Exodus · Chapter 38

He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, five cubits its length and five cubits its width — square — and three cubits its height.

He made its horns upon its four corners; the horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with copper.

He made all the vessels of the altar: the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire-pans — all its vessels he made of copper.

He made for the altar a grating, a work of copper netting, beneath its ledge, from below to its midpoint.

And he made the grate of the altar, of brasen network under the border beneath, reaching to the middle of it, to receive the cinders and bones that fell from the altar.

He cast four rings onto the four sides of the copper grating, as holders for the poles.

He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with copper.

He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, to carry it with them; hollow, of boards, he made it.

נבוב לחות HOLLOW WITH TABLETS — נבוב signifies hollow, similar to, (Jeremiah 52:21) “And the thickness thereof was four fingers: it was hollow (נבוב)”. נבוב לחת — The word נבוב being in the construct state and subordinate to לחות the meaning of the verse is: He made it (the altar) out of the hollow space formed by the tablets i. e. the planks of Shittim wood mentioned in v. 1 were oil all sides and the hollow space in the middle (thus the hollow space itself — which was filled with earth — formed the altar. Unlike the golden altar it had no roof; cf. Rashi on Exodus 27:8).

He made the laver of copper and its base of copper, from the mirrors of the women who came to pray at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

במראת הצבאת OF THE MIRRORS OF THE WOMEN CROWDING — The Israelitish women possessed mirrors of copper into which they used to look when they adorned themselves. Even these did they not hesitate to bring as a contribution towards the Tabernacle. Now Moses was about to reject them since they were made to pander to their vanity, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Accept them; these are dearer to Me than all the other contributions, because through them the women reared those huge hosts in Egypt!” For when their husbands were tired through the crushing labour they used to bring them food and drink and induced them to eat. Then they would take the mirrors, and each gazed at herself in her mirror together with her husband, saying endearingly to him, “See, I am handsomer than you!” Thus they awakened their husbands’ affection and subsequently became the mothers of many children, at it is said, (Song 8:5) “I awakened thy love under the apple-tree”, (referring to the fields where the men worked). This is what it refers to when it states, מראות הצבאת “the mirrors of the women who reared the hosts (צבאות)” (Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 9). And it was for this reason that the laver was made of them (the mirrors) — because it served the purpose of promoting peace between man and wife viz., by giving of its waters to be drunk by a woman whose husband had shown himself jealous of her and who nevertheless had associated with another (cf. Numbers ch. V) thus affording her an opportunity to prove her innocence (cf. Sotah 15b). You may know that the מראות mentioned in the text were really mirrors (and that the word does not mean visions, or appearance, etc.), for it is said, (v. 29) “And the copper of the wave-offering was seventy talents etc. … and therewith he made [the sockets etc.]” — the laver, however, and its base are not mentioned there amongst the articles made from that copper; hence you may learn that the copper of which the laver was made was not a part of the copper of the weave-offering, which is the only copper mentioned as having been contributed by the people. Thus did R. Tanchuma 2:11:9 explain the term מראת הצבאת. And so does Onkelos also render it: במחזית נשיא, and this first word is the Targum translation of מראות, in the sense of mireors in old French, for we find that for the word (Isaiah 3:23) “And the גליונים”, which are mirrors, we have in the Targum the same word מחזיתא. אשר צבאו [THE WOMEN] WHO CAME IN CROWDS to bring their contribution.

OF THE MIRRORS ‘HATZOVOTH’ (OF THE SERVING WOMEN). “The women of Israel possessed mirrors of brass which they used to look into when they adorned themselves, and even these they did not withhold [from donating to the Tabernacle]. But Moses was reluctant to accept them because they were made to arouse sensual desires. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses: ‘These are dearer to Me than all [other donations], for by means of them the women raised many hosts in Egypt, etc. For this reason the laver was made from these mirrors, because it was used in order to bring peace between husband and wife; for it was out of this laver that they took the water which they give to drink to a woman who was warned by her husband not to meet a certain man privately and who had nevertheless associated with him.” This is Rashi’s language. The meaning of this Midrash is that in the whole work of the Tabernacle they accepted ornaments from women, as it is written, And they came, both men and women… and brought nose-rings, and ear-rings, and signet-rings ‘v’chumaz’ — the chumaz, according to its Midrashic interpretation, being even more undesirable. There, however, all the donations became mixed together, whereas here they were to make one specific vessel purely from ornaments [i.e., the mirrors] which were made to arouse sensual desire. Therefore Moses did not consent at first [to accept them] until he was told to do so by the Almighty. But I do not know how to explain according to this Midrash the phrase — that did service at the door of the Tent of Meeting — [since the Tent of Meeting had not yet been put up]. Perhaps it can be said that the women brought this donation to Moses’ tent, which he called the Tent of Meeting, and he himself received it from them by word of G-d, since the tent of the Tabernacle had not yet been made. Onkelos’ translation, “women that came to pray at the door of the Tent of Meeting,” accords approximately to the words of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, who said that these women worshipped G-d, and turned away from the desires of this world and gave their mirrors as a donation, coming each day to the door of the Tent of Meeting to pray and to hear instruction about the commandments. In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, it is also possible to say that Moses made the laver and its base for the mirrors of the women who came in a great crowd, and assembled at the door of the Tent of Meeting in order to give their mirrors in the generosity of their hearts. Now the brass of the mirrors was burnished brass, resplendent and very beautiful. It is for this reason that he set aside this brass from the beginning for the making of this vessel. Upon seeing this [that Moses accepted it from them], the women gathered and came in many hosts, all of them wanting to give their mirrors for the making of the whole laver and its base. It is also correct to explain that they had in mind right at the start to offer them for the laver because of its use in con...

The bet in "be-mar'ot" ("with mirrors") takes the place of a mem, for this is correct in the Holy Tongue — as in "ve-ha-notar ba-basar u-va-lechem" ("and what remains of the flesh and the bread," Lev. 8:32) — and likewise in Arabic. The meaning of "ha-tzov'ot" ("the women who assembled"): it is the custom of all women to adorn themselves each morning, looking into their bronze or glass mirrors to arrange the ornaments upon their heads — those mentioned in the book of Isaiah — for the practice of Israel was like the practice of the Arabs to this day. Now, there were among Israel women who served Hashem and had turned away from the desires of this world; they donated their mirrors, for they had no further need to adorn themselves. Instead, they came day after day to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to pray and to hear the words of the commandments — this is the meaning of "who assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting," for they were many. Scripture does not specify the dimensions of the laver, as it does specify the dimensions of the lavers that Solomon made; it was simply made from all the mirrors that they brought. The stand (ha-ken), which is always its base, was of the same dimensions as the laver — and so is the rule.

במראות הצובאות, this was not included in the נחושת התנופה, “copper for the waving,” as explained in verse 30 of this chapter in Parshat Pekudey. The copper basin and its stand are mentioned as having been constructed from the amount of copper representing these mirrors. אשר צבאו פתח אהל מועד, approaching this holy domain was intended to show that they wanted to hear the words of the living G’d. That this was an acceptable practice is already documented in 33,7 והיה כל מבקש ה' יצא אל אהל מועד, “anyone who wanted to seek out the Lord would go out to the Tent of Meeting.” The women who had donated these mirrors indicated that they had overcome their sense of vanity, they considered jewelry and the need for it a human weakness. Moreover, they knew that the time when these mirrors had been of constructive use was past.

במראות הצובאות, “with the mirrors of the serving women.” The word מראות is based on ראיה, “eyesight.” The laver was placed between the entrance to the Tabernacle and the copper altar (the altar on which most sacrifices were offered) slightly north of center. It was placed there so that the women who had contributed their mirrors could see it from the section in the courtyard reserved for women. It would also serve as a reminder that women whose husbands suspected them of infidelity without having proof that could be presented at court, and who had denied the accusation, would have to drink “bitter” waters drawn from the water in the laver, and would risk their lives by doing so if they had lied. [Compare Numbers 5,11-31.] According to Rashi, the prefix ב in the word במראות is to be understood as if it had been the letter מ, so that the word means: ”from the (material) of which their mirrors was made of,” i.e. polished copper. Exchanging the letter מ for the letter ב, is not unique. One example is found in Leviticus 8,32: והנותר בבשר ובלחם, “and whatever remains from the meat and from the bread. אשר צבאו פתח אהל מועד, “who assembled at the entrance of the Tent of meeting.” They did so in order to pray and recite the praises of the Almighty as near to the sacred compound as was allowable for ordinary Israelites who were ritually pure. They also wished to receive the blessings by the priests and Levites.

במראות הצובאות, “from the assembled piles of mirrors.” These mirrors were made of highly polished copper, extremely shiny. They should really have been included above in the donations of copper for the Tabernacle or with the list of jewelry donated by the women (35,22). Seeing that the jewelry mentioned there was made of gold, the Torah did not want to lump those contributions with the objects made from copper. Gifts made of gold were used in the construction of the actual Tabernacle, without distinction as to where the gold originated. These mirrors, however, became the material from which a special vessel was made, the basin from which the priests were washed. In fact this is the reason why Moses was first appalled (Tanchuma Pekudey 9) that mirrors which had previously been used to arouse the carnal instincts of the husbands of the Jewish women should become the vessels from which the priests washed themselves, i.e. “purified” themselves prior to performing their sacred duties. When G’d became aware of Moses’ negative attitude towards these mirrors, He reputedly told him that these mirrors were especially dear to Him, more so than any of the other objects which had been donated. Had it not been for these mirrors, which the women used to make themselves attractive to their husbands when these returned from hard work exhausted, there would not now have been a sufficient number of Israelites to have qualified for the revelation at Mount Sinai, for receiving the Tablets, and the Torah. This is all reflected in the peculiar adjective צובאות", “ i.e. it was because of these mirrors that the women managed to raise armies, צבאות, of Jews. You are already aware that a principal function of the basin was the establishing of domestic harmony between man and wife, seeing that in the event a husband had suspected his wife of infidelity and she had denied it she would be given water to drink which came from this basin as a result of which her innocence could be established (Numbers 5,17). Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra holds that the women who donated these mirrors were not the average Jewish women, but women who had become very pious and no longer experienced a tendency to enjoy the physical attractions of this world. They had already devoted themselves exclusively to the service of the Lord. Hence, seeing they had no use for mirrors to beautify themselves, they donated them for the Tabernacle. When the Torah testifies אשר צבאו פתח אהל מועד,”who had come in droves to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,” this is a reference to these women (not the mirrors) who flocked daily to he entrance of the Tabernacle to pray there and to hear words of Torah. This is also the way Onkelos translates the verse when he wrote דאתין לצלאה בתרע משכן זמנא, “who came to pray at the gate of the Tabernacle at times.” The reason the Torah speaks of אהל מועד at a time when the Tabernacle had not yet been built, is that the women considered Moses as the אהל מועד ever since he had taken his tent and put it outside the encampment of the Israelites in order to be able to communicate there with the Lord. Seeing that the Torah had described Moses’ tent as אהל מועד (33:7), the Torah did so again. The meaning of the verse is that the women brought the mirrors to Moses.

“And he made the basin of bronze, and its base of bronze, from the mirrors of the women who congregated.” Rashi explains that the basin was made from the women’s mirrors, etc. There are two reasons why the basin was made from the women’s mirrors. One reason is that the basin was used to provide water to test the suspected adulteresses [sotot], therefore the women assisted in making the basin to demonstrate that they were presumed to be virtuous and wanted the testing of the basin since they knew themselves to be modest. They specifically gave bronze because it is said And you had the forehead of a harlot woman (Jeremiah 3:3), and it is written And your forehead is bronze (Isaiah 48:4). It is known that a prosecutor cannot become a defender, therefore they gave bronze to indicate that their foreheads were not bronze [i.e., they were not brazen]. The second reason is that mirrors are like the waters of the basin that show the face to the face; similarly, mirrors show the face to the face. Just as mirrors tell a woman whether she is beautiful or ugly, so too the waters of the basin declare and publicize whether she committed adultery or if she is virtuous in her deeds. It seems that he mentioned “the women who assembled [tzav’ot]” because the women established many hosts [tzeva’ot] in Egypt, and they were saying, “We believe that the Egyptians did not rule over them, for their husbands were afflicted with hard labor that decreased fertility and procreation, so surely they became pregnant from the Egyptians.” Therefore, the women wanted to reveal their righteousness, because since they established many hosts, they needed to reveal their purity. They brought those mirrors through which they established those hosts in order to make from them the basin, as if to say, “Look and see, and test us in this matter, whether we established those hosts in purity or not,” because the basin was made to test them like suspected adulteresses [sotot]. And it says, who assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. But the Tent of Meeting had not yet been made, so the commentators explained that this refers to Moses’ tent, as explained by Ibn Ezra and Rabbeinu Bachya. But it seems to me that this all speaks of the modesty of the women, as it says Behold, in the tent (Genesis 18:9). Rashi explains, “She was modest.” Similarly, those hosts that they established assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, meaning in their own tents. And it mentions entrance because it is said of a prostitute, And she sat at the entrance of Einayim (Genesis 38:14). Therefore, it says of modesty, entrance of the tent. And it uses the term meeting [moed] because there they met together with their husbands who were in the fields all day, because the term moed refers to those who come from elsewhere to gather [lehitva’ed] in this place.

במראות הצובאות, “using the mirrors of the legions.” Rashi explains that the expression is to be understood literally. As to his comment that Moses was first appalled at the thought of using them for sacred purposes, this does not refer to the mirrors, but to the jewelry described as כומז, seeing that this jewelry is worn on the private parts of a woman’s body. Nachmanides explains that there (when the כומז is mentioned) this was one of a number of types of jewelry which the women donated for the use in building the Tabernacle (35,22) He therefore fails to understand how such jewelry could have been described as piling up at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Perhaps what is meant is that the women brought this jewelry to the tent of Moses [still outside the boundaries of the Israelites’ camp at that time, and appropriately called “tent of meeting.” Ed.] Moses personally accepted this only at the express command of G’d. At that time there was no Tabernacle, i.e. the Tabernacle whose alternate name was אהל מועד. [i.e. after the reconciliation between G’d and His people, it became known as such, as G’d’s Presence again was manifest within the camp. Ed.] Onkelos translates the words above as דאתין לצלאה בתרע משכן זמנא, “the women brought the mirrors (in a manner corresponding to their modesty) to the side of the entrance of Tabernacle.” His words tend to agree with those of Ibn Ezra who describes the women who gave up their mirrors as doing so from a sense of piety, preferring to come to the Tabernacle daily to offer prayers there or near there to admiring their reflection in a mirror.. It is also possible to understand the whole verse to mean that the basin and the stand supporting it, was constructed of the mirrors which the women had contributed in masses,הצובאות. These mirrors were made of polished copper and as such singularly suited for the purpose for which they were donated. Still other commentators understand the words מראות הצובאות not as referring to the “what” these mirrors were made of, but to the location. The women, who were not normally admitted to the courtyard of the Tabernacle, and who were anxious to observe some procedures, such as the woman suspected of infidelity drinking the מים המאררים, the waters designed to reveal her guilt or innocence, wanted to watch the proceedings by means of the mirrors reflecting same over a distance. Still another explanation understands that the basin was constructed from these mirrors as those priests who offered sacrifices on behalf of women had to be conscious of doing so on their behalf. By looking at the material this basin was made of, they would be stimulated to keep their donors, i.e. women, in mind. It was forbidden for the priests to look directly at the faces of the women on whose behalf they offered their sacrifices, both mandatory ones and voluntary ones. The woman would stand fairly close to the basin, and her image would be reflected in the mirror-like polish of the copper basin. This would enable the priest to obtain a visual image of the woman on whose behalf he was performing his task, so that he could do so with the proper concentration on the donor personally.

במראות הצובאות, “with the mirrors of the serving women.” Moses placed the washbasin between the Tabernacle and the Altar (a bit to the north) as he wished that the women who were situated in front of the entrance to the Tabernacle could observe it. Moses wanted the women to be able to see the washbasin that the Sotah (woman suspected of infidelity) would be made to drink in order to prove that she was innocent of that sin.

He made the courtyard: on the south side, the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, one hundred cubits.

ויעש את החצר לפאת נגב תימנה, “He constructed the courtyard; on the south side, etc.” The southern side is mentioned first seeing it is generally referred to as “the right side,” being on the right side of the person entering it. There are some scientists who hold that south is the beginning of all the other directions, whereas north is the last of the various directions, its tail, so to speak. This would account for the fact that the camp headed by the tribe of Reuven the firstborn was situated on the south side of the Israelites’ encampment, whereas the camp headed by Dan was situated in the north seeing that the tribe of Asher the youngest was part of that camp (Numbers 2, 10 and 28 respectively). The Torah’s report of how the camp of the Israelites was positioned is very important even though it was altogether something which existed only for a very limited period. Even though we do not have a Temple nowadays, study of and familiarity with all these numbers and measurements is mandatory and people who take the trouble to familiarize themselves with these numbers are certain to receive a great reward. There is nothing in the Torah which is not worth studying regardless of whether one can appreciate the practical value of such knowledge (Berachot 62). The same applies to study of all the various animal offerings and the rules about who may eat what and where and when. Every person who makes study of these subjects his personal priority will be given credit as if he had personally offered the sacrifices whose laws he had studied. This is what the sages meant when they said in Menachot 110 that whoever busies himself with the rules of the burnt-offering is considered as if he personally had offered same, etc. [The actual wording in the Talmud is in regard to sin offerings. Ed.] This is also what the prophet Isaiah 40,10 had in mind when he said: “see, his reward is with Him, his recompense before Him.” The same applies to people who tell of the details of the Tabernacle, the Temple, etc. It is incumbent upon us to understand both the revealed and the hidden aspects of the details the Torah has revealed about all these materials and measurements of the Tabernacle. King David already mentioned this when he said (Psalms 48,13-14) ”walk around Zion, circle it, count its towers, take note of its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may recount it to a future age.” The merit of doing what David suggested will help restore the Shechinah to our midst as we know from verse 15 immediately after the verses just quoted. David concludes by saying: “for G’d, He is our G’d forever, He will lead us evermore.”

Their pillars were twenty, and their sockets twenty, of copper; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.

And on the north side, one hundred cubits; their pillars were twenty and their sockets twenty, of copper; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.

And on the west side, hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars were ten and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver.

Because the entrance of the Tent of Meeting faced east, just as the front does, Scripture therefore called the western side "flanks" (yerekayim), and called the parts nearest the entrance "shoulders" (katefot) — like the shoulders of a man.

And on the east side, facing the sunrise, fifty cubits.

Hangings of fifteen cubits on one flank; their pillars were three and their sockets three.

And for the second flank, on this side and on that side of the gate of the courtyard, hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars were three and their sockets three.

מזה ומזה, “on this side and on that side.” These words apply to the two verses 14 and 15, each set of hanging curtains being on either side of the entrance gate to the courtyard.

All the hangings of the courtyard all around were of fine twisted linen.

The sockets for the pillars were of copper; the hooks of the pillars and their bands were of silver, and the overlaying of their tops was of silver — and they were banded with silver, all the pillars of the courtyard.

The screen for the gate of the courtyard was the work of an embroiderer, of blue, purple, and crimson dye and fine twisted linen; its length was twenty cubits, and its height in width was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the courtyard.

לעמת קלעי החצר [AND THE SCREEN…] ANSWERING TO THE HANGINGS OF THE ENCLOSURE — i. e. according to the measure of the height of the hangings of the enclosure.

Their pillars were four and their sockets four, of copper; their hooks were of silver, and the overlaying of their tops and their bands were of silver.

All the pegs for the Tabernacle and for the courtyard all around were of copper.

These are the accountings of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of Testimony, which were counted at the word of Moses; the Levites served under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

אלה פקודי THESE ARE THE SUMS [OF THE TABERNCLE] — In this section are enumerated all the weights of the metals given as a contribution for the Tabernacle, of silver, gold and copper, and also there are enumerated the vessels used for every kind of service in it. המשכן משכן OF THE TABERNACLE, EVEN OF THE TABERNACLE — The word משכן is mentioned here twice in allusion to the Temple that was taken in pledge (משכן) — as it were — (as a security for Israel’s repentance) by being twice destroyed for Israel’s iniquities (Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 5). משכן העדת THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY — The Tabernacle was a testimony to Israel that God had shown Himself indulgent to them in respect to the incident of the golden calf, for through the Temple He made His Shechinah dwell amongst them (Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 6). עבדת הלוים THE SERVICE OF THE LEVITES — The things in the Tabernacle which were counted and its vessels constituted the service entrusted to the Levites in the wilderness — to carry them, to take them down and to set them up, each man according to the burden which was assigned to him, as is set forth in the section נשא (Numbers 4). ביד איתמר BY THE HAND OF ITHAMAR — He was the officer appointed over them (the Levites) with the duty to hand over to each “house of the father” (בית אב) the service that devolved upon it.

THESE ARE THE ACCOUNTS OF THE TABERNACLE, THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY. Scripture uses this expression because the term “Tabernacle” means the curtains of fine-twined linen, which are so called both when the command was given and at the construction of the Tabernacle, while “the Tabernacle of the Testimony” includes the entire building, which is the Tabernacle made to house the Tablets of the Testimony. In the opinion of many scholars the phrase these are the accounts of the Tabernacle refers back to all the things mentioned above, the verse stating that the Tabernacle and its vessels, namely, the house and the court and all that was made for them, constituted the service entrusted to the Levites at the command of Moses by the hand of Ithamar [whose duty it was to hand over to each family the service that devolved upon it]. But the holy vessels — the ark, the table, the candelabrum, and the altars — are not included in the term “Tabernacle,” for they were in the hands of Eleazar. But this is not my opinion, for why should Scripture mention the entrusting of those things given to Ithamar, and not mention that of Eleazar, which was the more honored one? Rather, these are the accounts of hints at those things that Scripture mentions in the section further on, thus stating that the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents etc., — from which were made the sockets, the hooks for the pillars, the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets. And the brass of the wave-offering, which was seventy talents, from which were made the brazen altar and its grating and all its vessels, and the sockets of the court and the pins — all these Moses gave over by number and weight through the hand of Ithamar. Now the section does not say what was done with the gold, for that was partly in the charge of Ithamar, namely, that used for covering the boards and the bars, and part of it was in the charge of Eleazar — the ark and the cover, the candelabrum, the table, and the golden altar. Now since one cannot know exactly how much gold went into the covering of each of these vessels, Scripture did not say that Moses gave it over to them by number and weight. It is for this reason that Scripture did not mention here the entrusting of the things given to Eleazar, for its intention here is only to speak of the work of the Tabernacle, not of that involved in the journeyings. Do not object [to this explanation] because Scripture mentions here the brazen altar, which was in the charge of Eleazar, for Scripture had to state that they made it out of the brass of the wave-offering, therefore it was not particular to exclude this one item from the general list of objects of which it said that they were by the hand of Ithamar, this being the way of Scripture in many places. Scripture does not mention in this section the laver and its base [which were also made of brass, and were under the charge of Ithamar], because it was not made according ...

"Grant strength to the father of a multitude — to His name, and give thanks" — as you reach the opening "these are the accountings" (elleh pekudei). The meaning of "the accountings" (pekudei) is: the accounting of the vessels, for the word "Tabernacle" encompasses everything. Scripture explains why it was called "Tabernacle" — on account of the Ark in which the tablets of the Testimony were placed; thus Scripture took the shorter path, and this is the truth, because of God's writing. The meaning of "the service of the Levites": they are the ones who carry the Tabernacle and all its vessels, which Ithamar was appointed over — for the Gershonites and the Merarites, the Levites, were under the hand of Ithamar, who would register by name everything they carried.

אלה פקודי המשכן, all the individual components described previously are the ones concerning which the Torah wrote ובשמות תפקדו את כלי משמרת הקדש...ביד איתמר, “you shall list by name the objects that are their porterage tasks.” (Numbers 4,32-33) The meaning of the line is that each and everyone of these items was important enough to be known by its specific name. In other words, one did not refer to it only by the name of the category of utensils it belonged to, such as “fork,” but one had a name for each fork. This method of naming each item individually contributed to their being of permanent significance. The Talmud Yuma 71 goes to the length of stating categorically that if anyone thought that once such a utensil had been “used up,” i.e. had outlived its usefulness it would be permanently consigned to oblivion this is not so. It will even resurface after the resurrection of the people who used it when they were alive. This is derived from Exodus 26,15 עצי שטים עומדים, the word עומדים being taken to mean that they will endure indefinitely. Neither will any of the utensils used in the Tabernacle fall into the hands of our enemies. This is the opposite of what happened to the “permanent” Temple, בית עולמים, built by Solomon. It is significant that in the account of what Nebuchadnezzar captured not a word is mentioned about a single item that used to be part of the Tabernacle in the desert. משכן העדות, the Torah begins to list the many ways in which this Temple (Tabernacle) was superior to those that superseded it. Firstly, it was the משכן העדות, so named because the Tablets of the Testimony were deposited therein. Secondly, אשר פקד על פי משה, it had been put up at the command of Moses; thirdly, עבודת הלוים ביד איתמר, the entire service of the Levites had been entrusted to the illustrious Ittamar, son of Aaron. Fourthly, ובצלאל בן אורי בן חור למטה יהודה עשה, the divinely inspired Betzalel was its principal architect. In view of all the above advantages of this structure none of it fell into enemy hands. By contrast, the Temple erected by Solomon, most of the work for which was performed by labourers from Tzor, even though the Shechinah came to rest on it, was eventually destroyed, all of it having been lost totally. The inferiority of that structure is evident from the fact that the building itself was in need of regular, almost annual, repairs, as we know from Kings II 22,5 The second Temple was so inferior that it could not even be called משכן העדות, the residence of the Testimony, the Tablets having long since been lost. Neither had it been established by G’d’s command but by a dream that a gentile named King Cyrus dreamed that it was his duty to build a temple to the G’d in heaven. Compare Ezra 8,15. Moreover, there were hardly any Levites that bothered to return to the land of Israel at the time to take part in that return to Zion. In addition to this, consider that among the people building this second Temple, there were also pagans cal...

אלה פקודי המשכן, These are the accounts of the Tabernacle, etc. The Torah uses the word אלה to emphasise that the only true accounts are those following. Whatever man counts when he wants to determine the total of his possessions on earth are only apparent possessions; their count therefore is also only apparent, deceptive. The only true count on earth was of the components which comprised the Holy Tabernacle because it was something containing divine input תרומת השם, and because G'd had His residence within it. [The author implies that the very word מנה, to count, testifies to its being misleading, deceptive. Perhaps we can support this with Bileam's outcry (Numbers 23,10) מי מנה עפר יעקב, "who can count the dust of Jacob?" He referred to the deceptive nature of any "count." Ed.] The Torah may also have used the word פקודים in preference to such words as ספור or מנוי as we have been told in Baba Metzia 42 that matters which have been "counted" do not enjoy lasting blessing. The Torah wished to emphasis that all the materials contributed for the construction of the Holy Tabernacle enjoyed lasting blessing. Normally, G'd objects to headcount; in this instance G'd did not object to a count. On the contrary, every single component contributed and accounted for increased the amount of blessings G'd bestowed on the Holy Tabernacle. We may also be able to understand the word אלה as reflecting an advice given to us in Vayikra Rabbah 21,5. We are told there that the remedy for someone who has committed a string of sins is to engage in the performance of a string of מצות, good deeds. The only proper way to rehabilitate oneself from sin is through demonstrating this by deed. The string of מצות one performs serve as a demonstration to G'd that one has truly reformed oneself. The Torah enumerates all the components of the Tabernacle, i.e. אלה, thereby pointing at the string of good deeds performed by the Israelites who had previously been guilty of the sin of the golden calf. The reason that the Tabernacle is called משכן העדות, the Tabernacle of testimony, is that it testified to the fact that G'd had forgiven the sin of the golden calf. If you will examine the details of the sin of the golden calf, you will find that the Israelites performed מצות corresponding to each of the parts of that sin when they contributed to and helped erect the Tabernacle. They had expressed the wish for a god to walk ahead of them (32,1) and they now had erected a Tabernacle which would be evidence that the true G'd was in their midst and that His presence would precede them. They had built an altar (32,6) for the golden calf and offered total offerings on that altar; they had now erected a copper altar for the offering of total offerings; they had contributed their gold to enable the golden calf to be made; they had now contributed their gold and precious possessions to help build the Tabernacle. They had removed their nose-rings at the time in order for those to serve as raw...

אלה פקודי המשכן, “these are the accounts of the Tabernacle;” which “Tabernacle” does the Torah refer to? “The Tabernacle that is testimony to the covenant between G-d and Israel, משכן העדות.” Seeing that this is not the only time the Torah used the expression: משכן, as it also occurs in Numbers 16,27, when it referred to the mishkan of Korach, as well as several times in the Book of prophets, the Torah wished to be precise beyond doubt. There was never another Tabernacle in which the Holy Ark containing the Tablets was housed.

טוב מעט ביראת ה' מאוצר רב ומהומה בו. טוב ארוחת ירק ואהבה שם משור אבוס ושנאה בו, “Better a little with fear of the Lord, than a great treasure with trouble. Better a meal of vegetables where there is love, than a fattened ox where there is hate.” (Proverbs 15, 16-17). In these last two verses Solomon deals with the subject of man’s greed, i.e. he advises him that the quantity of one’s possessions is far less important than the ability to enjoy what one does have without worry. These two verse may be approached from three different aspects, the plain meaning, the allegorical meaning and the rational dimension contained in these statements. According to the plain meaning of the text the words “better a little with the fear of the Lord than a great treasure with trouble,” warns man not to become guilty of robbery. The commandment not to rob belongs to the category which every human being understands even if the Torah had not commanded it. One does not need to be endowed with superior intelligence to realise that if one amasses treasure by illegal means, by robbing someone (and one is allowed to get away with it), other people will be encouraged to do the same in return and no one will ever be able to sleep without worry. Our sages (Vayikra Rabbah 33,3), have stated that the sin of robbery, i.e. holding on to gains obtained by such means, is greater than other sins. In fact the reason that the people of the generation of the deluge were wiped out was precisely because they were guilty of this sin. Their other sins could have been forgiven, the sin of robbery could not qualify for forgiveness. The Torah stated this fairly plainly when it quoted G’d as saying that the “end of all flesh has come before Me (I had to decree it) because of the violence (robbery with violence) that the earth has been filled with” (Genesis 6,13). Anyone who does not return stolen property will never be forgiven. This is why it is the most serious of all sins. This is why Solomon said: “better a little (acquired while demonstrating fear of the Lord.)” He means better a little property which is permissible than a lot which is not permissible. Solomon makes a similar statement in Proverbs 16,8 “better a little with righteousness than bountiful harvests with injustice.” He warns man of the seriousness of the sin of committing robbery as he is aware that man has a tendency not to abandon anything in his possession. To counter the perception that the quantity of one’s possessions is more important than how one came to acquire same, he says: “better a little, provided it is rightfully yours.” After having spoken of robbery in the abstract, Solomon illustrates his teachings in a practical manner by quoting the example of someone enjoying simple food such as a vegetable soup to someone eating fancy food being watched by envious eyes, etc. Food is enjoyed best in the company of friends and well wishers, whereas even the fanciest food when not eaten in a relaxed atmosphere loses its appeal for the person consuming it. The thrust of all of Solomon’s remarks on the subject is to teach man not to be greedy for physical possessions and for gratifications of his body. At the same time, man should not put his trust in his material possessions, he should not make the mistake of “relying on the mosaic floors as if they were a high wall (Proverbs 18,11),” but should remember that when it comes to wealth he will always be outclassed by G’d whose wealth is immeasurably greater. This concept is emphasized by Eliphaz in Job 22,24 when he said: “if you regard treasure as dirt, Ophir-gold as stones of the wadi, and lift your face to G’d, You will pray to Him, etc., you will decree and it will be fulfilled and light will shine on your affairs.” As long as a person’s fear of G’d is subordinate to the reliance he places on his material possessions there is something basically wrong with such a person’s outlook. A Midrashic approach: The words: “better a little with a measure of fear of the Lord,” is a reference to the people of Israel of whom the Torah has written: “for you are the smallest of the nations” (Deut. 7,7), whereas the words: “with fear of the Lord,” refer to the fact that the people of Israel accepted the Torah in order that they should acquire fear of the Lord. This is the meaning of Exodus 20,17: “in order to test you and in order that the fear of the Lord will always be with you, so that you do not go astray.” The words “rather than a great treasure,“ are a reference to the other 70 nations on earth. In other words: “G’d prefers a small nation such as Israel who are G‘d-fearing, to all the other more numerous nations on earth who lack that quality.” Our sages (on Song of Songs 2,4) “he brought me to the banquet room and his banner of love was over me,” comment that these words are a reference to the other 70 nations, whereas the words “with trouble” in the above-quoted verse in Proverbs refer to the punishment in store for these 70 nations. Solomon spoke about a simple meal he himself had consumed at the home of a poor man which had given him so much more satisfaction than a banquet in the homes of one of his wealthy friends. Midrash Mishley 16 tells the following: When Solomon lost his throne he was forced to go begging. Whenever he would come to the door of some house he would identify himself saying: “I am Kohelet, and I used to be king in Jerusalem.” Once he met two men who used to know him when he was king. One of them bowed down before him and accorded him the honor due to a king. He invited him to share a meal with him on that day. He took him home to the upper floor of his home and served him a fatted ox. During the meal his host reminded Solomon of the times when he used to be king over Israel in Jerusalem. Solomon broke out crying because he had been reminded of his past glory and contrasted it with his present circumstances. In the end, he could not even eat the meal because he felt so depressed. When he met the other man whom he used to know, this one too bowed down before him and he too invited Solomon to dine with him on that day. Solomon asked him if he too was going to remind him of all the glory he used to enjoy, etc, just as his other one time friend had done. The host replied that he was only a poor man and that the only kind of meal he was able to offer the erstwhile king was vegetable soup, etc. Solomon accompanied the man to his house. They arrived there, his host washed his hands and feet for him and served him a simple meal. During the meal he made a point of consoling Solomon over what he had lost. He said: “My lord king, G’d has sworn an oath to your father David that the kingdom of Israel would not depart from his descendants. The scriptural verse he quoted (Psalms 132,11) was: “the Lord swore to David a firm oath that He will not renounce, ‘One of your own issue I will set upon your throne’”. He explained to Solomon that it was the custom of G’d to subject a man to afflictions when He wanted to discipline him but to relate to him with goodwill again after He had done so. He added that G’d subjects particularly those whom He loves to such trials and tribulations, just as a father does when he wants to discipline his child (Proverbs 3,12). His host added that he was certain that G’d would restore his kingdom to Solomon. When Solomon heard these words he felt greatly encouraged and enjoyed this meal of simple vegetable soup far more than the meal he had been served on the day before. When his kingdom was eventually restored to him, he recorded his feelings on the matter in the verses we have quoted from Proverbs. A rational approach to our verses: When writing the verse: “better a little with the fear of G’d,” Solomon wanted to warn man that he should reflect on matters involving philosophy only to the extent that his intellectual capacity was capable of dealing with the concepts involved. He should not delve into matters which were beyond his understanding. This is why he also counselled us in Kohelet 7,16: “do not act the wise man to excess.” He used the parable to explain that he who tries to digest more than his stomach can handle will inevitably bring up and vomit all he has eaten. The same is true with intellectual pursuits. He who engages in them beyond his capacity to understand will ultimately be revolted by all intellectual pursuits. He will reject the idea of a life beyond death and become a heretic. Solomon illustrated this further when speaking about the consumption of honey. A little honey is sweet and pleasant; too much of it is revolting (Proverbs 25,16). When one has eaten more honey than one should, one will even vomit the initial amout which would have been good for one. Our sages in Sanhedrin 106 illustrated these thoughts also when they discussed that Bileam detoured to Midian in order to collect the reward for having been the cause of the death of 24,000 Israelites. Instead of reaping his reward, the Israelites who had mounted a punitive expedition against Midian caught up with him there and killed him. Had he gone back to his hometown he would not have suffered such a fate (Joshua 13,22). The reason he was killed was because he tried to amass something he was not entitled to. Our sages also comment on the subject of wisdom comparing it to honey when they interpreted the verse (Proverbs 25,16) “if you found some honey, eat only as much as you need,” as applying to Rabbi Akiva. The second half of that same verse, i.e. “lest you overeat and vomit all of it,” they applied to ben Zoma. [Both scholars had tried to delve into esoterical mysteries, Rabbi Akiva returned from his mental excursion with new insights, whereas Ben Zoma who had overestimated his intellectual capacity became mentally deranged (Chagigah 14)]. Having concluded his remarks about the need to exercise discretion when studying philosophy and the mysteries of G’d’s creation, Solomon turned to the subject of the quality of one’s spiritual achievements. This is why he said that consuming a meal of vegetable soup in surroundings where love is present is good. The “love” Solomon spoke of is the belief in the Shechinah which is also described as a dimension of G’d’s love (Song of Songs 2,7). When the word אהבה, “love,” appears in our liturgy such as באהבה תרום קרננו להודות לך וליחדך באהבה, just before we recite the קריאת שמע in the morning, we allude to G’d’s Shechinah. It is better to become privy to this “love” of G’d without some of the deep philosophical insights that some people strive for, than to eat the fatted ox, i.e. to try and obtain the kinds of sophisticated insights which led some of the people of Israel to making the golden calf. Seeing that the Israelites had made the golden calf in their search for deeper insights, and not because they wanted to practice idolatry G’d was able to forgive them their sin. Proof that they were granted forgiveness promptly was the fact that the Shechinah manifested itself in the Tabernacle. This is also the reason why the אהל מועד, the Tent of Meeting in the desert became known by the name משכן, as that name is a reminder of the presence of the שכינה amongst the Jewish people at that time. Our sages, in commenting on the opening word of our portion, i.e. אלה say that the people who had sinned with the word אלה, when they said אלה אלוהיך ישראל, were now forgiven by the Torah using this very same word when describing the completion of the building of the משכן העדות, “the Tabernacle of Testimony” (compare Tanchuma Pekudey 6). אלה פקודי המשכן משכן העדות אשר פקד על פי משה, עבודת הלוים ביד איתמר בן אהרן הכהן. “These are the records of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of Testimony, which were drawn up at Moses’ bidding- the work of the Levites under the direction of Ittamar son of Aaron the Priest.” According to the plain meaning of the text the words אלה פקודי המשכן refer to the Tabernacle and all its constituent parts which formed the subject matter of the last chapter and a half. The supervision of the construction of all these components had been entrusted to the Levites who in turn were responsible to Ittamar, son of Aaron. However, such furnishings as the lampstand, the table, the Holy Ark and the two altars were not part of the items for which Ittamar was responsible but they were entrusted to the supervision of his older brother Eleazar. A Midrashic approach: The reason that the Torah writes the words משכן,המשכן here in succession is to teach us that the Sanctuary on earth has a parallel in the celestial regions. We mentioned previously that all this is based on Exodus 15,17 where the Torah spoke of “the place You made to dwell in, O Lord, the sanctuary, O Lord which Your hands established.” The word מכון which the Torah wrote to describe the place for G’d to dwell in, should be read as מכוון, “prepared for, intended for.” The concept here is that the Tabernacle, Sanctuary, was considered as equivalent in importance and value to the entire world G’d had created previously. There are a number of expressions which have been used in the construction of the Tabernacle which closely parallel expressions we are familiar with in connection with descriptions of the universe such as carpets, יריעות, to name one. When earth was created the Torah spoke about luminaries, מאורות being created. The Tabernacle contained as an essential part a מנורה, a lampstand intended to illuminate the Sanctuary. In connection with the creation of earth the Torah mentioned that the waters congregated in one area, i.e. יקוו המים אל מקום אחד, whereas part of the vessels required for the Tabernacle was a כיור, a basin in which water had been collected. The Tabernacle’s roof consisted of carpets, יריעות, forming sort of a tent-like cover, whereas the sky or heaven covering our terrestrial universe is described as something G’d “spread like a tent over the universe” (Psalms 104,2). The author continues quoting more such examples. The gist of the Midrash Tanchuma 2 on our portion is that there are too many parallel expressions in the creation of the universe and the manufacture of the Tabernacle for them to be accidental; the message must be that we are dealing here with a microcosm, i.e. a miniature “world.” It is therefore easier to perceive of the Presence of G’d feeling comfortable in such surroundings. Thus far the Midrash Whatever the sages mentioned in the Midrash we just quoted which states that the Tabernacle was equivalent to a microcosm, may be understood as a generalization. There are, however, many details which are capable of being derived from the generalizations we mentioned. In connection with the verse אלה תולדות השמים והארץ, “these are the derivatives of heaven and earth,” Bereshit Rabbah 12,9 states that from the word בהבראם, which appears immediately after these words we can derive that G’d employed the letter ה at the end of the tetragram as the tool with which He created the world, (seeing that that letter was not necessary in that statement). We may perhaps find something parallel in connection with the Tabernacle in the verse אלה פקודי המשכן, i.e. that the letter ה in the word המשכן, is also an allusion to the presence of the attribute כבוד being present in the Tabernacle, i.e. the Shechinah. The last letter ה in the tetragrammaton represents that attribute. This may be further alluded to by the fact that the subject of the Tabernacle occurs five times in the Torah. I have already explained this at the beginning of Vayakhel. The relationship of the words משכן-שכינה-כבוד is further illustrated in the verse לשכון כבוד בארצנו, “for the attribute of Kavod to dwell in our land” (Psalms 85,10). Just as the world had been planned before being actually created within a space of six days, so the Tabernacle had been planned before being actually constructed. When the Torah speaks about the planning stage of the Tabernacle it writes: לחשוב מחשבות, “to plan designs” (31,4), whereas subsequently it speaks of לעשות, “to carry out (such designs).” Just as the world itself was not a product of externally imposed conditions, so the Tabernacle was a structure built by the free-willed donations of the people constructing it. The Torah underlines this when it writes אשר ידבנו לבו, “whatever his heart will prompt him to donate” (Exodus 25,2). Just as the name of G’d is mentioned at every stage of the creation including His holy name, the tetragrammaton (Genesis 2,4) at the end of the creation of the world, so His name is mentioned repeatedly during the Torah’s report of the construction of the Tabernacle, including G’d’s ineffable name כי ענן ה' על המשכן, “for the cloud of Hashem was above the Tabernacle “(40,38). Just as G’d employed two separate attributes of His when creating the universe, i.e. the attribute of Justice and the attribute of Mercy, so the Tabernacle was constructed principally by two different craftsmen, Betzalel and Oholivov. The former was from the tribe of יהודה representing the attribute of Mercy, whereas the latter was a member of the tribe of דן, representing the attribute of דין, Justice. It is also possible to understand the word משכן as derived from the word המשכה, “conduct, continuation, etc.” This would symbolise the fact that the terrestrial Tabernacle was an extension, a continuation of the Tabernacle in the celestial regions. The Temple in our regions draws on the spiritual input from the Temple in the celestial regions. The Temple in those regions is known as זבול, this is why Solomon said in his prayer at the consecration of the Temple he had built: בנה בניתי בית זבול לך, “I have most certainly built for You” (a house which parallels the בית זבול). This is also the mystical dimension of Judges 5,14 ומזבולון מושכים בשבט סופר, “and from Zevulun who so far were only engaged as scribes.” (In this instance they joined the battle against Siserah and his chariots, though they were basically not warriors. Ed.) The message Devorah conveys is that the spiritual inspiration which scribes such as the members of the tribe of Zevulun could draw on from celestial sources they employed in helping their people in that battle. The word סופר in that verse is an allusion to the ספירות, the emanations which G’d used in the creation of the universe. No doubt, Devorah referred to the lowest emanation, מלכות, the one which is part of the עולם העשיה, our own terrestrial universe. Just as the Torah spoke of “the day on which the Lord G’d made (finished) the universe” (Genesis 2,4), saying also that when G’d reviewed His handiwork at the end of the six days “He saw that it was very good” (Genesis 1,31), so when the Tabernacle was completed the Torah writes: “It was on the day Moses completed the Tabernacle” (Numbers 7,4), as well as 39,43 “when Moses took a look at all the work and here they had performed it (i.e. it was good).” Just as the creation of the world did not interfere with the Sabbath, the day of rest, so the building of the Tabernacle was not allowed to interfere with the Sabbath legislation, i.e. no work was performed for it on the Sabbath. This is the reason the Torah wrote in connection with the report about the construction of the Tabernacle that “work shall be performed (on it) during six days,” (excluding the Sabbath). Just as the world as we know it is slated to be destroyed before it is going to be renewed after a period our sages describe as 1000 years of Sabbath (Sanhedrin 96), so both the Tabernacle and the Temple were slated to be destroyed only to be rebuilt in due course. Just as after the creation of man and his having been placed in the garden G’d commanded him to observe certain rules and not to eat from the tree of knowledge, so we find that Moses issued certain instructions in 36,6. Just as G’d had told the universe to stop continuing to expand, i.e. He said די, “enough” (Bereshit Rabbah 46,2), so Moses also declared the contributions for the Tabernacle as being sufficient and ordered the people to stop bringing more, the Torah saying והמלאכה היתה דים, “and there were sufficient materials, etc.” (36,7). According to a kabbalistic interpretation the word מלאכה instead of something more appropriate, meant that it referred to the מלאכת שמים וארץ, the work of constructing heaven and earth, i.e. the Tabernacle was a replica of the creation of heaven and earth. In Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer chapter 3 we find the rhetorical question: “why was G’d called אל שדי? The answer given is that He was the One who said to the heavens רי, “enough,” thus preventing heaven from proliferating further by drawing on G’d’s mantle of light. Just as heaven and earth would be used by G’d as witnesses in the event the Israelites were to violate the covenant and transgress the Torah -as we know from Deut. 30,19 “I have called as witnesses against you this day heaven and earth, etc., so the Tabernacle was called משכן העדות, the “Tabernacle of Testimony.” Just as the name Elohim occurs thirty two times during the story of creation, so the name of G’d also appears thirty two times in connection with the construction of the Tabernacle. Just as there were seven days which together formed the period known as מעשה בראשית, “the creation of the universe,” so there were seven days which served as מלואים, days which were considered as preparatory to the functioning of the Tabernacle. No doubt one can find other similarities between the Tabernacle and its construction and the universe and its construction in addition to those which I have already listed. I myself am aware of a number of such additional examples. There is another comment by Shemot Rabbah 51,3 concerning the appearance of the words משכן twice in succession at the beginning of our portion. The reason mentioned is that it hinted at the fact that there would be two permanent Temples replacing this mobile structure at a future date, i.e. the first Temple and the second Temple. The verse alluding to this is Nechemyah 1,7 חבל חבלנו לך. Thus far the Midrash. If you will take a close look at the words המשכן משכן העדות you will find that these three words contain a hint of the number of years that the first and second Temple were standing. You will also find an allusion to the number of years which elapsed between the Exodus from Egypt and the erection of the first Temple. The numerical value of the letters in the word המשכן plus the letters themselves (5) amount to 420, i.e. the number of years that the second Temple was standing. The word משכן gives you the number of years the first Temple was standing, i.e. 410 years. The word העדות when spelled without the letter ו, amounts to the number 480, the number of years between the Exodus and completion by Solomon of the first Temple. The fact that one year seems to be missing from the number required (479 instead of 480), is accounted for by the fact that the Tabernacle was built in the second year after the Exodus so that from the time of its erection to the completion of Solomon’s Temple actually only 479 years elapsed. Moses realised all these numbers already by means of his Holy Spirit. This is the meaning of the introduction to our portion with the words אלה פקודי המשכן משכן העדות. Another view of these words is found in Tanchuma Pekudey 4 where Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai is quoted as saying that the word עדות refers to the Torah. The opening verse of our portion would be equivalent to: “these are the various laws of the Torah, one group of which is know as עדות.” The whole matter may be illustrated by a parable. A king had a daughter for whom he built a palace. He made her dwell inside this palace protected behind seven curtains The King said that anyone entering it in order to visit his daughter (without his permission) would be tantamount to insulting his own honor. This explains why the Tabernacle was known by two different names. We have one verse in which the Tabernacle is referred to as משכן העדות, i.e. the Torah. In another verse the Torah .refers to the same building by speaking of it as לפני משכן ה' ‘in front of the Tabernacle of the Lord.” G’d made it plain that anyone who would debase and besmirch the Torah (G’d’s daughter) would be as if he had debased and besmirched G’d Himself. You should know that when the Roman Emperor Hadrianus entered the Temple he was swearing and cursing (G’d). [Actually it was still the general Titus who entered the Temple seeing that Hadrianus lived later, after the destruction. Ed.] Concerning such a situation David said (Psalms 74,5) ‘it is like men wielding axes against a gnarled tree.” He (G’d) raises such wicked people to make it appear as if they were about to fell the tallest cedars in order to convert same into ladders reaching heaven itself in order to capture it. However, their attempts invariably end in failure and they have to abandon them.” When such enemies of the Lord realize their impotence to defeat Him, they attack us, His “daughter” to take out their frustration on us. This is what David referred to when he said (Psalms 79,1) “heathens have attacked Your domain.” Rabbi Chiya bar Abba said: “to whom can we compare the hostile heathen? To a man who hates his ruler and would like to engage him in combat but is unable to do so. What does such a disgruntled subject of the ruler do? He goes to the circus which the ruler is visiting and attempts to undermine the structure. Seeing that he is afraid of being discovered by the ruler and executed for his attempt to harm him, he introduces a digging tool under the main pillar of the circus hoping to thereby bring about the collapse of the structure which would kill the ruler while collapsing.” This is how and why the hostile heathens attack the Jews. They realize that we are crucial to G’d’s universe. By destroying us they hope to discredit Him. Concerning these ill-fated attempts of such enemies of the Lord, David says (Psalms 2,2) “kings of the earth take their stand, and regents intrigue together against the Lord and against His anointed.” This is an example of how those who are unable to kill the donkey attack the saddle instead, or to those who, while unable to kill the lion, kill the donkey instead in order to vent their frustration.

These are the accounts of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of Testimony. The commentators are divided on whether these refers to the work of the Tabernacle mentioned in the portion of Vayakhel, or whether it refers to what will be mentioned in this portion. They also questioned why Moses gave an accounting of what was made from the silver and copper but did not give an accounting of what was made from the gold. Therefore, it seems to me that these are the accounts refers to the work of the Tabernacle mentioned above, because they had already completed all the work of the Tabernacle in general and in detail, and everything they had to make from silver and copper they had already made completely. Therefore, Moses was happy that the work of silver and copper was completed, and he was eager to give an accounting to remove himself from suspicion. He did not want to wait until after the priestly garments mentioned in this portion were also made and then give an accounting of the silver, gold, and copper all at once, because in everything mentioned in this portion there was no silver and copper, and after the work of silver and copper was already finished, he saw fit to give an accounting immediately. But regarding the gold, he could not yet give an accounting because they had not yet made all the priestly garments mentioned in this portion, which also contained gold, and because they still needed the gold, Moses could not yet give an accounting of the gold. And if you ask, there is still a difficulty, why did he not make an accounting of the gold after he also completed the priestly garments? The answer to this matter is according to what they said in the Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 51:6), brought by Rabbeinu Bachya in this portion, which says: “When Moses came to give an accounting, he was missing from the weight 1,775 shekels, and he forgot and did not know what he had done with them. A heavenly voice came forth and said, And the thousand seven hundred and seventy-five he made into hooks for the pillars, to fulfill what is said Not so with My servant Moses; in all My house he is faithful (Numbers 12:7).” End quote. It appears that the author of this Midrash noticed the two extra “heys” [definite articles] that were written: And the thousand and the seven hundred… when it should have said “And a thousand and seven hundred…” as it says above a hundred talents and not the hundred talents“ with the definite article. Why did it mention the definite article with the thousand and hundreds mentioned here? Rather, certainly Moses forgot and did not know what was done with them, and the Israelites were murmuring against him, saying that he took them for himself. Then a heavenly voice came forth and said that ”that known thousand which you spoke of and those known seven hundred which you said Moses took, it is not so, but he made them into hooks for the pillars.“If so, after the Israelites saw that Heaven testified about him, therefore they no longer wanted to receive an accounting from him about the gold, because they said, ”If he had kept something for himself from the gold, Heaven would not have testified for him even regarding the silver, for ultimately he would not have fulfilled his accounting.“ Furthermore, the heavenly voice said, In all My house he is faithful. The gold is also included [in this], therefore he did not give an accounting of the gold. And some say that even initially they did not ask Moses for an accounting, but Moses himself wanted to clear himself, therefore it says which was counted at the command of Moses. And regarding what it says the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar, some say that it is the nature of silver and gold to diminish when it is melted, therefore it says here that everything that was counted at the command of Moses was found in the hand of Ithamar in its exact weight, and this was miraculous. And because of this they called it the Tabernacle of Testimony, for this is a testimony for Israel that the Divine Presence dwells among them. “These are the accounts of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of Testimony,” Our Rabbis said (Tanchuma, Pekudei 1) that the reason Tabernacle [mishkan] is mentioned twice is because the lower Temple [on earth] is aligned with the upper Temple [in heaven], as it is said, The place You made to dwell in, O Lord (Exodus 15:17). The word place [machon] implies an alignment [mekuvan] of one opposite the other. And in another Midrash they said (Tanchuma, Pekudei 2) mishkan mishkan appears twice because it was taken as collateral [nimashken] twice for the sins of Israel. According to all these Midrashim, we need to provide a reason for their relevance here, since without doubt the main focus of this section is about the accounting that Moses gave, so what relevance do these Midrashim have to this context? Therefore, I say that they all sensed this difficulty: Why did it insert the accounting in the middle of the work? For in the Vayakhel portion, the work of the Tabernacle and all its vessels is mentioned, and in this portion only the making of the priestly garments is mentioned. Why did it interrupt between them with this accounting? Therefore, the author of this Midrash says, because the Temple below is aligned with the House of God above, and it is written: According to all that I show you, the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its vessels (Exodus 25:9). Here is proof that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed Moses on the mountain only the Tabernacle itself and its vessels, but did not show him the pattern of the priestly garments. For this reason, it is stated several times in the Terumah portion as you were shown on the mountain regarding the making of the Tabernacle itself and its vessels, but in the Tetzaveh portion which mentions the priestly garments, the vision on the mountain is not mentioned at all. And it is not without reason that they were divided into two separate portions twice: in the Terumah portion, the Tabernacle and its vessels are mentioned, and in the Tetzaveh portion, only the priestly garments are mentioned. And similarly here, the Vayakhel portion speaks of the Tabernacle and its vessels, and the Pekudei portion speaks of the priestly garments, because the Tabernacle and its vessels were all made according to the vision that God showed Moses on the mountain. And that vision was that He showed him the sanctuary above, for it too was made in the form of this Tabernacle, and He commanded him to make a Tabernacle below resembling in all its features the sanctuary above. This is what is meant by established for Your dwelling [Machon] — aligned [mekuvan] one against the other. The interpretation is not that they are aligned in actual physical location, for the Tabernacle was portable and did not stand in one place. According to this, we would need to say that even the sanctuary above was moved from place to place, which is far from logical. Furthermore, the language of the verse does not suggest this, because when it says established for Your dwelling, it implies that the House of God below is aligned with the House of God above, and it should have said the opposite — that the House of God above is aligned with the House of God below, since it [supposedly] moves from place to place with the movement of the sanctuary below. Rather, established for Your dwelling means that the Temple below was made to align with the pattern of the sanctuary above, which also has the form of these chambers and vessels, and these are divine secrets hidden from us. This is what is meant by “aligned one against the other.” But the priestly garments below were made only for Aaron, for honor and glory, and are not included among the vessels of the Tabernacle. And when it says the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its vessels, the priestly garments are not included, because they are not called vessels of the Tabernacle but rather Aaron’s garments, and they have no counterpart above. And with this, what the commentators have questioned is resolved, why it was stated in this section regarding the priestly garments in all the work as the Lord commanded but why was this not mentioned at all throughout the entire Vayakhel section? Rather, it is because the Tabernacle itself, whose design Moses saw on the mountain, obviously he did not change, for something that a person sees with their senses is easy to replicate. But regarding the priestly garments, whose design he did not see, one might have thought that he forgot something about them. Therefore, it says about all of them as the Lord commanded, even though he did not see their model, nonetheless with all of them he intended to make them as God commanded him, because there was only the commandment regarding them and no visual model. But in the Terumah section, it mentioned in many places as you were shown on the mountain, for the reason we mentioned. And for this reason, Moses was extra careful with the Tabernacle and its vessels, and wanted to give an accounting of them immediately after they were completed, and did not want to combine them with the making of the garments, due to the greater sanctity he saw in the Tabernacle and its vessels, because it was designed to correspond to the heavenly Temple. And this would be its explanation: These are the accountings of the Tabernacle. The definite article ‘heh’ indicates that it is speaking of the heavenly Tabernacle. Then it clarifies which one this is: the Tabernacle of Testimony that was accounted at Moses’ command, meaning that Tabernacle of Testimony which testifies that the Divine Presence dwells among Israel, which was accounted at Moses’ command — this itself is the accountings of the known Tabernacle above. According to the Midrash that says “mishkan mishkan” [tabernacle tabernacle], because it was taken as collateral [nimashken] twice for the sins of Israel, therefore it says this immediately after the work of the Tabernacle is mentioned. As it is said The Lord has spent His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger, and has kindled a fire in Zion (Lamentations 4:11). Our Sages said (Lamentations Rabbah 4:14), “He spent His fury on wood and stones.” They specifically mentioned wood and stones to indicate that only the Tabernacle itself, which was made of wood and stones, was taken as collateral, but the priestly garments were not included. Therefore, it mentions These are the accountings of the Tabernacle immediately after the Tabernacle, hinting that the Holy One, blessed be He, forgave them for the sin of the Golden Calf. For it is the way of the world that when someone is indebted to another and gives him collateral for his debt, the creditor no longer demands payment from the person’s body but only from the collateral. In the sin of the Golden Calf, Israel deserved to be completely destroyed in their bodies, but the Holy One, blessed be He, in His mercy, promised to accept from them a collateral for their debt. For although the sin of the Golden Calf was forgiven, it was only forgiven conditionally — if they would not return to their wrongdoing by making [another] calf. And when they returned to their wrongdoing with the calves that Jeroboam son of Nebat made, the sin of the first calf was also remembered against them. This is what is meant by On the day of My visiting, I will visit upon them their sin (Exodus 32:34). That is to say, on the day they make some other calf, which will be the reason to remember the deed of the first calf, then I will visit upon them their sin — to account for the sin of all the calves together. Nevertheless, I will not punish them in their bodies to destroy them from the face of the earth, but I will take from them a collateral for their debt. This is what is meant by These are the accountings of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle [repeated]. For what I said, On the day of My visiting, I will visit — These are the accountings, meaning, that visitation will be upon the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle, corresponding to the two Temples that were destroyed because of their sins. And it mentions [the letter] ‘heh’ [the numerical value of which is five] in the first instance but not in the second, because in the Second Temple, five essential things were missing, as is known. And the reason for this collateral is because the gold of the Tabernacle came to atone for the gold of the calf, and if so, it is as if the Tabernacle became a guarantor for them that they would not return to their wrongdoing. And if they transgress, then I will take the Tabernacle from them, for it is not proper that the Tabernacle that atones should be among them while their impurity is within them and they return to their wrongdoing. Thus, as long as the Tabernacle exists, it is a testimony for Israel that the sin of the calf is released and forgiven. Therefore, it is called the Tabernacle of Testimony.

אלה פקודי המשכן העדות, “These are the reckonings of the Tabernacle of Testimony; when the word משכן appears without further details, such as משכן העדות, it refers to the carpet-like coverings forming the roof of that structure, i.e. the lowest layer of these coverings. In order to make sure that we understand that all parts of the structure are meant, the Torah wrote משכן העדות. The idea is that this was the structure that housed (within the Ark) the Tablets that were testimony to the revelation at Mount Sinai. Nachmanides writes that many commentators take the view that the words אלה פקודי refer back to the section which described the making and assembling pf the Tabernacle, its furnishings, and its surrounding courtyard, as well as the tasks which the priests and Levites were to perform in connection with this Tabernacle, and the sacrificial service. According to their view the tasks over which the son of Aaron, Ittamar, presided, are all included in the פקודים referred to in our verse. Nachmanides does not accept this approach, saying that if it were so, why are the tasks that Eleazar, the elder son of Aaron presided over, not included? Therefore, Nachmanides is of the opinion that the words אלה פקודי וגו' do not refer to what had been written before, but to what follows, namely details of the totals of the donations which had been collected for the project, especially the amounts of silver, gold and copper. The Torah describes the use that was made of the 100 talents of silver contributed for the sockets of the beams of the Tabernacle, the hooks by which the curtains of the courtyard were fastened to their pillars, etc., the copper most of which was used as overlay of the altar in the courtyard, as well as for the various tools used in servicing the fire on the altar, keeping it going around the clock, the vessels needed to remove ashes, etc. All the items that were made of copper and that weighed 70 talents, were under the supervision of Ittamar, son of Aaron. The reason that Eleazar’s name is not mentioned here is that all these items were not handed to him at this time for supervising their transport during the journeys. At this point we are told the amounts of metal used and Ittamar had been entrusted with supervising this. While it is true that the copper altar is mentioned here also, and this was within the domain of Eleazar, so much so that mention had to be made that it was constructed from the donations of copper which, as we already stated, deserved special recognition seeing that this metal was scarce and therefore much in demand. The details of how much gold had been used for that were not mentioned here as some gold was used in furnishings under the supervision of Eleazar, whereas other quantities of gold were used in overlays of the beams which were the mainstays of the Tabernacle, etc. It is completely possible that no one kept track of exactly how much gold was used up in each overlay of wooden furnishings, beams, etc. The basin and its stand have also not been enumerated here as it was not known precisely how much copper was used from the copper mirrors the women had donated for this purpose. Possibly, these vessels were not part of what belonged to the domain of Ittamar.

אלה פקודי, the count of the silver, gold, and copper contributed.

אלה פקודי המשכן, “these are the records of the Tabernacle, etc.;” העדות, “the testimony;” The Tabernacle served as testimony to the gentile nations that Hashem had forgiven His people for the sin of the golden calf. It proved that His glory resided amongst them again. An alternate interpretation: the word עדות, serves as testimony on behalf of Moses that at the time when the people suspected him of having stolen from the shekalim which had served Moses at the census, Moses had asked that once the Tabernacle would be complete its existence should serve as testimony that he had not taken a single piece of silver for himself. The people examined the amounts of silver used in the construction of the Tabernacle and found that the silver they thought had disappeared had actually been used in making the hooks for the hangings around the Tabernacle’s courtyard. This is hinted at in the text of the Torah in Exodus 36,7, where the respective first letters in the line: והמלאכה היתה דים, “the raw material they had was sufficient,” have a numerical value of 15, i.e. there had been 15 hooks in those hangings which had been constructed from the “excess” silver not used up for making the sockets of the boards and the entrance pillars. In our daily morning prayers 15 adjectives of the Lord being Truth recited immediately after the kriat sh’ma are appended as a reminder of this. ביד איתמר, “by the hand of Ittamar;” even though Moses was the commander in chief, it was necessary to mention Ittamar also, as authority is not exercised over the Jewish people by fewer than at least two people.

Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that Hashem commanded Moses.

ובצלאל בן אורי וגו׳ עשה את כל אשר צוה ה' את משה AND BEZALEEL THE SON OF URI etc. MADE ALL THAT THE LORD COMMANDED MOSES — It is not stated here: אשר צֻוָּה (Bezaleel made all that he had been commanded), but “[Bezaleel made] all that the Lord commanded Moses” — even regarding such things which his teacher (Moses) did not tell him, his own opinion was in agreement with what had been told to Moses on Sinai (Jerusalem Talmud Peah 1:1; Bereishit Rabbah 1:14). [For Moses bade Bezaleel to make the vessels first and the Tabernacle afterwards but Bezaleel said to him: “Surely, it is the way of the world (the usual way) first to build a house and then to place the household utensils in it!” He (Moses) replied to him: “So, indeed, did I hear from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He”. Moses further said to him: (בצלאל), you must have been sitting in the shadow of God (בצל אל), for certainly did thus God command me!” And consequently Bezaleel made the Tabernacle first and afterwards he made the vessels (cf. Berakhot 55a).

AND BEZALEL THE SON OF URI, THE SON OF HUR, OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, MADE ALL THAT THE ETERNAL COMMANDED MOSES. The meaning of this is that everything was done through his direction, for he acted as instructor to all the wise men, and they all did heir work in his presence and showed him all that they had done, just as it is said, And He hath put in his heart that he may teach. But all the wise-hearted men also did the work, as it is said, and every wise-hearted man among them that wrought the work made the Tabernacle. In the opinion of our Rabbis, this verse is intended to praise Bezalel, and to say that even these things that his master Moses did not tell him, he understood through his own mind in exactly the same way that they had been told to Moses on Sinai. Thus the intention of Scripture is not to state that Bezalel did all the work, but that in all which was done through him, he fulfilled all that the Eternal commanded Moses. It is for this reason that Scripture does not state in connection with anything that was done until now: “as G-d spoke to Moses,” for this would have implied: “as Moses said by the word of G-d,” and he [i.e., Bezalel] changed their order from that which Moses had told him. Therefore Scripture stated everything in general terms, and said that Bezalel did everything as G-d had said, as I have written above.

"And Bezalel" — Scripture states that Bezalel and Oholiab, who were the chief craftsmen, performed all their work properly.

ובצלאל בן אורי בן חור וגו, “and Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Chur, etc.;” he also constructed items that his teacher Moses had not specifically instructed him to construct such as the tops of the pillars, as he was on the same spiritual wavelength as his teacher. [Our author had already made this point on Exodus 36,38. Ed.]

ובצלאל בן אורי בן חור למטה יהודה עשה “and Betzalel son of Uri, son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehudah had made, etc.;” the meaning of the word עשה, “had made”: in this instance is that he had issued instructions for the items mentioned to be made by the appropriate people. The only item Betzalel constructed personally was the Holy Ark (37,1). This is why G’d’s Holy Name was used exclusively with Betzalel. Our sages (Jerusalem Talmud Peyah 1,1) say that Betzalel understood perfectly what was to be made and how, without G’d having had to spell this out to him, as he had divined exactly what G’d had told Moses while the latter was on the mountain. A comment by another Midrash claims that both Betzalel and Oholiov were craftsmen familiar with all aspects of the work that needed to be performed. Both were known as גור אריה, the former because he was a member of the tribe of Yehudah (Genesis 49,9), the latter seeing Moses had referred to the tribe of Dan by the same term in Deut. 33,22. The Temple has been compared to a lion (אריה) the shape of the sanctuary being long and narrow whereas its shape near the entrance (with the אולם) was broad in front. This is supported by Scripture in Isaiah 29,1 where the word Ariel is understood to be derived from Aryeh (compare Rashi on that verse). Just as the construction of the Tabernacle, the Temple, and the altar was symbolized by the lion, the punishment of the Jewish people when the Temples were destroyed were also linked to the image of the lion as we know from Jeremiah 4,7: “the lion has come up from his thicket, the destroyer of nations has set out.” Eventually, when the messianic period will be ushered in, our prophets again foretold that at that time Israel would be compared to the rising of the lion when they said (Micha 5,7) ”the remnant of Yaakov shall be among the nations in the midst of many people like a lion among beast of the wild.”

“And Bezalel son of Uri, etc. made all that the Lord commanded Moses.” Rashi explains that it does not say “that Moses commanded him,” etc. It seems that Rashi unnecessarily forced this interpretation, because in my opinion, the verse means as follows: Since we do not find anywhere in the work of the Tabernacle that Moses commanded Bezalel, “Do this and that,” for in the portion of Ki Tisa it is written, See, I have called by name Bezalel. And it is not written there that Moses told anything to Bezalel. Similarly, in the portion of Vayakhel, Moses said to the entire congregation of Israel, And every wise-hearted person among you shall come and make, etc. the Tabernacle, its tent, etc. And he did not specify there any details about how the Tabernacle should be built and in what manner it should be constructed. And what is said there, And Moses called Bezalel, etc. to approach the work, etc. — even there, the method of construction and how to arrange them is not explained. Therefore, Moses certainly did not command Bezalel at all how to make the Tabernacle and its vessels, and nevertheless, Bezalel knew everything through the divine spirit that was upon him — what the Lord had commanded Moses. Therefore, it was necessary to say here that he “made all that the Lord commanded Moses,” because it could not say that he made all that Moses commanded him, since Moses did not command him regarding the method of their construction. And as for Rashi’s explanation that Moses commanded him to make the vessels first, I do not know from where Rashi learned this, because on the contrary, in the Vayakhel portion Moses mentioned the Tabernacle first, and so in every place the Tabernacle is mentioned first, except for what is stated in the Terumah portion: And they shall make an ark of acacia wood before the Tabernacle, and this is because it follows the order of their importance. And if he learned this from the question of “which Moses commanded him” but it does not say, etc., we have already said that this is not a question.

ובצלאל בן אורי...עשה, “and Betzalel son of Uri fashioned, etc.” Seeing that Betzalel was the chief architect, and supervised all the people working on the project “Tabernacle,” the Torah accords him the credit as if he personally had done all this with his own two hands. Our sages deduce from the words את כל אשר צוה ה' את משה, “everything that Hashem had commanded to Moses,” instead of “everything he had been commanded by Moses,” that even items which Moses had forgotten to tell him about, he divined as things G’d had spoken to Moses about, and he proceeded to include these items in his project. The wording of the Torah proves that changes in the order of what was to be constructed first and what last were what G’d had told Moses, although Moses had not related this in the same order.

And with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan — a craftsman, a skilled artisan, and an embroiderer in blue, purple, crimson dye, and fine linen.

All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary — the gold of the wave-offering was twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, by the sanctuary shekel.

ככר [TWENTY NINE] TALENTS — A common kikkar contains sixty common manehs, and the maneh of the Sanctuary (that used for purposes connected with the Temple) was double the common maneh. Consequently the kikkar here mentioned was 120 common manehs. Now a common maneh contained 25 Sela’im (or shekels), and the kikkar of the Sanctuary equals three thousand shekels. That is why Scripture counts (mentions the number of) all the shekels that are fewer than 3,000 as a separate item, because these do not together amount to a kikkar (cf. Bekhorot 5a).

"All the gold" — the Gaon asked: why did Scripture mention what was done with the silver, but not mention what was done with the gold of the wave-offering? He himself answered: Scripture does mention that the menorah was a talent of gold, and likewise the ark-cover, the gold of the Ark, and the incense altar. But this answer is not correct: the menorah was entirely gold, whereas the Ark was not — it was merely overlaid with gold inside and out; and so too the incense altar, the table, the poles, the planks, and the bars were all overlaid with gold. The ark-cover was entirely gold, and according to the tradition we received from our ancestors it was one talent, for its length was great and its breadth was great. In my view, Scripture mentioned what was done with the silver — which is the atonement silver — because it is upon that obligatory silver that the Tabernacle stood, which encompasses all the vessels; and this is a remembrance for the children of Israel. As for how much gold was used to overlay all the vessels of the Tabernacle — who can estimate it?

כל הזהב, the Torah testifies that the contributions of gold, silver, and copper for the building of the Tabernacle were miniscule in value when compared to the amount of such precious metals which were used in the building of Solomon’s Temple. We read there in Kings I 6, 20-35 and Kings I 7, 45-50 about the opulence of that structure. Compared to the restoration of the second Temple in the days of Herod, even Solomon’s Temple could be considered a poor attempt at impressing the world with the Jewish people’s wealth. Notwithstanding all the material wealth invested in both Solomon’s Temple and that of Herod, Moses’ Tabernacle, a collapsible structure, enjoyed far more of G’d’s presence than the Temple Solomon built, not to speak of the second Temple in which the Presence of G’d was never manifest. All of these historical facts teach us that material wealth, even if donated generously, is not a major factor in the success of a Temple dedicated to house the Presence of G’d on earth. G’d’s presence in such a Temple depends on His approval of the lifestyle of the Jews who have built such a Temple for Him.

כל הזהב העשוי למלאכה, All the gold used in the construction, etc. The words ויהי זהב התנופה in this verse seem superfluous or at least not in their proper place. The words כל הזהב העשוי do not seem to fit at all. Perhaps the Torah wishes to underline that of all the gold handed over to the various artisans not an ounce remained unaccounted for; it was all used up in the construction of the vessels which were to be made of gold. The whole verse then is testimony to the integrity of the artisans employed in fashioning all the parts made of gold. The words בכל מלאכת הקודש mean that all the gold was used up in the construction of the sacred vessels. The Torah may also allude to miracles which occurred to the gold used for the vessels of the Tabernacle. We all know that when one constructs vessels out of any metal including gold, the fact that it has to be melted down, etc., results in some diminution of the original amount of metal one started with. The more the original lump of gold had to be divided in order to construct all the various smaller parts made of gold, the greater the percentage lost in the process. The Torah testifies here that there was absolutely no wastage; all the original material was used up fully to become part of the sacred work בכל מלאכת הקודש. The word העשוי may be translated as "fit to be used to make something of." If something that the Israelites contributed was fit to be used in the construction of the Tabernacle, it was fully made use of. The word בכל means that all of the original amount contributed was immediately put to use in the construction. If this had not been the case, the miracle that nothing was left over would not have been noticeable. One could have added materials from the pool of raw materials whenever one ran short of something. This was not the case, however. The miracle was noticeable only because there was neither excess nor shortage during any stage of the construction of the many items required for the project.

ויהי זהב התנופה, “all the gold used for the waveoffering amounted to, etc.;” the reason why the Torah used the expression תנופה, here, an expression usually used only with specific offerings for specific purposes by an individual donor, is that when presenting his gift, the owner had had to lift it. תשע ועשרים ככר וגו, twenty nine talents, plus. seven hundred and thirty shekels; for anyone interested, the total amount of gold used in the construction of the Tabernacle amounted to 1460 liters” [we are not familiar with the units used by our author that his readers in France were obviously familiar with Ed.]

The silver of the census of the congregation was one hundred talents and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, by the sanctuary shekel.

"And the silver" — from this number we learn that a talent equals three thousand shekels, as evidenced by: "the silver of those counted of the congregation."

וכסף פקודי העדה, “and the silver that was counted which had been contributed by the congregation, etc.: the Torah spells out in detail what exactly all the silver and copper donated was used for. The reason for this is that the silver was used as ransom for the people who had somehow become guilty during the episode of the golden calf. The reason why the Torah does not enumerate in detail what the gold was used for is that no item was wholly made of gold except for the candlestick and the cover for the Holy Ark. All the other furnishings were only overlaid with gold. מאת ככר ואלף ושבע מאות וחמשה שקלים, one hundred talents and seventeen hundred and fifty shekels.” [One kikar used for sacred purposes was equivalent to 3000 “holy” shekels, or 6000 ordinary shekels of silver. Ed.]

וכסף פקודי העדה מאת ככר, “and the silver of those of the community who were recorded amounted to 100 talents, etc.” The silver of the half-shekel contributions of the 600,000 males over the age of 20 amounted to 300,000 whole shekels (100 talents). Seeing that actually there were 603,550 males being counted, the total amount was precisely that mentioned in our verse, i.e. 100 talents and 1775 shekel (a talent having 3,000 shekel). According to the accounting listed in the Torah here, any silver “donated” rather than handed over as the mandatory amount by males over the age of twenty was not mentioned here. Rashi, in his commentary, computes the numbers as follows: “a talent equals 60 manah. Seeing that the shekels being counted were described as “holy shekels” i.e. double the weight of the ordinary shekel, a talent would be equivalent to 120 manah. The manah is equivalent to 25 selaim. This gives you an amount of 3.000 shekel per talent. Rashi continues, arriving at the same result we already mentioned. Having established all this we can now address the amount of silver Haman offered to pay King Ahasverus in exchange for permission to destroy the Jews in his kingdom. Seeing that he offered 10.000 talents of silver, this was equivalent to 50 shekel for every Jew assuming that there had been 600.000 Jews at the time. The number 50 shekel is the maximum amount per adult male between the age of 20 and 60 prescribed by the Torah (Leviticus 27,3) that someone “donating” his own equivalent to G’d has to give to the Temple treasury. Another way of understanding why Haman picked on this amount of silver may be that when the Israelites sold their brother Joseph and received 20 pieces of silver in exchange, i.e. an amount of 5 shekel, or half a shekel each, and their guilt had not yet been atoned, he concluded that in exchange for the amount he offered he could legally make all the Jews his slaves (again by assuming that there were a total of 600.000 Jews). He felt certain that he would succeed seeing that the brothers had never been punished by G’d for selling Joseph into slavery. He presumably reasoned similar to what we have been told in Midrash Tehillim 10 that because the brothers sat down to eat their meal (Genesis 37,28) after throwing Joseph into the pit but before selling him, acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred, G’d was so angry that He said: “seeing you have sold your brother as a result of feasting, your descendants will be sold as a result of their having feasted (participating in the banquet given by King Ahasverus).” This is why the Book of Esther makes such a point of telling us that the King and Haman sat down to a feast after having concluded the deal in which Haman acquired authority to do to the Jews whatever he wanted. If we reflect on this calculation, Haman only had to offer a payment of 1.000 talents of silver as when you multiply the number 600,000 by 5 you have 3,000,000 shekel or 1,000 talents. [Each brother had received half a shekel at the time, and the amount required by G’d for atonement of the sin of the golden calf was also only one half shekel per adult male. Ed.] It is possible to see a different motivation in the amount Haman offered the king in exchange for the Jews. He wanted to offer one thousand shekel in exchange for each of the Ten Commandments, i.e. the merit the Jews had acquired by agreeing to accept the Ten Commandments. When you look at the word אשקול “I will weigh,” which Haman used when offering this amount in exchange for the Jews (Esther 3,9), you could divde that word into two, i.e. אש קול, “fire and sound.” At the revelation at Mount Sinai the Jews had experienced the sound of G’d’s voice out of thunder and lightning, i.e. out of אש and קול. At that time G’d performed exceptional acts of kindness with us so that the fistful of barley (which represented the Omer sacrifice brought on the date of the month Haman was hanged) was found to be worth more than ten thousand talents of silver which Haman had offered the king. There is a tradition that on the 16th of Nissan, the day Haman was hanged, Mordechai had studied the laws of the Omer (a sacrifice which could be brought only while the Temple was standing). In our portion the Torah speaks about the נחושת התנופה, that the total quantity of copper donated for the Tabernacle was some 70 talents plus 2400 shekel in weight. We learn from these details that Moses gave an exact accounting to the people concerning everything which had been contributed. He handed over everything to Ittamar who was appointed assistant treasurer so that he himself could not be suspected of having held back anything for himself seeing he was in sole charge The Midrash in Shemot Rabbah 51,1 states that the description (Proverbs 28,20) “a faithful man will enjoy many blessings; but he who is too eager to become rich will not go unpunished,” applies to Moses and Korach respectively. Of the former G’d Himself said “he is trustworthy in My entire house,” (Numbers 12,7).”He enjoyed many blessings,” means that Moses was the instrument through whom Israel received many blessings He became the treasurer of the Tabernacle’s funds. The words: “he is too eager to become rich,” refer to Korach who was not content with the distinction of being a Levite but wanted to become a priest also. Due to this greed, he did not go “unpunished,” but the earth opened up and swallowed him and all his riches (Numbers 16,32). Just as a person must be able to face G’d with a clear conscience, so it is important to appear unblemished in the eyes of the people. When addressing this subject our sages in Shekalim 3,2 postulate that the donors when delivering their mandatory contribution must not enter the office designated for receiving same while wearing clothes which could conceal any money in its folds, etc., in order that in the event such people become wealthy sometime afterwards they could not be accused of having helped themselves to money stored in that office. Even if such a person was a wealthy man he is not allowed to wear this kind of clothing so that should he become poor afterwards people might say that he was being punished for misappropriating funds from that office. People must always be on guard to conduct themselves in such a fashion that they do not arouse suspicions in their fellowmen that they have been guilty of some misdemeanor. David already prayed to G’d that this should not happen to him when he said (Samuel II 22,44) ”You have saved me from the strife of peoples.” There is an even more specific verse in the Torah concerning this subject in Numbers 32,27: “you will be clear before the Lord and before Israel.” We also have an explicit verse about this subject in Proverbs 3,4: “and you will find favor and high esteem in the eyes of G’d and man.”

וכסף פקודי העדה מאת ככר, “and the silver contributed by the men of the congregation who had been mobilized for military duty,…amounted to100 talents.” Some commentators, basing themselves on the failure of the Torah to describe this silver as a “תרומה,” or a similar expression as used with the gold and copper contributions, that a great deal of silver was donated, and the reason why the total was not revealed here was that here we are only interested in how much of it was used in the actual construction of the Tabernacle. The balance was given to the Temple treasurer for use directly or indirectly in maintenance work, as and when necessary, as well as in the purchase of the animals of the mandatory communal offerings, especially at times when there was a dearth of voluntary offerings. If so, the scholar who holds that the tribe of Levi was also counted at the time of the first census is correct, as the shekel contributions of these Levites would make up the surfeit handed over to the trustee in charge of the Temple treasury.

'וכסף פקודי בעדה מאת ככר וגו, the author explains how the amount is arrived at, 1 talent being 3000 shekel so that the 600.000 half shekel per head collected amounted to 100 talents, plus the small change mentioned here.

וכסף פקודי העדה, “and the excess silver shekalim (1750) etc.” these were not shekalim from the census or donations for construction of the Tabernacle as described in verse 29 as נחושת התנופה,”copper from the elevation offering;” the Torah wishes to tell us that the people as a whole did not have more than this amount of silver left in their possession after parting with their donations of silver shekalim. ובכסף ונחושת, “and with the silver and the copper, etc;” The Torah now proceeds to tell us for what all this silver and copper had been used when constructing the Tabernacle. This had not been spelled when the Torah told us what the gold was used for, as no complete item other than the menorah, candlestick, was made of gold. Gold was used as an overlay both for the altar, the Holy Ark, the Table and the boards of the walls. It is worthwhile to reflect on how important the Tabernacle was relative to the creation of the physical universe, and how this was reflected in many of the details surrounding it, On the first day G–d was reported as having created heaven and earth before giving the order to light to come into existence. [Heaven and earth you will recall were wrapped completely in darkness. Ed.] G–d’s activity on that day is described in Psalms 104,2 as נוטה שים כיריעה, “spreading the heavens like a carpet.” The corresponding activity when constructing the Tabernacle was covering its walls with goat-skins. (Exodus 26,7) On the second day G–d had created the horizon and divided the lower waters from the upper waters. (Genesis 1,6) The corresponding activity involving the construction of the Tabernacle was the installation of the dividing curtain, פרוכת, between the Holy of Holies, and the Sanctuary proper. (Exodus 26,33) On the third day G–d had commanded the earth beneath the oceans to form a coherent surface and to become visible above the waters of the ocean. (Genesis 1,9) The corresponding activity during the construction of the Tabernacle was the making of the water-basin, כיור used by the priests to purify their hands and feet. (Exodus 30,18) On the fourth day G–d had positioned the Luminaries in the sky, (Genesis 1,14). The corresponding activity had been the making and placing of the menorah in the Tabernacle and kindling it. (Exodus 25,31) On the fifth day G–d had created the fish and the birds (Genesis 1,20), and the corresponding activity during the construction of the Tabernacle had been the winged cherubs which had been constructed and placed on the cover of the Holy Ark. (Exodus 25,6) On the sixth day G–d had created the first human being, (Genesis 1,27); the corresponding activity during construction of the Tabernacle was the order to Moses to consecrate his brother Aaron as High Priest. (Exodus 28,1.) On the seventh day, G–d had “rested,” (Genesis 2,1) the corresponding report concerning the Tabernacle is found in Exodus 39,43, with the words: ותכל כל עבודת המשכן, “all the work of constructing the Tabernacle had been completed” After G–d had completed to create the universe He blessed it and all its inhabitant and he sanctified the Sabbath (Genesis 2,1) Moses did likewise in Numbers 7,1. The Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle reminds us of the heavens, source of our spiritual inspiration, whereas the table is symbolic of earth and its products is reminding us of how the Creator has provided for all His creatures. The showbreads are the visible symbol on that Table. The six rows on which they were placed are reminiscent of the six seasons of the year: sowing, harvesting, cold season, hot season, summer and winter.

A beka per head — half a shekel by the sanctuary shekel — for everyone who passed through the census, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

בקע (from בָּקַע to split) is the name given to a weight of half a shekel. לשש מאות אלף וגו׳ FOR SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND [AND THREE THOUSAND etc.] — Thus were the Israelites in number, and thus did their number amount to after the Tabernacle was set up, as it is stated in the Book of Numbers (ch. II), and at this time, also, when they contributed toward the Tabernacle they were just as many (cf. Rashi on Exodus 30:16). The half-shekels of 600,000 amount to a hundred talents, each talents consisting of three thousand shekels (cf. v. 25). How is this? 600,000 half-shekels are 300,000 whole shekels, making one hundred talents and the remaining 3550 half-shekels make 1775 whole shekels, as stated in the text.

"Beka" — half a shekel; the meaning is: when the shekel is split (yevuka), this is its half. "For every one who crossed over" — who had passed over twenty full years; I have already explained the reason for this.

בקע לגלגלת, beka, per head (half a holy shekel). The people relied on G-d being aware that this amount would suffice for the silver needed in connection with the Tabernacle.

A drachma for (each) head, a half shekel of the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one who passed to the numberments, from twenty years and upwards, for six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty (men).

The one hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the sanctuary and the sockets of the curtain — one hundred sockets for one hundred talents, a talent per socket.

לצקת means as the Targum has it: לאתכא, TO CAST. את אדני הקדש THE SOCKETS OF THE SANCTUARY — i. e. of the boards of the Tabernacle (the Sanctuary) which were forty-eight boards, and for these ninety-six sockets were required. The sockets for the partition vail were four in number, so we have altogether one hundred. As regards all the other sockets (those of the enclosure and of the vail at its entrance) they are not taken into account here, because “copper” was written concerning them (Scripture prescribes that they were to be of copper).

THE SOCKETS OF THE SANCTUARY, AND THE SOCKETS OF THE VEIL. Scripture calls the Tabernacle “the Sanctuary,” and mentioned the veil separately, because it divided between the holy place and the most holy. Thus it is as if it said, “the sockets of the holy place and the sockets of the most holy.”

"La-tzeket" ("to cast") — belongs to the class of verbs with a yod, like "laredet" ("to descend").

את אדני הקודש ואת אדני הפרוכת, “for the sockets of the Sanctuary (planks), and the sockets of the dividing curtain(s).” There were a total of 100 such sockets, 48 for the planks, requiring 96 sockets and 4 for the pillars supporting the dividing curtain, making a total of 100.

From the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their tops and banded them.

וצפה ראשיהם [HE MADE HOOKS FOR THE COLUMNS] AND OVERLAID THEIR TOPS – the tops of the columns (not of the hooks) with them (the 1775 shekels of silver), for it is said with regard of all of them (the columns of the enclosure as well as of those of the vail at the entrance) (v. 19) “and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets were of silver”.

"And" — because what remained did not complete a full talent.

ואת האלף ושבע מאות, and of the one thousand and seven hundred, etc. This refers to the silver not described as having been used to make the sockets. Our sages in Shemot Rabbah 51,5 claim that while Moses was busy enumerating what had been made out of all the gold and silver, etc., he sat down for a moment and forgot what had been made out of these 1775 shekels of silver. When he remembered, the Torah added the letter ו in the word ואת. According to commentators such as Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra (compare his comments on Exodus 25,3) who hold that the only silver which was contributed for the Tabernacle consisted of the half-shekel every male over twenty had to contribute (Exodus 30,13-14), the words ואת האלף ושבע מאות וחמשה ושבעים have to be explained differently. We know that the male Israelites had to contribute a half shekel each, and that the total number of males counted were 603.550 (compare Numbers 1,46). Since a "kikar" silver consists of 3.000 shekels, the figure given in our verse (as the left-over silver) corresponds exactly to that which had not been used for the 100 sockets which were each one kikar in weight. We do not find that G'd had commanded that anything other than the sockets, the hooks and the fillets had to be made of silver. The Torah did not, however, specify the size of the hooks or the fillets. Betzalel considered the number of hooks and fillets required and constructed them in sizes which used up the 1775 shekels silver remaining, making sure there was no overage. The words עשה ווים mean that he made the total remaining silver into hooks dividing them as required. He was quite certain that the remaining silver was to be used for this purpose as the fact that G'd had told him how much silver to use for the socket had made it plain to start with that there would be an overage of silver worth 1775 shekels. If G'd had told Betzalel about the size of each of these hooks beforehand, the execution of that command should have been reported as ויעש ווים. The fact that the Torah writes instead: עשה ווים is proof that he used his own initiative as to the size of these hooks. I do not subscribe to the theory that there was no other silver except that contributed from the count of the males above the age of twenty. How else are we to explain 35,24: "Everyone who set apart an offering of silver and copper?" That verse cannot be reconciled with Rabbi Avraham ibn Ezra's comment on 25,3: "and this is the offering, etc." Every serious student will appreciate what I mean. I believe we can explain our verse in accordance with what we have written on verse 24 on the words כל הזהב, that even when such small items as hooks were made nothing went to waste, nor did the material used fail to be used up completely. The meaning of עשה ווים is that Betzalel used up everything in the making of these hooks.

ואת האלף ושבע המאות וחמשה ושבעים, “and from the one thousand and seven hundred and seventy five,” I believe that the reason the letter ה appears before the word אלף, i.e. a reference to an already familiar amount of silver, is designed to remind the reader that we are still dealing with the half-shekel mandatory contributions. The reference is to the מחצית השקל בשקל הקודש mentioned in verse 26. 3,550 people who had contributed a half shekel each made up 1775 whole shekels as stated in our verse. Our sages (Tanchuma Pekudey 7) have described matters as follows: “when Moses made an accounting of all the materials used and all the contributions received he was short 1775 shekels of silver. He had forgotten what he had done with that quantity of silver. A heavenly voice was then heard reminding him that this amount of silver had been used up in making the hooks by means of which the curtains around the courtyard were attached to the pillars supporting them. This was an illustration of how trustworthy Moses was, that in all of “My house,” i.e. the Tabernacle, he had not misused any of the materials which had been contributed for it. Thus far the Midrash. When you examine the matter you will realise that the letters ה and ו were the two letters which were featured in the sin of the golden calf. Both these letters are part of the tetragram, the holy name of Hashem. [the reference is to the two opening letters in the words האש והקול, “the fire and the voice” (we discussed this on the previous page). This is why the Israelites who numbered (in round figures) 600.000 had to bring half a shekel each to atone for that sin from which the sockets for the boards of the Tabernacle were to be constructed. The additional shekels which were not used up in constructing these sockets were used to make the hooks for the curtains which had to be attached to pillars so that the whole formed a fence or wall around the courtyard of the Tabernacle. The Hebrew word for these hooks is ווים, i.e. a number of the letters ו which had featured in the people’s sin. [The author discussed the nature of the sin in Exodus 32,4; the placing of these silver sockets under the boards (walls) of the Tabernacle was equivalent to reversing the people’s priorities in their theological thinking. Ed.] Perhaps the wording ואת האלף was designed to draw our attention to the letters ו and ה specifically.

The copper of the wave-offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels.

"And the copper" — Scripture also accounts for the copper vessels.

ונחושת התנופה שבעים ככר ואלפים וארבע מאות שקל .“and the copper used for the wave offering was seventy talents plus 2400 shekels. Our author translates this into denominations of coins used in France in his time. Ed.]

With it he made the sockets for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, the copper altar, the copper grating that belongs to it, and all the vessels of the altar.

ויעש בה, “he made of it, etc;” the word בה is used here instead of the word ממנה, which we might have expected. את אדני פתח אהל מועד, “the sockets of the pillars supporting the curtain at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Sixty five talents of copper were used for constructing sockets. They were needed for each side of the courtyard around the Tabernacle, one talent for each socket. From the five talents plus remaining, they made the cover for the copper altar, as well as its appurtenances and the clasps needed to hold together the curtains used for the roof which had loops accommodating these clasps. They also made copper hammers to drive into the ground the pegs needed to hold down the edges of the curtains above the Tabernacle which straddled the ground, as Rashi has explained at the end of Parshat T’rumah. We do not have to wonder how they had copper left over for the construction of the laver and its stand. Seeing that the materials for those items had been donated by the women, i.e. their mirrors, they are not counted separately as donations of copper. No one should think that only the amounts mentioned here were donated by the people. Much more was donated. The Torah only accounts for the amounts which were used directly in the construction of the Tabernacle. The excess of the donations became part of the Temple treasury, and was used for all manner of communal needs. Just as the number 600000, that the Torah included in the census did not include the people who had not yet reached the age of twenty or the ones who were past the age of sixty, and all the women, so that most likely the total number of Israelites at the time exceeded 2-3 million, so it would be foolish to assume that only the amounts recorded in our portion were donated. From chapter 35,24, it is clear that anyone who felt inclined to make a donation could do so, and no doubt that included people under the age of twenty and over the age of sixty, and the women. Even the males between twenty and sixty who had to contribute a half shekel, most likely donated in excess of this and not only silver coins. The Torah wrote that there was oversubscription, compare 36,7.

The sockets of the courtyard all around, the sockets of the gate of the courtyard, all the pegs of the Tabernacle, and all the pegs of the courtyard all around.