## Chizkuni, Exodus

###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:1:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:1:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:1:1)

**ואת המשכן תעשה עשר יריעת** הם התחתונות הקרואות משכן ע״‎י שהלוחות והארון וכלי הקדש ששכינה שורה בהן מונחות תחתיהם.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואת המשכן תעשה עשר יריאות, “and as for theTabernacle itself, make it of ten strips of cloth;” here the Torah speaks of the lower coverings which serves as roof of the structure. They are the ones that are really called משכן, “Tabernacle,” not the skins that were on top and served as protective coverings. These “carpet like” strips of expensive cloth were immediately above the furnishings, the Holy Ark, Menorah, table and golden altar.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:1:2
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:1:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:1:2)

**שש משזר** פרש״‎י וכל מין ומין חוטו כפול ששה, במסכת יומא בפרק בא לו יליף להו מקראי.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
שש משזר, a linen fabric, each yarn contained 6 threads that had been twisted, (according to Rashi) The Talmud in tractate Yuma folio 71 cites proof of this based on Biblical texts.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:1:3
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:1:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:1:3)

**מעשה חשב** זהו מעשה אריגה שצריך מחשבה אבל מעשה רוקם הוא מעשה מחט ואין צריך מחשבה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
מעשה חושב, work of a weaver. The root of the word חושב shows that it requires extreme thought, i.e. skill, not just dexterity with one’s hands, but planning. When the Torah speaks of מעשה רוקם, however, this refers to needlework only, and is something less sophisticated, not requiring the kind of planning ahead that does weaving.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:2:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:2:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:2:1)

**ארך היריעה האחת** האלף פתוחה ותניינא האחת אלף בסגול ותליתאה האחת האלף בסגול וכן ביריעות העזים. כללו של דבר כלהון אלף שלהן בפתח וכל אתנחתא וזקף וסוף פסוק, אל״‎ף שלהן בסגול.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
אורך היריעה האחת, “the length of each strip of cloth, etc.;” the letter א at the beginning of the word ,האחת, has the vowel patach, whereas the second time it has the vowel segol, and the third time it occurs it again has the vowel segol. When the Torah speaks of the goats’ skins, we find the same pattern. The rule is that when the letter א in the word אחת had the vowel patach, and is followed by a word with the separating cantillation mark etnachta, the next time the word אחת occurs it has the vowel segol if the cantillation marks are either zakef katan, or sof passuk.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:3:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:3:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:3:1)

**חוברת אשה אל אחתה** פרש״‎י תופרן במחט שהרי באריגה אחת אינן נוחות ליארג.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
חוברות אשה אל אחותה, “shall be joined to one another.” According to Rashi, the “joining” is done my means of needle and thread (not clasps or loops). It was not practical to make these coverings out of a single piece of cloth.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:4:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:4:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:4:1)

ועשית ללאת תכלת צוה הקב״‎ה לעשות היריעות משני חלקים כדי שיהו נוחות לטלטל וכן אותן של עזים.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ועשית לולאות תכלת, you shall make loops of blue wool; G-d commanded that these carpet like coverings be made of two sections in order not to make it too heave and cumbersome to handle. The same method was followed with the carpets made of goats’ hair.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:5:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:5:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:5:1)

**וחמשים ללאת** מקום החמשים לולאות מחזיק ג׳‎ אמות וחצי כיצד כשתתן חצי אמה לכל אויר מן המ״‎ט אוירות שיש בהם הם יעלו לכ״‎ד אמות וחצי וישארו לך שלשה אמות ומחצה למקום הקרסים להשלים עד כ״‎ח אמה של אורך היריעה. אבל יריעות עזים שהיו מחזיקות שלשים אמות באורך צא מהם כ״‎ד אמה ומחצה למ״‎ט אוירות נשאר לך ה׳‎ אמות ומחצה למקום הלולאות הללו לפי שהם עבים וגסים מן האחרים.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
חמשים לולאות, fifty loops. The total amount of space for these 50 loops was three and a half cubits. How is this arrived at? When you allow a half cubit of air space to separate the 49 airspaces needed to separate one loop from the next, this amounts to twenty four and a half cubits. This leaves three and a half cubits for the boards to complete the 28 cubits in length occupied by them when fastened to one another snugly by the bolts we shall hear about still. Seeing that the eleven carpets made of goats’ hair were a total of thirty cubits in length, you were left with five and a half cubits for the loops, as those were thicker than the loops made of a mixture of wool and linen as described for the previous carpets. [There the Torah had specified that the loops were of the same materials as the carpets; seeing that for the goats’ wool carpets the material for the loops is not specified it is logical that these too were made of the same material as the carpets that they were meant to join. Ed.]


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:5:2
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:5:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:5:2)

**מקבילת הללאת** פרש״‎י והכתוב מסייעני דכתיב ונתת את הפרוכת תחת הקרסים, ואם כדברי ברייתא זו נמצאת פרכת משוכה מן הקרסים אמה. יש מיישבין הברייתא אחר הפסוק ואומרים שעמודי הפרכת קבועים באמת העשרים, והפרכת תלויה ופרוסה בהם מהם ולחוץ כלפי מזרח, הרי שהפרכת נתונה תחת הקרסים. ולדברי מסכת שבת אם העמודים באמת הכ׳‎ הפרכת תלויה בהם מהם ולפנים כלפי מערב, ואם הם באמת הכ״‎א הפרכת תלויה בהם מהם ולחוץ כלפי מזרח.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
מקבילות הלולאות, “the loops shall be opposite one another;” this is the way Rashi understands it and he is supported by the text of the Torah. The Torah writes in verse 33: ונתת את הפרכת תחת הקרסים, “you are to place (hang) the dividing curtain under the clasps;” if we follow the text of the Baraitha, the position of the dividing curtain was about one cubit beyond (westward) of these clasps. Some commentators explain and answer the difficulty in that Baraitha by saying that the pillars supporting the dividing curtain were attached to the end of the twentieth cubit of the length (interior) of the sanctuary part, as opposed to the Holy of Holies part of the Tabernacle. The dividing curtain hung facing the eastern entrance of the Tabernacle. In this way it was beneath the 50 golden clasps described as connecting the primarily blue woolen carpets. The curtain at the eastern entrance of the Tabernacle called מסך, was similarly suspended in a manner that its thickness completed the twenty cubit long sanctuary part of the Tabernacle. According to the Talmud, Shabbat folio 98, where it is stated that none of the carpets covered the pillars at the eastern end of the Tabernacle, the dividing curtain would have been hung towards the western part of the Sanctuary, or Holy of Holies respectively.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:9:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:9:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:9:1)

**וכפלת את היריעה** סתם כפל לשנים, הוא שפרש״‎י חצי רחבה היה תלוי וכפול על המסך.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
וכפלת את היריעה השישית, “you are to fold over the sixth carpet;” when the word כפל occurs without further adjective, it means: “double.” This is what Rashi meant when he wrote: “half its width was hanging and was folded over the curtain at the eastern entrance.”


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:12:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:12:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:12:1)

**תסרח על אחרי המשכן** פרש״‎י לכסות שתי אמות שהיו מגולות בקרשים. לא בקרשים דוקא, שהרי האמה מהן נכנסת באדנים והיינו אליבא דברייתא, אבל אליבא דמסכת שבת כל קרשי המערב היו מכוסים רק האדנים היו מגולים. ואליבא דכ״‎ע יריעות עזים היו מכסות גם האדנים שבמערב, מפני כבוד שכינה. אבל לצפון ולדרום היו האדנים מגולין. תנא דבי רבי ישמעאל למה משכן דומה למטרוניתא מהלכת בשוק ושיפוליה מהלכין אחריה. ומשקול הדעת כנפי זויותיהן של יריעות היו פרוצות למעלה דאי לא תימא הכי הרי הן מוטלות ע״‎ג קרקע.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
תסרח על אחורי המשכן, “it will overlap the rear end of the Tabernacle.” Rashi explains that it was necessary because the lowest 2 boards at the Western side of Tabernacle which had been left exposed.” Actually, there were no 2 cubits exposed, as the lowest cubit had been inserted into the silver sockets of the Tabernacle. This is in accordance with the view expressed in the Baraitha. However, according to the opinion we quoted from the Talmud, exposed parts of the boards on the outside of the Western wall of The Tabernacle had been covered by the curtains so that only the sockets had remained exposed and needed to be covered. All the scholars are agreed however, that the carpets made of goats’ hair covered the outside of the Tabernacle all the way to the ground. This was necessary already for the sake of the honour of the Presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle. The sockets of the Tabernacle to the south and the north remained exposed. Rabbi Yishmael, quoted by the Talmud, compared the Tabernacle to an elegant lady, walking in the marketplace and the train of her dress dragging behind her on the ground. If she were truly elegant, she would make sure that that train is either held up by a servant, or somehow tied to her dress so that it will not be dirtied being dragged along a dusty street. It is reasonable to assume that the corners of the curtains were attached to the fabric in a way preventing them from trailing on the ground.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:15:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:15:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:15:1)

**עצי שטים עמדים** שלא יקחו עצי שטים נופלים והקצוצים מימים רבים שכבר נרקבו אלא מן העומדים והמחוברים לקרקע דרך גדלתן, ולמדתך תורה דרך ארץ לעשות בנין מאילן שאינו עושה פרי.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
עצי שטים עומדים, “made of acacia wood, upright.” The reason why he Torah added the word: “upright,” was to forbid planks that had already fallen off the tree after the branch having been sawed off. This comes to teach you that it is proper to build a building only from wood that came from a tree that did not produce any fruit.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:17:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:17:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:17:1)

**שתי ידות לקרש האחד** כל יד ויד חרוץ מארבעה צדדין כדי שיהיו שפתי הקרש שוין לשפתי האדן לפנים ולחוץ. ומה שפרש״‎י חרוצות משלשה צדיהן היינו מצד חוץ ומצד פנים ומצד שכנגד הקרש האחד שהרי החריץ שבאמצע הקרש אינו קרוי חריץ היד אלא חריץ הקרש.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
.שתי ידוה לקרש אחד, “two square pegs, rung like, for each plank.” Each peg was indented from all four sides so that the “lips” of the plank could fit over each side and be level front and back. When Rashi wrote (on Shabbat 98) that the pegs were cut out on three sides, he meant that these cut outs faced front and two sides of the next adjoining plank, the one in the middle not being called a “cut out of the peg,” but “a cut out of the plank.”


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:17:2
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:17:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:17:2)

**אשה אל אחתה** מה שפרש״‎י בעובי הקרש שהוא אמה נפקא לן הא משני קרשים שבמקצועות.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
אשה אל אחותה, parallel to one another. Rashi understands this as applying to the thickness of each plank which was one cubit (60 cm. approx). He arrived at this conclusion by basing himself on the two planks at the northwestern end of the Holy of Holies and the southwestern corner. [If his opinion would not be correct, we could not account for the measurements given by the Torah for the overall length and width of the Tabernacle. Ed.]


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:19:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:19:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:19:1)

**שני אדנים תחת הקרש האחד** האדנים אמה ארכן כעובי הקרש ורחבן שלשה רבעי אמה שהוא חצי ארכו של קרש ואורך האדן נתון לעביו של קרש ורחבו לרחב הקרש ולכל אדן באמציעתו נקב חלול רביע אמה על רביע אמה נמצא משפתי הנקב עד שפתי האדן חצי אמה פחות חצי רביע מזה וחצי אמה פחות חצי רביע מזה ומשפתי הנקב עד שפתי הרוח רביע אמה מזה ורביע אמה מזה. והקרש חרוץ על פני רחבו רביע אמה מזה ורביע אמה מזה ובאמצעיתו חרוץ חצי אמה ועוד הקרש חרוץ על פני עביו חצי אמה פחות חצי רביע מזה, וחצי אמה פחות חצי רביע מזה. לשון אחר רביע אמה וחצי מזה, ורביע אמה וחצי מזה והכל אחד נשאר היד מחזיק רביע אמה, נמצאו הידות של כל קרש וקרש כל אחד ואחד מחזיק רביע אמה על רביע אמה, וכשהיה מכניס הידות לתוך נקבי האדנים עובי החריצים יהיו מכסים שפתי האדנים מכל צד בצמצום.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
שני אדנם תחת הקרש האחד, “two sockets under one (each) plank.” The dimensions of each of these sockets were one cubit in length matching the thickness of each plank and their width was three quarters of a cubit so that two together were the width of each plank, one and a half cubits. Each socket was hollowed out so that it could accommodate the pegs described in detail above. The author proceeds to give further details which in the absence of an illustration are not easy for the reader to follow. [This editor hopes to supply illustrations at the end of the last volume of this Torah commentary. Ed.] There is no unanimity on some of these details, but seeing that regardless of whose opinion is right there will not be another Tabernacle in the future, the dispute will never be resolved satisfactorily.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:24:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:24:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:24:1)

**אל הטבעת האחת** פרש״‎י ובקרש שבמקצוע היו הטבעות בעובי הקרש הדרומי והצפוני כו', כלומר קרש המקצוע היה חרוץ בראשו ברחבו ובתוך עביו כשיעור החרוץ שבראש קרש הצפוני והדרומי.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ויהיו תואמים מלמטה, “they shall be matching at the bottom” Rashi writes as follows on this phrase; “all the planks shall be flush at the bottom, so that the thickness of the edges of the two sockets should not form a gap to distance them from one another” (the planks). The corner planks of the southwestern part of the Tabernacle as well as the one at the northeastern corner had to be worked in such a way that they did not protrude into the interior space of the Tabernacle. According to our author, the words: “northern and southern,” belong further down in his commentary, and he meant to say that the top of the corner plank in the western row was inserted into the ring. When Rashi wrote that the ring was in the thickness of the plank, he means: in the thickness of the western plank. When you give this some thought, you will realise that that ring was also inserted at the same time into the top of the plank at a ninety degree angle to it.
אל הטבעת האחד, “into the one ring.” According to Rashi, every plank was cut away a little at the top along its width, two cuts on its two sides to contain the thickness of a ring.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:26:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:26:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:26:1)

**ועשית בריחם** פרש״‎י משולשים בתוך עשר אמות של גובה הקרש וכו׳‎ מקום הנחת בריחים בקרשים ומקום הטלת שלשה חוטי גידין המשולשים כמגלה התפורה בפשתן ומקום ערי מקלט בגבול ארץ ישראל דין שלשתן שוה.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ועשית בריחים, “you shall make bolts;” according to Rashi, these bolts were to be attached to the outside of the planks in three rows spread over the height of ten cubits which was their height. Seeing that the Torah had spoken of 5 plus five plus five bolts, Rashi means that they were not each as long as the entire combined length of the planks in each direction, but were inserted through the rings holding the bolts from each end, being 15 cubits long each. There were therefore 4 bolts along the upper half of the long wall, and 4 bolts along the lower part of that wall, and 4 bolts along the western wall (which was 12 cubits wide on the outside.) The bolt in the middle, described as הבריח התיכון, “the bolt running centrally all around was long enough to traverse the holes drilled in each plank so that it could go in at the eastern end of the northern wall and come out at the eastern end of the southern wall, (describing a u shaped path.) Since the latter was about 70 cubits plus long, it was equivalent to three of the other bolts. We have examples of how to fasten sections of parchment to one another in a Torah scroll, where the length of the section from top to bottom is sewn at intervals of approximately one third from the top three times, or when the land of Israel is divided into three parts for the purpose of where to position the cities of refuge for people who had killed unintentionally and were afraid of a family member of the deceased wishing to kill him as an act of retribution. (Compare Talmud, Megillah folio 19, or Makkot 9)


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:28:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:28:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:28:1)

**בתוך הקרשים** לפי שהבריחים אחרים נתונים בין הזהב ובין הקרש כתוב כאן בתוך כלומר בתוך עובי הקרשים.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
בתוך הקרשים, within the planks. Seeing that the other bolts were fastened to the golden outside of the planks and therefore were visible to the eye, the centre bolt which was fastened to the wood underneath the golden overlay, and therefore invisible to the naked eye, was described as “inside the planks.”


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:32:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:32:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:32:1)

**על ארבעה עמודי שטים** עמודים אלו היו עומדים בתוך אויר רחבו של משכן לפי שאין בכך שום טירוד ודוחק שאין נכנס ויוצא שמה רק כהן גדול ד׳‎ פעמים ביום אחד בשנה אבל לפתח המשכן היו חמשה עמודים שנים מהם אחד כנגד כותל דרומי והאחד כנגד כותל צפוני והשלישי כנגד אויר חללו של משכן לפי שנכנסין ויוצאין בו תדיר ואם יהיו שם יותר משלשה עמודים הם טורדים ודוחקים הנכנסים והיוצאים. וי״‎מ הטעם שלא היו לפרכת רק ד׳‎ עמודים לפי שהיה נתון בין שתי כותלי המשכן ויכולין לתת הקלונס שהפרוכת תלוי בו על ראש שני כותלי המשכן לצפון ולדרום אבל למסך שהיה נתון תחת אויר השמים ולא היו כותלים לצדיו כמו שהיה לפרכת הוצרך לו חמשה עמודים, ולא סבירא דא״‎כ מה היו משמשים העמודים שפרש״‎י ואונקלאות קבועות בהם וכו'. אלא ראשון עיקר.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
על ארבעה עמודי שטים, “on four pillars made of acacia wood.” These pillars were freestanding, across the width of the Tabernacle they did not bother anyone seeing that only the High Priest one day of the year, the Day of Atonement would walk past them four times. The five pillars at the eastern entrance of the Tabernacle, however, were positioned differently, two each near the northern and southern side, and the fifth in the centre, so that there was plenty of room to walk on either side of the pillar in the middle, as the priests would enter and leave the Sanctuary frequently. If all these pillars had been spaced at equal distances from one another this would have been inconvenient for the priests. An alternate interpretation, (source unknown) the reason why there were only four pillars supporting the dividing curtain, whereas there were five such pillars supporting the curtain at the entrance of the Tabernacle, is that they were positioned between the planks of the Tabernacle on either side, so that these planks could be used as additional supports for the staves from which the curtain was suspended. These staves rested (also) on top of the plank to the north and south side respectively, so that actually the dividing curtain was supported by six pillars. The curtain at the entrance did not have parts of the planks supporting it. [According to the opinion that the dividing curtain was actually a double curtain so that the High Priest had to walk between it, it would have been much heavier, and therefore in need of stronger support. Ed.] The two outer pillars at the entrance, actually functioned as if an addition to the planks, but not joined to them. Our author prefers the first interpretation. Our author queries that if that interpretation were correct what was the purpose of the pillars that Rashi speaks about? The planks would have been sufficient to support the staves for the curtain.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:35:1
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:35:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:35:1)

**ושמת את השלחן** פרש״‎י מזבח הזהב ממוצע ועומד באמצע ומשוך קמעא כלפי חוץ, פי׳‎ כיון דכתיב המנורה נכח השלחן בעינן דחזו אהדדי כך פי׳‎ ז״‎ל במסכת יומא.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ושמת את השולחן, “you shall place the table, etc.;” in the middle; seeing that the Torah had written that the candlestick should be positioned opposite the table, the golden altar had to be positioned in the centre of the Sanctuary part of the Tabernacle. Both the Candlestick and the table were slightly to the north and south of the centre and at the same time further west, closer to the dividing curtain. Compare Talmud Yuma folio 33.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:35:2
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:35:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:35:2)

**ואת המנרה נכח השלחן** להאיר עליו וכן כתוב בפרשת בהעלותך אל מול פני המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות פי׳‎ אל השלחן שהוא מול המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
ואת המנורה נוכח השולחן, “and the candlestick was facing the table.” This was in order to illuminate the surface of the table. This has been spelled out in Numbers 8,2.


###### Chizkuni, Exodus 26:35:3
[Chizkuni, Exodus 26:35:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Chizkuni/s/Exodus/r/26:35:3)

**על צלע המשכן תימנה** לעולם אורה מדרום, דוגמא שמש שהולך אל דרום.

**Chizkuni, translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk:**
על צלע המשכן תימנה, “on the southern side of the Tabernacle near the southern wall.” Light always emanates from the south, as does the light of the sun whose orbit proceeds in a southerly direction after it rises in the morning.