Mei HaShiloach, Volume I, Exodus, Vayakhel/מי השלוח·חלק א·ספר שמות·ויקהל

1“And Moshe gathered together all the congregation of the children of Israel … six days shall you do your work and the seventh day shall be for you a holy Shabbat … take from yourselves an offering for God ….” (Shemot, 35:1–5)Why does the Torah mention Shabbat just before the work on the Mishkan (Tabernacle)? With the building of the Mishkan, all the hearts of Israel were united without anyone feeling superior to his fellow. At first, everyone possessing a heart of understanding performed his particular work on the Mishkan, and it was shown unto him that he had done wondrous work. Then afterwards, when they saw how all the disparate elements fit perfectly together, every curtain and board, and every element perfectly suited every other one as if it was the work of one man, they thus understood that all that they had done was only a product of their intellect out of the assistance of God to every one who contributed to the Mishkan, producing afterwards the perfection of the structure. So how then could one feel superior over another when all that was done was only with the help of God?Similarly we find in the Gemara Megillah (9a), “It happened with Ptolemy [king of Egypt, 285–246 BCE], that he brought together seventy-two sages of Israel, and asked them all separately, ‘translate the Torah of your teacher Moshe.’ They all answered in exactly the same way [without consulting with each other, ‘E-lohim created in the beginning’],” each one in his heart intended towards the deepest of wisdom. Then when they saw that they were all of the same opinion then they understood that it came about through the assistance of God. This is why the Torah mentions Shabbat immediately before the work of the Mishkan, for the principle of their union was from the mitzvah of Shabbat, for Shabbat is included in all the mitzvot when one has the intention that they are for the sake of Heaven. This intention is called Shabbat. So too, with the work on the Mishkan, all their work was intended for the glory of Heaven in order that the Shechina (Divine presence) would have a dwelling place in Israel. For this reason they united together, for if so much as a nail were missing the Shechina would not rest in the Mishkan. Therefore no one could in any way feel superior to another, even the one who made the ark to the one the tent-spikes of the courtyard, for, as it says in the Gemara (Sotah, 40a), “what does it matter, both this and this serve to exult the Highest.” This is “and Moshe gathered together all the congregation of the children of Israel.”

2“…. see! God called in the name of Betzalel ….” (Shemot, 36:30)It is said in the Midrash (Sochar Tov, 21), “He gave majesty [hod] to Moshe and splendor [hadar] to Yehoshua.” Hadar is splendor or adornment, an action that brings honor (tiferet, also beauty and balance) to the one who does it, where his action arouses grace (chein) in the eyes of all, and all praise his action for it is clear to all that it was done with the intention for the sake of Heaven. Hod, or majesty, is an action that brings honor (beauty) “from the man himself,” that the one who does the action receives no praise from those who see it, for on the surface it seems to go against reason, only “bringing beauty from the man himself” for the (spiritual) form of man who descends into the awesome depths of the action itself. Yet on its surface it bears no beauty or honor.This is “He gave majesty [hod] to Moshe,” that only at their depths were his actions for the sake of Heaven, yet on the surface they brought him no honor, as it is written (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayaqhel, 3), “they were murmuring against Moshe because he always appointed his relatives to high positions,” like the accusations of the followers of Korach that he was not commanded to do this by the mouth of God, where in truth there was no room to suspect him in this, God forbid, for all this had come from the side of God.So too here, appointing Betzalel for the work on the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was from the mouth of God, for God gave Betzalel more wisdom and understanding than all the others who were working on the Mishkan. And this is, “see [plural]! God called in the name of Betzalel,” for God did not tell only Moshe, “see [singular]! I called in the name of Betzalel,” yet Moshe Rabeynu wanted to “clear his name,” so therefore he said, “see! If you will look with a good eye then you will see that it is God’s will that Betzalel is the principal one involved in the work on the Mishkan.” If you compare the curtain that Betzalel made to a curtain made by others you will see that this one has more grace and balance than all the others, even if the two curtains are fashioned in the same way (but there is something inside this one that the other lacks). This is certainly proof that God’s will is in him more than the all the rest, and this is “see,” a term denoting understanding, that from this you will understand that God has chosen Betzalel.This matter also concerned Moshe Rabeynu, that even though he did not have a clear and revealed splendor (hadar), nonetheless, whoever looked at him with a good eye would see the majesty (hod), clearly noticing his awesome depths. This is the matter of the Masvei, the cover for his face (to cover the keren or, the beams of light that emerged from his forehead after he descended with the second tablets of the Law, light that was too much to bear for the unworthy), which is the numerical equivalent of HAVA”YEI Elo-heicha (Hashem Your God), for the mem and hei of Masvei equals the expansion of the Tetragrammaton equaling 45 (YHV”H may be spelled out—Yud Vav Dalet, Hei Aleph, Vav Alef Vav, Hei Alef; all together equaling 45), and the Samech and Vav (the last two letters) of Mahsvei, equals Elo-heicha (your God). The name HAVA”YEI teaches of majesty (hod), and Elo-heicha teaches of splendor (hadar), that even though the splendor was not seen explicitly in Moshe, just the same, both splendor and majesty were included within him, and who would look at him with a good eye would see that all his actions were done for the sake of Heaven.

3“… the people bring much more than is enough for the service of the work ….” (Shemot, 36:5)The great praise bestowed on Israel for mentioning their donations to the materials for the Mishkan so many times, and what is unique about this, must be understood, for who would refrain from giving all his wealth for the mitzvot of God, and in particular when it concerned the building of the Mishkan? In truth, man does not know the root of his heart—if he is truly giving. The test of this is, if one is asked one time to donate for a new mitzvah, then he can give abundantly, but after he has grown accustomed to this mitzvah he then closes his hand from giving. From this it is understood that he is not giving from his roots, for if it came out of his roots he would not refrain from giving. Here, with the Mishkan, God wanted only true donations from the center point of the root of their hearts, because it is in its essence an everlasting structure, and thus the Kedusha (holiness) of the donations also had to be enduring. So in the eyes of all of Israel it was made as if they were accustomed to it and it was not as a new thing, and still, time after time they gave from the center point of the root of their hearts, showing that their giving was refined. This is “the people bring much more than is enough,” meaning that they gave every time, so therefore the Torah praises their giving.