Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah
Or HaChaim on Exodus 35:20/אור החיים על שמות ל״ה:כ׳
אוַיֵּצְאוּ כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל. פֵּרוּשׁ, שֶׁיָּצְאוּ כּוּלָּם כְּאֶחָד בִּזְרִיזוּת לְהָבִיא, וְלֹא הָיָה בָּהֶם אֶחָד שֶׁנִּתְעַכֵּב מֵחֲבֵרוֹ.
1 ויצאו כל עדת בני ישראל מלפני משה. The whole congregation of Israelites departed from the presence of Moses. The Torah emphasises that they all left simultaneously, eager to bring their contributions for this sacred project.
במִלִּפְנֵי מֹשֶׁה. פֵּרוּשׁ מִלְּפָנָיו, קוֹדֶם שֶׁיִּתֵּן לָהֶם רְשׁוּת לַעֲמוֹד מִלְּפָנָיו, וַהֲגַם דְּאָמְרִינַן בְּיוֹמָא (נג,א) שֶׁאֵין רְשׁוּת לְתַלְמִיד לַעֲמוֹד מִלִּפְנֵי רַבּוֹ אֶלָּא עַד שֶׁיִּתֵּן לוֹ רְשׁוּת, דָּנוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל כִּי כְּשֶׁאָמַר לָהֶם ״קְחוּ מֵאִתְּכֶם תְּרוּמָה״ וְגוֹ׳ וְגָמַר דְּבָרָיו כְּאִלּוּ אָמַר לָהֶם עֲמוֹדוּ. אוֹ אֶפְשָׁר כִּי אַהֲבַת הַדָּבָר קִלְקְלָה הַשּׁוּרָה. עוֹד נִרְאֶה שֶׁנִּתְכַּוְּנוּ לְהַקְדִּים לְבַל יֵלֵךְ מֹשֶׁה וְיַקְדִּים לְהָבִיא כָּל הַצּוֹרֶךְ מִשֶּׁלּוֹ, כִּי עָשִׁיר גָּדוֹל הָיָה וְחֵשֶׁק גָּדוֹל הוּא בַּעֲשׂוֹת מִצְוֹת ה׳, לָזֶה יָצְאוּ מִלְּפָנָיו, פֵּרוּשׁ, עַל דֶּרֶךְ אָמְרוֹ (רות ד:ז) ״וְזֹאת לְפָנִים״, קוֹדֶם לוֹ.
2מלפני משה. From the presence of Moses. This is mentioned to indicate that contrary to general practice, the Israelites did not wait for Moses to formally give them permission to leave this assembly. This was in contrast to a halachic ruling recorded in Yuma 53 according to which a disciple must not leave the presence of his teacher without first obtaining permission to do so. The Israelites reasoned that seeing Moses had said: "take from yourselves a gift, etc." the fact that he stopped addressing them was equivalent to his having dismissed them. Alternatively, the Israelites' love to contribute to the sacred project made them forget their good manners. They may have been anxious to contribute what they could before Moses himself would anticipate them. Moses personally was very wealthy and certainly sufficiently motivated to contribute so much of his own that little would be left for the average Israelite to contribute.