משכן. את אהלו ITS TENT — this is the covering of goats’ skins which was made to serve as a roofing. ואת מכסהו AND ITS COVERING — the covering of rams’ skins and tachash skins.

"Its clasps" — the clasps of the Tabernacle and of the tent. "Its bars, its pillars, and its sockets" — these are the pillars of the parokhet curtain and the screen. After these he mentioned the sacred vessels, which are on the inner side of the parokhet.

את המשכן, את אהלו, וגו׳. The Tabernacle, its tent, etc. The Tabernacle, i.e. the different materials used to provide its roofing, represented different degrees of sanctity. The materials forming the inner, or lower parts of the roofing were of a higher degree of sanctity than the outer coverings made of hides seeing they faced directly on to the Holy Ark, etc. The Torah indicates this by the absence of the conjunctive letter ו between the words משכן and אהל. The Torah does use the conjunctive letter ו when referring to מכסהו, to indicate that the various hides used as outer layers were of similar degrees of sanctity. The Torah informs us by the use of the letter ו that the difference in sanctity between the different hides was so insignificant that they were not separated from one another by omission of the conjunctive letter ו. The reason the Torah goes on to say את קרסיו instead of ואת קרסיו, is to inform us that the respective sanctity of these clasps was not of the same level as that of the coverings. The Torah goes on to mention the boards by using the letter ו i.e. ואת קרשיו. This indicates that these materials ranked equally with the clasps. On the other hand, the Torah omits the conjunctive letter ו when mentioning the בריחים, the bolts which held together the boards to tell us that they were not of the same level of sanctity as the boards which they hold together. The pillars also were of a lower degree of sanctity compared to the bolts and that is why they do not appear with the conjunctive letter ו. The אדנים, the sockets which held the boards were of the same level of sanctity as the pillars and that is why we have the letter ו i.e. ואת אדניו.

את בריחו, “its bolts;” the reading is as if it had been spelled בריחיו.

the Ark and its poles, the cover, and the curtain of the partition;

ואת פרכת המסך means THE CURTAIN OF (that serves for) PARTITIONING — Everything that screens an object, whether it hangs above or in front of it is called מָסָךְ or סְכַךְ. Of similar meaning are: (Job 1:10) “[Hast Thou not] put a partition in front of him?” (שכת = סכת); (Hosea 2:8) “Behold I will partition off (סך = שך) thy way [with thorns]”.

את הארון ואת בדיו, The Holy Ark and its staves, etc. The Torah lists the most sacred of the furnishings of the Tabernacle first just as it started by mentioning the most sacred of the various covers of the Tabernacle, the ones made of twisted linen first in 36,8. The reason that the staves are mentioned next with the conjunctive letter ו is that they formed an integral part of the Holy Ark and were not allowed to become detached from it as we have been told in 25,16. The Torah next mentions the lid of the Holy Ark, omitting the conjunctive letter ו, seeing that it was not as sacred as the Holy Ark itself. The fact that it was not attached permanently to the Holy Ark also suggests that it was not as sacred as the Ark itself. On the other hand, the dividing curtain, פרוכת המסך is introduced by the Torah with the conjunctive letter ו, indicating that it was of the same level of sanctity as the lid on the Ark.

the table and its poles and all its utensils, and the showbread;

לחם הפנים THE SHOW BREAD — I have already explained (Exodus 25:29) that it was so called because it had two faces turning in this direction and in that, because it was made like a case open on two sides.

"And the bread of the Presence" — for it is on account of it that the table was made.

את השלחן ואת בדיו, The table and its staves, etc. The level of sanctity of the table was lower than the sanctity of the furnishings listed previously. This is the reason the Torah introduces it with the word את, suggesting it is auxiliary. The same is the case with all the other items listed from here to the end of verse 19. All the items up to the end of verse 15 are joined by the conjunctive letter ו to emphasize that all were of comparable degrees of sanctity. The Torah introduces the candlestick with the conjunctive letter ו, i.e. ואת מנורת המאור ואת כליה, to make plain that all the parts of the candlestick were of the same level of sanctity as the candlestick itself. The Torah goes on to say ואת מזבח הקטורת, and the golden altar, to indicate by the letter ו that its sanctity was equivalent to that of the candlestick and the table. The same applies to the curtain at the entrance of the Tabernacle. The copper altar (verse 16) is introduced without the conjunctive letter ו to indicate it was not of the same level of sanctity as the furnishings listed previously. Its very position outside the Sanctuary makes this clear already. The copper grating is introduced with the letter ו indicating it was of the same degree of sanctity as the altar itself. The staves by which the altar was carried were not of the same degree of sanctity as the altar itself and that is why the Torah omits the letter ו when mentioning it. Other appurtenances of the altar were of the same category as its staves. The basin from which the priests washed their hands and feet is introduced without the letter ו as its sanctity was of a lower order, serving priests who had to sanctify themselves. Its stand was of the same order as the basin itself, seeing the Torah uses the letter ו when introducing it. The hangings of the courtyard, i.e. "walls," are introduced in verse 17 without the letter ו, as of a still lesser degree of sanctity, followed by mention of the pillars supporting those hangings, again without the letter ו. The sockets for these pillars are introduced with the letter ו to indicate that they were of the same degree of sanctity as the pillars which they supported. The same applied to the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard. The pegs (verse 18) fastening the various hangings or coverings of the Tabernacle itself to the ground are introduced without the letter ו as, understandably, they were of a lower order of sanctity. The various cords shared the same degree of sanctity as the pegs which were attached to them. Finally, in verse 19, the Torah lists the בגדי השרד, the plaited covers for the holy furnishings to be used when they were transported. If you will read what I have written on Exodus 25,7 you will find that someone who made profane use of the priestly garments was not subject to a penalty whereas if one did so with any of the holy vessels one was liable to a penalty. When the Torah mentions the priestly garments of Aaron and those of his sons, they ar...

and the lampstand for giving light, and its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for illumination;

ואת כליה AND ITS VESSELS — the tongs and snuff-dishes. נרתיה ITS LAMPS — luces in old French — bowls into which the oil and the wicks were placed. ואת שמן המאר AND THE OIL ALSO FOR THE LIGHT — This also required wise-hearted men for preparing it (and therefore Scripture mentions it also after its statement v. 10 “And every wise hearted man … shall make…”), for it was different from other oils, as it is explained in Menachot 86a: he lets it (the olive) ripen on the top of the olive-tree etc. and thus it (the oil) is “beaten and yet clear” as Scripture prescribes (Exodus 27:20).

"And the lampstand" — He mentions the oil for the light, for on account of it the lampstand was made.

and the altar of incense spices and its poles, and the anointing oil and the incense spices, and the screen of the entrance at the entrance of the Tabernacle;

מסך הפתח THE SCREEN FOR THE ENTRANCE — the curtain that was in front of the east side of the Tabernacle, for there were neither boards nor curtains there.

He completed the listing of the sacred vessels, and after them the screen for the entrance. The vessels of the oil of light, the vessels of the anointing oil, and the incense of spices are to be kept ready, for they are holy, between the parokhet and the screen at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

the altar of burnt offering and its copper grating, its poles and all its utensils, the laver and its base;

"The laver" — The laver and its base have no carrying-poles; perhaps they were carried on the wagons.

the hangings of the courtyard, its pillars and their sockets, and the screen of the gate of the courtyard;

את עמדיו ואת אדניה ITS COLUMNS AND ITS SOCKETS — עמדיו has a masculine and אדניה a feminine suffix; thus חצר is here used as (lit., called) masculine and feminine noun. Similar it is with many things (cf. Rashi on Genesis 32:9). ואת מסך שער החצר AND THE SCREEN FOR THE GATE OF THE ENCLOSURE — the curtain which was hanging on the east side covering the twenty middle cubits in the width of the enclosure which latter was fifty cubits wide. Of this fifteen cubits on the north side were closed by hangings and so, too, on the south side, as it is said, (Exodus 27:14, 15) “The hangings of one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits … [and on the other side shall be hangings fifteen cubits]”.

"The hangings of the courtyard, its pillars, and its sockets" — Like "a great and strong wind" (I Kings 19:11) and "a fire not blown upon shall consume him" (Job 20:26) — where the gender of the noun and pronoun do not agree.

את עמדיו ואת אדניה, “its pillars and its sockets.” Anything which is not a living creature is sometimes referred to in the masculine mode and other times in the feminine mode. The following examples are proof of this rule: המחנה האחת והכהו, “one of the camps, and he smites it” (Genesis 32,8) המחנה הנשאר, “the remaining camp;” (same verse) רוח גדולה וחזק, “a great and powerful wind,” (Kings I 19,11). והרים ממנו מקמצו מסולת המנחה; our author quotes more examples; he adds that on occasion even living creatures are referred to sometimes as feminine and sometimes as masculine; example: אם בהמה אשר יקריבו ממנה כל אשר יתן ממנו, “and if the beast (feminine) from which he will offer parts as a sacrifice, every part that he will give from it (masculine), etc.” (Leviticus27.9) . An alternate explanation of our verse: the word: עמודיו refers to the posts supporting the קלעים, ‘the hangings” around the courtyards, and the word: אדניה, refers to the courtyard itself, the חצר, that word being feminine, (as we know from Kings I 6,36)

the pegs of the Tabernacle and the pegs of the courtyard and their cords;

יתדת THE PINS — in order to insert them into the ground and to fasten thereby the edges of the curtains that they should not be moved about by the wind. מיתריהם THEIR CORDS to bind with.

the service garments for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for ministering.

בגדי השרד THE KNITTED GARMENTS — to cover up the Ark, the table, the candelabrum and the altars at the time of removing and packing up the articles in the Tabernacle when they set out on their journeyings.

"The service garments" — for the purpose of the journeying.

לשרת בקודש, to cover the various furnishings of the Tabernacle during the periods the Israelites were traveling.

And the entire congregation of the children of Israel departed from before Moses.

"And they departed" — We learn from this that the entire congregation of Israel came to the Tent of Meeting in successive groups.

ויצאו כל עדת בני ישראל מלפני משה. The whole congregation of Israelites departed from the presence of Moses. The Torah emphasises that they all left simultaneously, eager to bring their contributions for this sacred project. מלפני משה. From the presence of Moses. This is mentioned to indicate that contrary to general practice, the Israelites did not wait for Moses to formally give them permission to leave this assembly. This was in contrast to a halachic ruling recorded in Yuma 53 according to which a disciple must not leave the presence of his teacher without first obtaining permission to do so. The Israelites reasoned that seeing Moses had said: "take from yourselves a gift, etc." the fact that he stopped addressing them was equivalent to his having dismissed them. Alternatively, the Israelites' love to contribute to the sacred project made them forget their good manners. They may have been anxious to contribute what they could before Moses himself would anticipate them. Moses personally was very wealthy and certainly sufficiently motivated to contribute so much of his own that little would be left for the average Israelite to contribute.

ויצאו כל עדת בני ישראל ...ויבואו, “the whole of the assembly of the Children of Israel departed...and they came, etc. This verse describes the eagerness with which the Jewish people responded to Moses’ request, and how they brought their respective gifts immediately. The women were the first to respond; this is why the Torah records (verse 22) “the men came following the women, etc.” When the men arrived with their gifts they found that their women had already preceded them. It is a remarkable tribute to the Jewish women who had not been willing to give their men their jewelry to help in the making of the golden calf but who now volunteered their most precious possessions with alacrity (compare Exodus 32, 2 and 3, and Tanchuma on Ki Tissa 19). When the Torah had described the donations for the making of the golden calf which, according to Aaron (32,3), should have been given by the women and the girls, the Torah did not report any of the women giving up their jewelry for such a project. This is why the Torah reports the men as divesting themselves of their own jewelry instead (in that verse). Solomon alluded to this when he wrote in Kohelet 7,28: אדם אחד מאלף מצאתי ואשה בכל אלה לא מצאתי, “I have found one man in a thousand, but I have not even found one woman amongst these,” (who contributed to אלה, the word used when the Israelites were told to look upon that calf as a deity). Now that the donations requested were for the building of the Tabernacle, were intended to provide a home for the Shechinah, the women were the first to respond enthusiastically to the call for contributions. The Torah enumerates that the women even contributed jewelry worn on intimate parts of their bodies. They overcame their habitual reluctance to part with such intimate jewelry. We find other examples in the Bible where the word על used here by the Torah means “in addition to.” An example of such a use of the word על is found in Isaiah 7,2: “Aram has joined Ephrayim (the Northern Kingdom) to gang up against you “ (the Kingdom of Yehudah). In that instance, Ephrayim were the first to ready themselves for war against Achaz, King of Yehudah. In Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer we are told (chapter 45) that G’d rewarded the women for this both in this life as well as in the world to come, seeing all this occurred on the first day of the month. (The Tabernacle was erected on the first of Nissan, the donations were given immediately after the Day of Atonement). Women observe the Day of the New Moon more than do the men as on that day they do not perform all the chores which they perform on ordinary days of the week (Hagahot Rabbi David Luria based on a saying in the Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim beginning of fourth chapter). In the world to come, the reward set aside for women having volunteered their jewelry on this occasion is based on Psalms 103,5: “He satisfies you with the good things in the prime of life so that your youth is renewed like that of the eagle.” When the Torah reports that “every generously-minded individual brought bracelets and nose-rings, etc.,” this is a reference to the women who brought this jewelry. I believe we are dealing here with an abbreviated verse. The unabridged verse would read: “all the men who were of a generous disposition came after the women who had already brought jewelry including jewelry worn on intimate parts of their bodies.” The Torah then adds that the few people in whose possession there were such materials as blue wool, purple wool, and the skins of the animal called Tachash, etc., donated them. The same applies to the acacia wood in possession of a very small number of Israelites (verse 24). These people are named last as there were even fewer of them than there were people owning blue wool, etc.

And every man whose heart was willing, and everyone whose spirit moved him, brought the contribution before Hashem for the work of the Tent of Meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments.

AND THEY CAME, EVERY ONE WHOSE HEART STIRRED HIM UP. This is said with reference to the wise men who did the work, for we do not find the use of this phrase, “the stirring up of the heart,” in connection with those who merely brought the donations; Scripture rather mentions “generosity of heart” with reference to them. Now the reason for using such a phrase, whose heart stirred him up, is because they undertook to do the work, although there was no one amongst them who had learned these crafts from an instructor, or had trained his hands at all to do them. Rather, a person who felt in his nature that he knew how to do such skills, his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Eternal to come before Moses and say to him, “I will do all that my lord speaks.” I have already mentioned this in another section. Thus Scripture is stating that there came before Moses every one whose heart stirred him up to undertake the work, and every one whom his spirit made willing brought the offering. Then Moses said to all of them that G-d had called by name Bezalel, and Oholiab. Afterwards Moses called them and every wise-hearted man to come before him, and he gave them the whole donation [brought by the people so that they could proceed to do the work].

"And every man whose heart lifted him" — these are the wise-hearted; the meaning is: one who has a noble heart.

ויבאו כל איש ישראל אשר נשאו לבו, Every Israelite whose heart had elevated him came, brought, etc. The Torah alludes to two different categories of donors. 1) A person who donates as a result of an urge to do so in accordance with his means, both physically and financially. The Torah describes such a person as נדבה רוחו, to stress that such a donor does not feel that he deprives himself of something by giving it away. 2) The second type of donor is one who loses his sense of proportion because of his enthusiasm for the project for which he donates. As a result he contributes more than he can afford. The Torah describes this second type of person as נשאו לבו, "he is carried away by his heart." At the time he donates, such a person considers himself as possessing far more economic resources than he actually does. The Torah spoke of both of these types in our verse to show that there were both of these kinds of donors among the Israelites. The Torah first mentions the overly enthusiastic donor, i.e. אשר נשאו לבו, describing such individuals as איש, as people of distinction. Next the Torah mentions the וכל אשר נדבה רוחו, anyone moved to donate by his spirit. In this instance, the Torah avoids describing these individuals as איש, an honorary title. Although such people are to be commended for their noble gestures, they do not compare to the first category. We know that there are far inferior reasons for donating to charity or to public causes, such as social pressures, etc. The fact that the Torah speaks of only these two categories mentioned is a great compliment to the Israelites, something the Torah underlines when repeating הביאו את תרומת השם, they brought the Lord's offering. By writing these words the Torah testifies that all the donors were sufficiently highly motivated to enable G'd's contribution to attach itself, את, to their own, as we have described in our commentary on verse 5. ולכל עבודתו, and for all the service thereof. The Torah reveals with this verse that all the 13 types of materials which were indispensable for making the Tabernacle were in fact donated. Moses did not have to take money, even donated money, to go out and acquire any of the materials because they had not been contributed in sufficient quantity or not at all.

ויבאו כל איש אשר נשאו לבו, “Every man whose heart inspired him came;” Nachmanides draws our attention to the change in expression here. In connection with the donations, (25,2) the Torah had described the individual’s motivation with the words אשר נדבנו לבו, “whose heart motivates him,” whereas here we are told about a different level of generosity, enthusiasm, i.e. אשר נשאו לבו, “whose heart inspired him.” Men who had no training in performing any of these tasks were inspired and suddenly were able to perform tasks they had never considered themselves capable of performing. Artisans who were skilled in performing tasks but had never trained others to do so, now became skilled at teaching their art, and men or women who had never displayed skill with their hands were suddenly inspired to do so. They came to Moses volunteering to perform the tasks that were required.

למלאכת אוהל מועד, the carpets of the Tabernacles and the dividing curtain. לכל עבודתו, the curtains around the courtyard and the sacred vessels.

And the men came along with the women; everyone whose heart was willing brought bracelets and clasps and signet-rings and girdles — every article of gold — and every man who raised a wave-offering of gold before Hashem.

על הנשים means with the women and closely following them. חח is a circular golden ornament placed upon the arm; it is the צמיד which is often mentioned in Scripture (cf. e. g., Numbers 31:50). כומז was a golden ornament worn by the women upon their private parts, Our Rabbis explain the name כּוּמָז as [an acrostic]: כַּאן מְקוֹם זִמָּה, [meaning] here is the place of licentiousness. (cf. Shabbat 64a).

AND THE MEN CAME ‘AL HANASHIM’ (WITH THE WOMEN). The meaning of this expression is that because donations of ornaments were more common amongst women, and they all had these jewels [cited in the verse: nose-rings, and ear-rings, and signet-rings, and golden beads, all jewels of gold], therefore they immediately pulled off their ear-rings and signet-rings and were the first to come to Moses, and [afterwards] they brought with them those men with whom they found ornaments. For the phrase al hanashim indicates that they were there first, while the men joined them later. Similar usage of the word al is found in these verses: Aram is confederate ‘al’ Ephraim, for that war [against Judah] was mainly led by Ephraim [i.e., the kingdom of Israel]; and he did not put them ‘al’ (unto) Laban’s flock; ‘v’alav’ (and next unto him) shall be the tribe of Manasseh. There are other similar instances. Thus Scripture is stating that all — men and women — came with nose-rings, and ear-rings, and signet-rings, and golden beads, and with all jewels of gold, such as bracelets and ear-rings, as all of the people found some jewelry to bring. It further states that some of them brought an offering of gold, in some broken form or as coin. And every man, with whom was found blue-purple and red-purple. The reason for this expression is that these items were found only amongst a few of the people. Then Scripture states again, and every man, with whom was found acacia-wood, because the people who had this kind of wood were still fewer in number. It states, Every one that did set apart an offering of silver and brass, because most people had silver and brass in coins or vessels. Scripture, however, did not mention this above together with all jewels of gold, because it mentioned there the women, and they did not have silver and brass ornaments but gold ones, just as Aaron said, Pull off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives. And every man that ‘heinif tenufath’ (brought an offering of) gold. This is so phrased because the number of these people was not as great as those who brought silver and brass. Thus the amount of gold brought was not as much as that of silver and brass. It is for this reason that the gold donation is called tenufah (waving), whilst that of silver and brass is called terumah (offering), for one who brings gold waves it with his hand to show the importance of the donation, or it may be that those who take it from him wave the gold to show up the donor in a praiseworthy light for having brought such a donation. However, in the section of Eileh Pekudei Scripture calls the donations of both gold and brass tenufah, because there it does not mention at all terumah (free-will offering,) but only the silver of them that were numbered. It is possible that brass also was called tenufah because it was more important to them than silver, since they did not have much of it. Or it may have been very important on its own merit, similar to that which is s...

The phrase "upon the women" (al ha-nashim) means "together with the women," as in "upon the loaves of the firstfruits a wave-offering" (Lev. 23:20) — and there are many such instances. "Every generous-hearted man" — or "generous-hearted woman" — in the manner of "the hyrax" (Lev. 11:5) and "ox, sheep and goats" (Deut. 14:4). "Clasp" (chach) — worn at the ear. "Nose-ring" (nezem) — worn at the nose. "Ring" (taba'at) — worn on the finger. "Armlet" (kumaz) — worn on the arm.

ויבואו האנשים על הנשים, together with the women who were contributing voluntarily. The men accompanied the women to indicate that the women had their approval. וכל איש אשר הניף תנופת זהב, together with the women who had donated golden jewelry also every male who donated such golden offerings. The Torah states simply that donations of different materials were not all lumped together but that all silver donations irrespective of by whom, as well as all donations of gold whether by men or by women, were kept together based on the raw material they consisted of.

ויבאו האנשים על הנשים; They came, both men and women. The expression על הנשים needs further analysis. Besides, why does the Torah repeat once more that the people who brought the materials were כל נדיב לבו, "all motivated by a generous heart?" Perhaps the Torah wanted to describe the nature of the generosity of these men, i.e. the אנשי החיל, the men of valour. People are attached to their earthly possessions in different degrees. We may perceive of this attachment in a descending order. 1) One is attached most strongly to possessions that serve one in the home, jewelry, household utensils, furniture, etc. This attachment is based on sentimental rather than monetary considerations. 2) One is attached to one's gold, seeing it represents the most enduring of one's possessions and does not require expense for its upkeep. 3) One is attached to possessions which are one's exclusive property, no one else in the world possessing anything like it, such as a rare painting by a painter already deceased. 4) One is attached to all the other kinds of possessions one owns. In our verse the Torah describes how the men brought the kind of possessions normally worn by women, i.e. their most cherished possessions. The donors' generosity was such that they donated the most precious jewelry of their wives, nose-rings, ear-rings, signet-rings, etc.. The Torah distinguished between a נדיב לב, and between a נשאו לבו, as we have already explained. When the Torah speaks about people donating כל כלי זהב, it is to tell us that the people did not donate the golden utensils they had duplicates of which they could use instead. The word כל is a reminder that they did not retain a duplicate or substitute golden vessel for the ones they donated for the Tabernacle. It is also possible that the expression על הנשים means that this jewelry was still being worn by the wives of the men when they came to Moses to hand over their donations. They took off the jewelry only after Moses could see that this jewelry represented something very dear to them. Then there was the kind of gold which had not served as jewelry. When describing people who donated that kind of gold the Torah wrote: וכל איש אשר הניף תנופת זהב לשם, and any man who brought an offering of gold for G'd. The third category of possessions donated by people, i.e. the items which a person knew was one of a kind seeing these things were unobtainable in the desert, is described by the Torah with the words וכל איש אשר נמצא אתו תכלת וארגמן, וגו and any man who had in his possession blue wool, purple wool, etc. Finally, the the fourth category of donors, the people who donated silver and other valuable possession are described as כל מרים תרומת כסף ונחושת, any man donating silver or copper. When the Torah continues and describes people who possessed and brought acacia wood, the term נדבה, a donation, is omitted seeing that according to Tanchuma Parshat Terumah Jacob had foreseen the need for such wood and had planted such trees fo...

ויבואו האנשים על הנשים, the men came “upon” the women, to take away their jewelry in order to use them for building the Tabernacle, as we will read presently. A different interpretation: the word על in this verse means: “with;” in other words, the men did no volunteer their own jewelry as gifts for to building the Tabernacle until after the women had already done so by removing their own jewelry. The use of the word על as meaning “with,” we know already from Leviticus 25,31 על שדה הארץ יחשב, “it will be considered as belonging with the open country.” Or, Numbers 19,5: על פרשה ישרף, “it will be burned together with its dung.” חח, jewelry worn in the ear; נזם, jewelry worn in the nose;טבעת, jewelry worn on the fingers; כומוז, jewelry worn on the arms.35, 27. והנשיאים הביאו, “and the princes had brought;” they had taken these things with them at the time when theIsraelites had “emptied” Egypt of all their valuables (Exodus 12,36) each taking items appropriate to their social status.

“And the men came upon the women.” The commentators said that this means “with the women,” and it informs us of the righteousness of the women who agreed to give their jewelry. And it must be said that this is indeed praiseworthy for them because, strictly speaking, they were not required to give their jewelry. For the men who removed their earrings and made the [golden] calf from them needed to give their earrings and ornaments to atone for their souls. But the women, who refused to give their jewelry for the making of the calf, consequently did not need atonement, so why would they give their jewelry? Nevertheless, because of their love for the sacred, they did not refrain from giving. However, the women did not want to bring their donations directly to Moses lest Moses think they had a part in the sin. Therefore it says, all who were generous of heart brought, but the women did not bring but rather gave their jewelry. However, since it says upon the women [al hanashim] and not “with the women” [im hanashim], it makes more sense to interpret it as meaning that they came upon them with great force because the women did not want to give any gold items lest people say they had a part in the gold of the calf. And the men came upon them and forcibly took all the gold items from them. That is why only the men are mentioned in the bringing of the gold. But regarding the spun material, which does not involve this suspicion, the women were engaged in it, as it is written, And all the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands, etc.

ויבאו האנשים על הנשים, “The men came together with the women;” the meaning of the word על הנשים is that the men “played second fiddle” to the women, who had been the primary movers in getting the whole project off to a flying start. One of the reasons the women were so quick in contributing, was that they had plenty of jewelry with which they were in the habit of adorning themselves. They did not have to go searching for things to contribute. All they had to do was to take off part of their jewelry and to hand it to Moses. וכל איש אשר הניף תנופת זהב לה', “and any man who raised up an offering of gold for G’d.” Seeing that the Torah had already reported that all kinds of golden vessels had been donated, here we must think in terms of either gold coins or remnants of golden vessels that had somehow disintegrated.

ויבואו האנשים על הנשים, “and the men came to the women intending to deny them to offer their jewelry such as חח ונזם nose rings and ear rings; however the women were quite anxious to donate even these pieces of jewelry, seeing that it was for holy purpose. This is why the Torah gives them special credit for their general attitude in verse 26: וכל הנשים אשר נשא לבם אותנה, “and all the women whose heart stirred them, etc.” According to our sages, this is the reason why they were given a holiday each Rosh Chodesh by being allowed to treat it as a sort of holiday, not having to perform tedious activities. This was also in recognition of the fact that they had refused to part with any of their jewelry during the episode of the golden calf. (Compare Exodus 32,2, as interpreted by Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer in chapter 45). According to our author, they were given off on the first day of the month of Nissan during that year, as that was the day when the Tabernacle was put up. Subsequently, every Rosh Chodesh became a semi-holiday for the women.

And every man with whom was found blue, and purple, and crimson dye, and linen, and goat hair, and reddened rams' skins, and purple-violet skins — they brought them.

וכל איש אשר נמצא אתו AND EVERY MAN WITH WHOM WAS FOUND blue purple, or red purple, or crimson, or rams’ skins, or tachash skins — all of them brought whatever they had.

"And every man" — or woman. The women added by spinning the blue, the purple, the crimson, and the linen, and also the goats' hair — which is a craft requiring even greater skill.

וכל איש אשר נמצא אתו תכלת וארגמן, “as well any man in whose possession there was blue wool and purple wool.” Finding such cloth dyed in the required colours was more difficult, as not many people owned such. We find a similar expression later when people who happened to own shittim wood for the beams of the Tabernacle are described as אשר נמצא אתו, “who possessed such.” On the other hand, when speaking of contributions of metal such as silver and copper, the Torah uses the word כל “all,” as if to hint that everyone possessed such metals in abundance, so that there was no problem in raising the contributions necessary in the required quantities or even more than that. This expression כל had not been used when the Torah spoke of contributions of gold, seeing that the gold was primarily donated by the women who had golden jewelry, but who did not own silver and copper in their own right. [they could not legally donate what belonged to their husbands. Ed.] In Parshat Pekudey the Torah refers to both gold and copper as תנופה, “a raised up” offering. The reason for this may be the absence of any reference to a donation, i.e. תרומה[the word תרומה from the root הרים, to elevate something, obviated the need for reference to תנופה when gold was mentioned earlier. Ed.] Silver donated is described there without being defined as either תרומה or תנופה, presumably because the half shekel silver coins contributed by all the males above 20 years of age were mandatory contributions, not the result of any feeling of generosity on the part of the donor who had to atone for a serious sin he had been guilty of. [seeing that there is a confusion in the text of the author’s manuscript about this, I have substituted my own interpretation. The Torah, after all, did write that the silver was the proceeds of the people numbered. (38,25,) Ed.] Copper may have qualified for a distinctive adjective as it was not common and much in demand, so that giving it away represented an act of special generosity.

Everyone who raised a contribution of silver or copper brought the contribution before Hashem; and everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service — they brought it.

Everybody brought these materials, even those who were under the age 20 or over the age of 60, that is to say, even those who were exempt from army service.

כל מרים תרומת כסף ונחושת, “Every man who donated a gift of silver or copper, etc.” No doubt silver was more plentiful than gold, not to mention copper of which the people must have owned an abundance. Presumably, the gold owned by the people was concentrated mostly in the hands of the women who used it as jewelry, whereas silver and copper were used mostly by the men, both as tools and as coins, i.e. money. This is why in connection with the silver the Torah speaks of תרומה, an expression of raising, separating, whereas in connection with donations consisting of gold the Torah speaks of תנופה, something which is lifted up. When someone donates gold he considers himself as having raised himself to a higher level. The recipients of a gift consisting of gold generally make a point of lauding the generosity of the donor. Still, on occasion we find the word תנופה used in connection with copper vessels when there is a reason to emphasise the value of that particular item such as in 38,29 where the Torah in mentioning the total weight of the copper donated (which collectively represented substantial value) describes it as “seventy talents, 2400 shekel worth.” The copper in question was highly polished, capable of acting as a mirror, therefore it deserved to be described as נחושת התנופה. Copper of that quality was even rarer than gold.

And every woman skilled of heart spun with her hands and brought the spun yarn: the blue, and the purple, the crimson dye, and the linen.

וכל אשה חכמת לב בידיה טוו, “and every wise-hearted woman, spun with her hands, etc.” This is the source for the sages who hold that the term חכמה when applied to a woman means only manual dexterity, to be employed exclusively for the needs of her household and showing honour to her husband. It is why they forbade women to engage in the study of the Torah (Yuma 66). Our sages derive specific proof for their attitude from Deut. 6,7: ושננתם לבניך, “you shall teach them (the words of Torah) diligently to your sons” (and not to your daughters). The Talmud Kiddushin 29 goes as far as to say that anyone teaching his daughter Torah is comparable to someone teaching her תפלות, “frivolity.” We have already mentioned that in Yuma 86 the Talmud mentions that the wording in our verse where women are described as possessing חכמה, applies exclusively to their knack for using the spindle, the distaff.

חכמת לב, a wise woman. When the word חכמת is vocalized with the chataf kametz, it is a noun. The word occurs in that sense in Kings I 5,10 חכמת מצרים. בידיה טוו, each of these women spun with her own hands. THEY SPUN. As in (Jud. 5:26), "Her hand reached for the tent pin" [Lit.: "Her [sing.] hand for the tent peg they stretched forth [plural]."]

And all the women whose hearts were willing with them in skill spun the goat hair.

טוו את העזים [AND THE WOMEN] SPUN THE GOATS’ HAIR (lit., the goats) — This required extraordinary skill, for they spun it (the goats’ hair) from off the backs of the goats (whilst it was still on the living animals) (Shabbat 99a).

טוו את העזים, while the wool was still on the goats, as per Shabbat 99. The reason was to lend an additional sheen to the yarn spun from this hair. There are many materials which suffer a reduction in appearance once they are separated from their original habitat. We all are aware of this phenomenon with bees’ honey. [The author cites other examples of a similar nature occurring with products that I am not familiar with. Ed.]

And all the women whose hearts were moved in wisdom spun goats' hair (while) upon their bodies, and sheared them, being alive.

And the chieftains brought the onyx stones and the stones for setting, to be inlaid in the ephod and in the breastpiece;

והנשאם הביאו AND THE PRINCES BROUGHT [ONYX STONES] R. Nathan asked, “What reason had the princes to give their contributions at the dedication of the altar (Numbers 7:12ff.) first of all the people, whereas at the work of the Tabernacle they were not the first, but the last to contribute?” But — replied he — the princes spoke thus: “Let the community in general contribute all they with to give and what will then be lacking we shall supply” But when the community gave everything needed in its entirety — as it is said, (Exodus 36:7) “For the stuff they had was enough [for all the work to make it, and some was left]” — the princes asked, “What can we now do?” therefore הביאו את אבני השהם וגו׳ THEY BROUGHT THE ONYX STONES etc. That is why they were the first to contribute at the consecration of the altar. Because, however, they were dilatory at the beginning, a letter is missing here from their title (thus intimating that something, viz., zeal was lacking in them): for it is written והנשאם instead of והנשיאים (Numbers Rabbah 12:16).

"And the chieftains" — When they went out of Egypt and despoiled the Egyptians, each man took according to his station. It is a remarkable thing that oil for the light was found in the hands of the chieftains after the many months since they had left Egypt. He then speaks comprehensively of every man and woman, and returns to speak of the women whose hearts moved them to act; he mentions the head [Moses], because all were subject to his authority, for there was none among them as wise as he.

והנשיאים הביאו את אבני השהם, and the princes brought the onyx stones, etc. The reason that these precious stones are listed only after such relatively inexpensive contributions as the spun goats' hair by the women is, that the princes tarried and were the last ones to make their contributions.

And the stones that were for the breastplate, each one brought one stone for the name of their tribe and also the anointing oil they brought to sanctify everything. And the anointing oil suggests magnificence because it was used to anoint kings and high priests. And they also brought the incense that was burnt on the golden altar and the same incense that was burnt by the High Priest on Yom Kippur in the Holy of Holies.

והנשיאים הביאו את אבני השוהם, “and the princes brought the shoham stones and the precious stones for the breastplate.” Seeing that in general it is the nature of the princes to feel and act superior to the common people [the reason why the Torah specifically warns a Jewish king not to be overbearing (Deut. 17,20)], the princes contributed items which were to be worn directly on the garments of the High Priest when he would perform service in the Tabernacle. They would thus obtain their atonement for their haughtiness, or remnants of it. This is also the reason that the verse refers to them with the introductory letter ה, i.e. the ones who were well known. The Torah implies that these princes had held back thus far meaning to supply all the things which the common people would fail to donate. In the event, their very arrogance resulted in there being nothing left to contribute other than these precious jewels as the people had pre-empted them and brought a surfeit of all the other materials needed (compare Sifri Nasso item 45). Even though their intention had been good, the Torah accounts their conduct as sinful seeing that if per chance the Israelites had possessed these precious stones they surely would have contributed them leaving the princes with nothing left to contribute. The Torah’s dissatisfaction with the princes’ behaviour is reflected in two letters י having been omitted here in the word והנשאם where the proper spelling should have been והנשיאים. This teaches that anyone who has the chance to be amongst the first to perform a commandment and holds back for whatever reason deserves to be punished. There are those who explain that the availability of these precious stones amongst any of the Israelites was altogether something miraculous; it was an act of G’d to enable the Israelites to complete the building of the Tabernacle using only their own resources. According to the Talmud in Yuma 75 the shoham stones, etc., fell from heaven at the same time as the manna and this is what is meant by the expression ונשיאים הביאו, “and the princes brought, etc.” The expression נשיאים in that verse denotes someone or something elevated, raised up high, such as we find in Psalms 135,7 מעלה נשיאים מקצה הארץ, “He makes the clouds rise from the end of the earth.” The clouds of glory were contributed by G’d Himself (descending to Moses’ tent), completing all that was needed to make the Tabernacle operational.

And the leaders brought the shoham stones. The Rabbis said (Sifrei Naso 3) that because they were negligent with this donation and only brought their contribution at the end, the letter yud was removed from their name, and HaNesi’im [the leaders] is written deficiently [missing the yud]. For truly, they should not have waited until the end, because perhaps the Israelites would have given all that was needed, and they [the leaders] would have no portion in the entire Mishkan [Tabernacle]. And regarding why specifically the letter yud was removed, we explained above in Parashat Terumah (25:1) that it is because the Holy One, blessed be He, said, The haughty of eye and proud of heart, him I cannot bear (Psalms 101:5). And with the leaders, there was undoubtedly a spirit of pride as they said, by way of boasting, “Who will fill what we are lacking? But we will fill whatever the public lacks.” Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, took the letter yud from their name, because only this letter from the great Name [of God] was engraved in their name, and He took it from them to say, “This is not its place.” And we can say further, that since the entire Tabernacle was atonement for the sin of the Golden Calf which caused the breaking of the tablets and the holy letters to fly away, and it is known that the letters have more holiness than the tablets themselves, therefore all the people brought as donations the 13 items mentioned in the portion of Terumah to atone for causing the flying away of the letters of the tablets, which are expounded through the 13 methods of Torah interpretation. The princes were not able to bring any additional donation that related to the writing on the tablets, which is the essential part, so they needed to bring the two shoham stones as atonement for the breaking of the two stone tablets. This atonement was not as significant as the atonement of the people, therefore the letter yud (the numerical value of which is 10) was missing from their name [nesi’im without the yud], because they had no portion in the atonement that related to the writing of the Ten Commandments, meaning the flying letters. And our Sages of blessed memory (Yoma 75a) interpreted “And the princes [Nesi’im] brought” as referring to clouds, like Clouds [Nesi’im] and wind, etc. (Proverbs 25:14). And they said that the clouds brought the shoham stones. And it seems to me, according to what our Sages of blessed memory said (Taanit 8b), that rain is withheld only because of those who publicly pledge charity and do not give, as it is said Clouds and wind but no rain, a man who boasts of a false gift. Therefore, in a place where people do not give donations, the clouds do not bring down anything, but here, where everyone gave their donation, it is therefore said And the princes/clouds brought, etc. For the clouds gave their rain in its proper time, and blessing was sent in all the work of their hands, to the extent that they were able to purchase shoham stones and all precious stones because of the great wealth that the clouds bestowed upon them. Or, the clouds drew water from the bottom of the sea, the place where shoham stones are found. And by way of allusion, what they said in the tradition, there are two [occurrences of] “vayikalu” [and it stopped], can be explained: First, And the rain stopped from the earth, and second, And the people stopped from bringing. This hints that when people do not give their donations and the people stop from bringing what they pledged, then the rain is stopped from the earth. And some say that because the clouds brought the manna, and their food was provided, so they had no expenses, and they became wealthy, as their money continually increased, and they had enough to purchase shoham stones.

והנשיאים הביאו, “and the princes had brought (gemstones).” According to Ibn Ezra when the people at the time of the Exodus asked their Egyptian neighbours for valuables, each person asked for things commensurate to his station in society. The princes therefore had asked for jewels, which they now contributed for use in the breastplate of the High Priest. According to a comment by the Targum Yonatan ben Uziel, and a note in the Tanchuma, the word נשיאים here is rendered as ענני שמיא, “celestial clouds,“ i.e. a kind of angel? And these angels came and contributed these jewels for the breastplate and Ephod of the High Priest. In Yuma 75 the word נשיאים is also used in that sense. (based on Proverbs 25,14 )

והנשיאים הביאו את אבני השוהם, these were the gemstones on which the names of the tribes were inscribed.

והנשיאים, “and the princes, etc.; the Talmud in tractate Yuma folio 75 claims that the word נשיאים here refers to clouds, quoting as its source Proverbs 25,14: נשיאים ורוח וגשם אין, “like clouds and wind that do not bring rain.” It is explained there that when the manna would fall from the sky it was accompanied by precious stones falling alongside as well as pearls. This is the meaning of Exodus 36,3: והם הביאו אליו עוד נדבה אליו בבוקר בבוקר, “and they kept bringing to him voluntary offerings every morning.” It was the manna which has been described in the Torah as coming down בבוקר בבוקר (Compare Exodus 16,21). Rabbi Yochanan on that folio adds that all the donations for the Tabernacle were contributed on two mornings, and even that quantity was more than was required. [He interpreted the words: בבוקר בבוקר, as referring only to two mornings. Ed.[ 'את אבני השהם וגו.” And the shoham stones;” each prince brought the type of jewel that was used for his tribe on the High Priest’s breastplate. They also contributed the oil for anointing the Tabernacle.

and the spice and the oil for illumination, and for the anointing oil, and for the incense spices.

למאור. “for lighting.” The letter ל, has a semi vowel sh’va under it. [instead of a kametz]

ולשמן המשחה, the hin of pure olive oil.

And the clouds of heaven returned, and went to the garden of Eden, and took from thence choice aromatics, and oil of olives for the light, and pure balsam for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense.

Every man and woman whose hearts were willing with them to bring for all the work that Hashem had commanded to be done by the hand of Moses — the children of Israel brought a freewill offering before Hashem.

הביאו בני ישראל נדבה לה׳. The children of Israel brought a free-will offering unto the the Lord. The Torah sums up all the donations previously listed as in the category of a "free-will offering."

And Moses said to the children of Israel: See, Hashem has magnified by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

חור HUR was the son the Miriam (Sotah 11b; cf. Rashi on Exodus 24:14).

“Behold, God has called by name Bezalel.” Moses said, “See and pay careful attention to their names, for God has called Bezalel by name. From the beginning, God gave them names that indicate they were created for this purpose — to be engaged in the sacred work. For Bezalel is derived from ‘betzal El’ [in the shadow of God], hinting that he would build the Tabernacle and the Ark, which would be a dwelling place for the Divine Presence that comes under its shadow, as it is written He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalms 91:1). And it is written He shall lie between my breasts (Song of Songs 1:13). Our Sages explained that the Holy One, blessed be He, would constrict His Presence between the two poles of the Ark and between the two cherubim who cover their wings over the face of the cover. And the covering [sekakh] relates to shade [tzel], for they were the ‘shadow of God,’ as it were. Evidence for this is that in all the work of the Tabernacle it is written ”and he made“ without mentioning Bezalel, but regarding the Ark it is written and Bezalel made the Ark. All this proves that he was called ”betzal El“ [in the shadow of God] because of the Ark. Son of Uri — this refers to the light [or] of the Torah, for he would build a place for the Torah, which is light. Son of Hur — this indicates that it was proper to bring him near to this sacred work more than others, since Hur, his grandfather, sacrificed his life during the incident of the Golden Calf, which caused the breaking of the Tablets. According to our Sages (Sanhedrin 7a), they killed Hur. Of the tribe of Judah — which is compared to a lion cub, and the Temple is called ”Ariel“ [lion of God]. Just as a lion is wider in front and narrower behind, so too the Tabernacle was wider in front and narrower behind. This teaches that the place of the Divine Presence does not depend on expansiveness, for the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, how much less this house. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, chose a narrow place for His Presence to teach that He is not limited to any space, and for the honor of Israel He compromised His own honor by establishing Himself in a place. Nevertheless, He chose a narrow place for Himself, and this is sufficient as a prompt for the enlightened. He and Oholiab. He was called this because he would build the Tent [Ohel] of Meeting for our Father [Av] in Heaven, and for this reason he was named Oholiab, son of Ahisamakh, because there is the place of support [semikhut] for brothers, namely the Divine Presence with Israel, as it is written For the sake of my brothers and friends, I shall speak of peace in you (Psalms 122:8). And it is written My sister, my beloved (Song of Songs 5:2) [which is understood as God speaking to Israel]. From the tribe of Dan. For he too was compared to a lion’s cub, as it is said Dan is a lion’s cub (Deuteronomy 33:22). Therefore, it was fitting that he build the Ariel [the altar, literally the Lion of God], and there is a hint in Judah and Dan to His two names, the name of mercy and the name of judgment, with which the Holy One, blessed be He, partnered and created the world. Similarly, this Tabernacle, which was made in the image of all the worlds, was made through Judah, whose name includes the entire name of mercy, and through Dan [which means he judged], who indicates the attribute of judgment, for with these two the Lord formed His world, and with these two the Tabernacle was made in the image of the world through the tribes of Dan and Judah. Therefore, it says See, the Lord has called [it] by [His] name, and this secret is correct and clear. And in order to completely liken the building of the Tabernacle to the building of the world, Moses commanded to announce that no man or woman should do any more work. And why was this necessary? Did they commit a sin by bringing more than what was needed? Rather, because Moses saw that the design of this building was a model of the structure of the entire world, and our Sages of blessed memory said (in Chagigah 12a) that when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, it kept expanding until the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked it and said to His world, “Enough!” So too, when Moses saw that this matter was expanding without limit, he rebuked them saying, “Let them do no more work,” because this is what the Holy One, blessed be He, did in the creation of His world. And regarding what is written And they took from before Moses, some say that Moses, to avoid suspicion, did not want to bring the donations into his house and chambers, but rather, when they were placed before him, from there the craftsmen took them.

ראו קרא, “see! He has called upon, etc.” What does the word: ראו mean here? When Moses had told the people that Betzalel would be the chief architect/craftsman, and that he would be constructing the Tabernacle, (beginning of chapter 31, where he had been told about Betzalel and Oholiov by name by G–d) there was murmuring among the Israelites who charged Moses with nepotism and assigning every position of importance to members of his family. He therefore repeated here that these men had not been chosen by him but by G–d, personally. In fact, Moses, personally, had originally thought that he himself had been charged with the whole task, seeing that G–d had said to him: ועשית, “you will make,” etc., chapter 25,17, and subsequently. The plural impersonal mode had been reserved for the construction of the Holy Ark (Exodus 25,10). G–d explained to him then already that on the contrary, not as he had thought, he would not build the Tabernacle but a descendant of Chur, who had given his life trying to stop the Jewish people from making a golden calf would be charged with that task. By doing so he would help atone for the murder of his grandfather and for the sin of the golden calf. This is why the Torah traces Betzalel’s ancestry to Chur, i.e. Betzalel son of Uri, son of Chur. (Compare Exodus 31,2)

And He filled him with a spirit of prophecy from before Hashem, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in every kind of work.

"And He filled him" — Hashem testified that He filled him with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, and added further that he was skilled in every craft.

בחכמה, “with wisdom;” as is written in Proverbs 3,19: בחכמה יסד הארץ, בתבונה, “with understanding,” as is written there,” כונן שמים בתבונה, “He establishes the heavens with understanding.” בדעת, “with knowledge;” as is written there in verse 20: בדעתו תהומות נבקעו, “by His knowledge the depths were broken up.” These attributes were used again when Solomon built his Temple as we know from Kings I 7.14. They will be used once more when the third and final Temple will be built as we know from Proverbs 24,3-4: בחכמה יבנה בית ובתבונה יתכונן, ובדעת חדרים ימלאו כל-הון יקר ונעים, “a house will be built by wisdom; it is established through understanding. Its rooms are filled with all kinds of precious and beautiful riches.”

and hath filled him with the Spirit of prophecy from before the Lord, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all handicraft;.

And to teach crafts, to work in gold, in silver, and in copper;

"To devise" — designs in his mind such as had never been seen before him. For there is an artisan skilled in gold but not in silver, and craftsmen in stone but not in wood; in all of them he was complete.

and in the craft of setting precious stones, and in the craft of carpentry in wood — to make every work of skilled craftsmanship.

and in the cutting of precious stones, to perfect by them the work, and in the fabrication of wood, to work in all the work of artificers.

And the ability to teach He placed in his heart — his and that of Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

ואהליאב AND OHOLIAB — he was of the tribe of Dan, of one of the lowest of the tribes, of the sons of the handmaids, and yet the Omnipresent placed him with regard to the work of the Tabernacle on a level with Bezalel although he was a member of one of the noble tribes (Judah)! in order to confirm what Scripture says, (Job 34:19) “He regardeth not the rich more than the poor” (Midrash Tanchuma 2:10:13).

"And furthermore, to teach" — For there are many skilled men who find it difficult to teach others. Oholiab was his partner in all the crafts, as well as in teaching others in the skill. Therefore the verse says of both of them: "makers of all craftsmanship and designers of designs."

ולהורות נתן בלבו, and He equipped his heart with the ability to teach, etc. There are many great scholars whose wisdom is locked up in their hearts due to their inability to transmit it successfully to outsiders. The ability to teach is a great gift, and this is why the Torah testifies that G'd granted this gift to Betzalel. There is also a moral lesson contained in this verse not to act like certain members of the family of Bet Gormu who wanted to preserve their monoply on the intricacies of preparing the show breads by not teaching their craft to any non-family member. The Talmud severely critised their behaviour (Yuma 38). People who do teach their crafts qualify for the blessing expressed by Solomon in Proverbs 10,7: "The memory of a righteous person is a source of blessing."

ולהורות, “and to give instruction,” to others.

ולהורותם, and to teach others.

He filled them with wisdom of heart to do all manner of carpenter's work and of a craftsman and a designer in blue and in purple, in crimson dye and in linen — and those who execute every kind of work — and teachers of crafts.

מלא אותם חכמת לב, “He filled them with a wise heart.” There are 32 paths of wisdom (as we know from Sefer Yetzirah 1,1). The 32 fringes which make up the commandment of ציצית correspond to these 32 paths of wisdom. I will explain the deeper meaning of this when discussing the relevant passage in the Torah in Numbers 15,38 under the heading: “a kabbalistic approach.” Seeing that attaining true understanding of the emanation חכמה is beyond most people, the Sefer Yetzirah speaks about 32 נתיבות, “paths,” leading to wisdom rather than 32 דרכים, “ways” to wisdom. The word דרך means a “broad way,” whereas the word נתיב refers to a “narrow path.” This is reflected in the words of prophet Jeremiah (6,16) who said עמדו על דרכים וראו, ושאלו לנתיבות עולם, “stand by the roads and consider; inquire about ancient paths.” The prophet uses the word ראו to encourage exploration of the broad דרך, while concerning the narrow נתיב he speaks only of “inquire,” knowing that it is so much more difficult to obtain accurate information about where a narrow path leads to. Seeing that “wisdom” is so elusive, it is difficult to trace its origin. The only way is to explore it by means of the 32 different paths, each one revealing a small aspect of it. Wisdom, i.e. its root, is comparable perhaps to the roots of a tree which are covered with earth, difficult to trace. Only by following each little ridge in the earth can one tediously piece together where the centre of the tree (of wisdom) is to be found. When the Torah mentions the expression חכמת לב, “wisdom of the heart,” in our verse this is designed to highlight the outstanding wisdom of Betzalel and Oholiov who were filled with wisdom by the Shechinah. It is an expression similar to Genesis 6,6 where the Torah describes G’d’s anger at the corruption of mankind with the words ויתעצב אל לבו, “He was saddened at ‘his heart,’” i.e. at the abuse man had made of the wisdom the seat of which is in his heart. The word לב to describe wisdom is also found in Kings I 5,26 where Solomon had requested a לב שומע a “discerning heart” to enable him to judge the people.” G’d responded by וה' נתן חכמה לשלמה, “G’d had given wisdom to Solomon.” Seeing that both Betzalel and Oholiov were true believers, the Torah described their חכמה as being like that of the Shechinah itself, writing that “Hashem had filled them with the spirit of G’d, i.e. “divine-like spirit” (verse 31). When the Torah writes בהמה instead of בהם in 36,1 describing how Betzalel and Oholiov related to their task in fashioning each of the furnishings of the Tabernacle, the extra letter ה at the end of the word בהם was meant to alert us to the quality of the wisdom they needed in order to perform all this work successfully, i.e. G’d-like wisdom. This is not the only time that the Shechinah is alluded to in the written Torah by means of the letter ה, as I have pointed out repeatedly such as on Exodus 15,16. On the other hand, it is possible that the reason the Torah did not write בהם as we would have expected, is precisely to indicate that man is not able to penetrate to the root of wisdom so that the word had to be imperfect, reflecting man’s imperfect faculties. As David pointed our in Psalms 49,13 there are aspects of wisdom in which man is no better than an animal. Such thoughts are also expressed in Psalms 92,7 where David in discussing the majesty of G’d’s works exclaims: “a man cannot know, a fool cannot understand this.” The reason David describes man as איש, a term of distinction, in that line, is that he says that even worthy man cannot understand the greatness of the Lord’s works to their full extent. The translation of the word בער is: “beast-like.” David’s meaning then is that though איש, man, may attain great stature, when it comes to understanding the wisdom expressed in the Lord’s works his understanding is more or less animal-like, i.e. totally inadequate. According to Tanchuma (Vayakhel 4) the words: “He filled them with the spirit of G’d,” do not refer only to Betzalel and Oholiov but to all the craftsmen involved in working on the project. In fact, G’d accorded such wisdom not only to the human beings engaged in constructing the Tabernacle but even to animals involved in that project were inspired with divine insights. However, only Betzalel’s role was made public.