And Moses assembled all the congregation of the children of Israel, etc. Rashi explains [this happened] on the day after Yom Kippur, etc. And in the portion of Jethro it is written (Exodus 18:13), And it came to pass on the next day that Moses sat to judge the people, and Rashi explains there that this was the day after Yom Kippur. It seems to me that it is known that this assembly was to inform them about the commandment of the Tabernacle and the donations, as will be explained shortly. Moses was concerned lest one of them donate something to the Tabernacle that was not his own, thinking that he rightfully possessed it. This would be inappropriate for building this great and holy house from theft, [as it is written] in the place of justice, there is wickedness. Therefore, Moses first announced: “Whoever has a legal matter, let him approach me for judgment,” so that all the people would come to their place in peace, and each one would know what is his and what is not his through his judging between them. Then he would inform them about the matter of the donation, saying, “Take from yourselves a contribution to the Lord.” “From yourselves” means from what is yours and not from what belongs to your fellow, otherwise the phrase “from yourselves” would be superfluous. Although undoubtedly he could not judge all the people in one day, and even on that day he was not judging the entire day, for although it is said (Exodus 18:13) from morning until evening, this is as Rashi explains: anyone who judges a case with true justice is credited by Scripture as if he became a partner with the Holy One, blessed be He, in the work of Creation, as it is said (Genesis 1:5), And there was evening and there was morning. Otherwise, when would he have informed them about the making of the Tabernacle? Nevertheless, the donation was also not completed in one day, and perhaps he informed them that anything over which two people had a dispute should not be donated until the judgment was first clarified as to whom it belonged.

And by way of allusion, we may say that this gathering was to mediate peace among them, for a person cannot dwell with a snake in one basket. And after he wanted to inform them about the construction of the Tabernacle, in which they would all be partners, it was as if he seated them all in one dwelling. Therefore, he needed to gather them first so that they would be united as one group. That is why Rashi explained that this occurred on the day after Yom Kippur, because all their encampments were filled with disputes and complaints, except for the encampment before the giving of the Torah, as it is said: And Israel encamped there (Exodus 19:2), etc. So how could he gather them at a time when they were divided, their opinions differed, and the time was not appropriate? For this reason, Moses found it suitable to gather them as he wished on the day after Yom Kippur, because on Yom Kippur peace is mediated between them, and on that very day they are all united as one group. Therefore, it was easy to gather them the following day while yesterday’s peace still existed. But if a day or two had passed, peace would not have been maintained, for the bond would have already been broken, and each person would have turned to his own way. And in order that their monetary disputes between individuals not interfere with the peace of Yom Kippur [since Yom Kippur peace does not address these matters], Moses also sat to judge on that very day so that there would be peace among them in every respect. Then they would be worthy to dwell in one abode, namely the shared Tabernacle. And after they were united through the Tabernacle that bound them together, from then on we find many instances where Moses gathered them, even though it was not the day after Yom Kippur. This is especially true according to what is written in the Akeidah as a play on words of the verse You shall not kindle fire, etc. — that they should not ignite the fire of discord on the Sabbath when they are idle from work, and there is greater concern then for the fire of discord to ignite amidst idle talk. If so, he appropriately said Vayakhel [and he gathered] — that he gathered them to be as one group through the commandment you shall not kindle fire, for through his word they were assembled.

“These are the things [devarim] which the Lord commanded to do them.” The word devarim [things] implies two things, but at that time He only told them about the commandment of Shabbat. For one cannot say that devarim also refers to the Tabernacle which He mentioned afterwards, because it says [later in verse 4] This is the thing [davar] which the Lord commanded. Thus, regarding “this thing” He was referring to the Tabernacle. So how do I explain these are the things? Furthermore, it is difficult that it says Six days work shall be done [te’aseh], it should have said “you shall do [ta’aseh]” because te’aseh implies that the work will be done by itself. Additionally, this entire verse seems superfluous. And regarding what is written in the Ten Commandments Six days shall you labor, we have already explained this in the portion of Yitro, see there. But this verse does not bear that interpretation.

Therefore I say that it mentioned [the word] “things” [devarim], because the main essence of this commandment was to command about the work of the Tabernacle, that they should engage in it all six days of work, but on the seventh day they should not engage in it, because the Tabernacle does not override Shabbat. And there were two things [matters] here: one, to command about the making of the Tabernacle; the second, that they should not engage in it on Shabbat. And what is stated work shall be done is because the main essence of this commandment was about bringing the donations, for this too is called work as our Sages learned (Shabbat 96b) from the verse Let no man or woman make any more work and it is written and the people were restrained from bringing. If so, bringing donations from one domain to another is called work. And regarding that work, it says shall be done [passive form], because it could not say “you shall do work” as a command, since something given as a donation is not a command or obligation, but rather every person whose heart moves him will give of his own accord. Therefore it says work shall be done — meaning it happens by itself. And on the seventh day, a Sabbath to the Lord, it is forbidden to even bring donations from one domain to another. And according to the Midrash of our Sages which says that the Tabernacle was partially made by itself (see Shemot Rabbah 52:4), like the Menorah that was made by itself, and also the setting up of the Tabernacle was by itself, as it is said the Tabernacle was set up (Exodus 40:17) — therefore it says work shall be done, implying that it happens by itself.

Six days shall work be done, etc. Rashi explained that He prefaced the warning about the Sabbath to the command about the work of the Tabernacle to indicate that it does not override the Sabbath. People question this because in Parashat Kedoshim (19:3) it states, Every man shall fear his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths, and Rashi explains there that if your father tells you to violate the Sabbath, do not listen to him. There, it did not place the Sabbath first, yet nevertheless explained that it overrides honoring father and mother, while here Rashi attributes the matter to the Sabbath being mentioned before the work of the Tabernacle. It seems there is no difficulty at all here because there Rashi derived this from the phrase keep My Sabbaths being written in plural form when it should have said “keep” in singular form, since the verse begins in singular, saying Every man shall fear his mother and his father, meaning each and every individual. Granted, regarding the fear of parents, even though it begins in singular and then switches to shall fear in plural, it still needed to say this to indicate that both men and women are obligated to fear their parents. For one might have thought that since a woman is under the authority of others, she would be exempt from fearing her father, as Rashi explained. But regarding the Sabbath, why did it say keep in plural form? Since there is no reason to distinguish between men and women in this regard, it must mean that “you and your son are obligated in My honor.” Just as shall fear implies two — both man and woman — so too keep implies two — you and your son. Therefore, whenever one commandment precedes another, the one mentioned first is primary and overrides the one mentioned later. Similarly, in the verse Keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary (Leviticus 19:30), the Sabbath is also placed before the sanctuary for this reason. The case there is different because the verse limited it by saying keep in plural form. And the reason why it did not reveal this to us through precedence is because it needed to place the fear of parents first in order to equate their fear to the fear of Heaven.

And regarding why in Parashat Ki Tisa (31:13) He preceded the Tabernacle before the Sabbath, and wrote Nevertheless you shall keep My Sabbaths to derive from the additional word nevertheless that the Tabernacle does not override the Sabbath — He should have mentioned the Sabbath first and would not have needed the extra word nevertheless. Now, according to what we explained above in Parashat Ki Tisa regarding the extra word nevertheless, there was a need to write the word nevertheless. However, Rashi’s words can be resolved in a different way, and along with this, it will also explain why Moses changed the order, because the Holy One, blessed be He, first commanded him about the Tabernacle, but Moses put the Sabbath first. This is because the Sabbath is solely about the honor of God, to teach that He, blessed be He, renewed His world, while the Tabernacle entirely indicates the honor of Israel, that the Holy One, blessed be He, made concessions to them and caused His Divine Presence to dwell among them, and forgave them for the sin of the Golden Calf. The Holy One, blessed be He, is especially concerned for the honor of Israel, therefore He mentioned the Tabernacle first. And so that they would not err and say that He mentioned it first to indicate that the work of the Tabernacle overrides the Sabbath, He added the word nevertheless. But Moses thought that for the honor of God, it was appropriate to put the Sabbath first, which indicates His honor, blessed be He, and afterwards the Tabernacle, which indicates the honor of Israel. And from this precedence, it will be understood automatically that the Sabbath overrides the work of the Tabernacle, because which one is pushed aside for the other? You must say the lesser for the greater. And above, in Parashat Ki Tisa, you will find another reason why the Tabernacle is set aside for the Sabbath.

And the reason why God, blessed be He, in the Ten Commandments, placed the commandment of Shabbat before honoring father and mother, was in order to align the five commandments opposite the [other] five, because the commandment to honor [parents] corresponds to you shall not covet, and He needed to conclude the commandments with you shall not covet to teach that all the commandments are included in you shall not covet, and at the end of all things, everything is heard. This is clear and correct, and one should not ask from where would [we think] that it would be pushed aside, as the construction of the Tabernacle is only a positive commandment, while Shabbat involves both a positive and negative commandment, and [its violation carries the penalty of] stoning. The answer to this is that in any case, we find that Shabbat is set aside for the Tabernacle through the sacrifices that were offered on the Sabbath day, and one might have thought that Shabbat is completely set aside for the Tabernacle — this [verse] comes to teach us [otherwise].

You shall not kindle fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day. The Torah singled out kindling [fire] from the general [prohibition], either to permit kindling in the Temple and to say specifically in all your dwellings you shall not kindle but in the Temple it is permitted to kindle, (Shabbat 20) or so that we should not say that just as He forbade us from doing all work of our houses even in the Temple, likewise what is permitted in the Temple is also permitted in the house. Therefore, it teaches us you shall not kindle — this serves as a prototype for all the activities of the Tabernacle that even though they are permitted there, nevertheless they are forbidden in all your dwellings.

And by way of allusion, it alludes here to the punishment of Sabbath desecrators, as it states (in Shabbat 119b): Rav said, “Fire is only found in a place where the Sabbath is desecrated,” as it is said (Jeremiah 17:27), But if you do not listen to Me to sanctify the Sabbath day, etc., then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it will consume the palaces of Jerusalem and not be extinguished. Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak said, “At a time when people are not available to extinguish it.” Rashi explains this is referring to the Sabbath. And this is what is said here, Whoever performs work on it [the Sabbath] shall be put to death. And it says, You shall not kindle fire — meaning, do not cause for yourselves, through not properly observing the Sabbath, that fire should burn in all your dwellings, in your luxurious houses, on the Sabbath day, at a time when people are not available to extinguish it. See all of this in Olelot Ephraim, discourse 269.

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

“Take from yourselves a contribution to the Lord.” We have already explained above that from yourselves comes to exclude stolen property. Additionally, from yourselves includes that each person should hasten to fulfill the commandment on their own initiative, because there are people who don’t give anything until they see others giving and become envious of them. Consequently, they give in order to make themselves equal to others, and this is not from yourselves, since they themselves are not the cause of the giving; rather, others are the cause for it. And some say from yourselves literally, because one who gives from the generosity of their heart is considered as if they offered their own body. Furthermore, the poor person who gives is as if they are diminishing from their own flesh and giving, in the way it is said And from your flesh do not hide yourself (Isaiah 58:7) — meaning, do not refrain from taking even from your own flesh to give.

Every willing heart shall bring it. Initially it says take from yourselves, and the language of “taking” implies that they would take from him forcibly. Afterward it says every willing heart shall bring it, implying that he would bring it of his own accord. Similarly, in Parashat Terumah, it also mentions the language of “taking.” Furthermore, here it says every willing heart, while there it says from every man whose heart motivates him [yadvennu], when it should have said “whose heart is willing” [yindavennu]. However, it is speaking about two types of giving. There it speaks of two offerings that are obligatory, and one is compelled to give even if he is not willing-hearted — on the contrary, his heart is troubled [doveh] and worried and pained over the giving — nevertheless, you shall take from him against his will. Therefore it says from every man whose heart motivates him [yadvennu], as if to say “his heart troubles him [yadonnu],” since the letter bet is interchangeable with vav in the bumaf letters, especially a soft bet. The meaning is: one whose heart is troubled and does not give his obligation willingly — you shall take My offering from him against his will. Similarly, what it says take from yourselves an offering for the Lord also speaks of an obligatory offering, namely, the half-shekel per person. Perhaps that is why it says from yourselves — from your head [gulgolut]. Afterward, it speaks generally of the voluntary offering, that every willing heart shall bring it of his own accord without compulsion, for the willing-hearted is the opposite of one whose heart troubles him; he will bring his donation on his own and not wait until the treasurer comes to demand it from him.

Additionally, it seems to me [regarding] what was stated first “from you a contribution,” and afterward it says “the contribution of the Lord.” It is according to the mindset of the giver, because one who does not give willingly does not think that he is not giving any of his own, but rather from that which belongs to the Holy One Blessed be He, since the silver and gold belongs to Him. But such a person errs in his thinking and believes that his own strength and the might of his hand produced this wealth. Therefore, it is said take from you a contribution to the Lord, meaning from those groups who think that you are taking from what is theirs for God. But every generous heart who knows that silver belongs to God and is giving from what is His, therefore he will bring on his own the contribution of the Lord, meaning that which already belongs to the Lord. That is why it is called here the contribution of the Lord, to be understood that it already belongs to the Lord. And therefore it is said, and they brought to him more offerings morning after morning. What does more mean? Rather, it says that two good signs were seen in them, which are proofs that they gave their offerings with joy. First, that they brought of their own accord before the collector came to them to demand what they had already pledged. Second, that they brought it in the morning with shining faces, for anything given with a shining face is given in the morning, and the manna proves this, as Rashi explained in the portion of Beshalach (Exodus 16:7). And it further alludes with “in the morning” that each one of them who could present himself before others would do so early, therefore “morning” is mentioned twice. First, corresponding to what they gave with shining faces. Second, corresponding to how diligent they were in presenting themselves early.

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

And the leaders brought the shoham stones. The Rabbis said (Sifrei Naso 3) that because they were negligent with this donation and only brought their contribution at the end, the letter yud was removed from their name, and HaNesi’im [the leaders] is written deficiently [missing the yud]. For truly, they should not have waited until the end, because perhaps the Israelites would have given all that was needed, and they [the leaders] would have no portion in the entire Mishkan [Tabernacle]. And regarding why specifically the letter yud was removed, we explained above in Parashat Terumah (25:1) that it is because the Holy One, blessed be He, said, The haughty of eye and proud of heart, him I cannot bear (Psalms 101:5). And with the leaders, there was undoubtedly a spirit of pride as they said, by way of boasting, “Who will fill what we are lacking? But we will fill whatever the public lacks.” Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, took the letter yud from their name, because only this letter from the great Name [of God] was engraved in their name, and He took it from them to say, “This is not its place.”

And we can say further, that since the entire Tabernacle was atonement for the sin of the Golden Calf which caused the breaking of the tablets and the holy letters to fly away, and it is known that the letters have more holiness than the tablets themselves, therefore all the people brought as donations the 13 items mentioned in the portion of Terumah to atone for causing the flying away of the letters of the tablets, which are expounded through the 13 methods of Torah interpretation. The princes were not able to bring any additional donation that related to the writing on the tablets, which is the essential part, so they needed to bring the two shoham stones as atonement for the breaking of the two stone tablets. This atonement was not as significant as the atonement of the people, therefore the letter yud (the numerical value of which is 10) was missing from their name [nesi’im without the yud], because they had no portion in the atonement that related to the writing of the Ten Commandments, meaning the flying letters.

And our Sages of blessed memory (Yoma 75a) interpreted “And the princes [Nesi’im] brought” as referring to clouds, like Clouds [Nesi’im] and wind, etc. (Proverbs 25:14). And they said that the clouds brought the shoham stones. And it seems to me, according to what our Sages of blessed memory said (Taanit 8b), that rain is withheld only because of those who publicly pledge charity and do not give, as it is said Clouds and wind but no rain, a man who boasts of a false gift. Therefore, in a place where people do not give donations, the clouds do not bring down anything, but here, where everyone gave their donation, it is therefore said And the princes/clouds brought, etc. For the clouds gave their rain in its proper time, and blessing was sent in all the work of their hands, to the extent that they were able to purchase shoham stones and all precious stones because of the great wealth that the clouds bestowed upon them. Or, the clouds drew water from the bottom of the sea, the place where shoham stones are found.

And by way of allusion, what they said in the tradition, there are two [occurrences of] “vayikalu” [and it stopped], can be explained: First, And the rain stopped from the earth, and second, And the people stopped from bringing. This hints that when people do not give their donations and the people stop from bringing what they pledged, then the rain is stopped from the earth. And some say that because the clouds brought the manna, and their food was provided, so they had no expenses, and they became wealthy, as their money continually increased, and they had enough to purchase shoham stones.

“Behold, God has called by name Bezalel.” Moses said, “See and pay careful attention to their names, for God has called Bezalel by name. From the beginning, God gave them names that indicate they were created for this purpose — to be engaged in the sacred work. For Bezalel is derived from ‘betzal El’ [in the shadow of God], hinting that he would build the Tabernacle and the Ark, which would be a dwelling place for the Divine Presence that comes under its shadow, as it is written He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty (Psalms 91:1). And it is written He shall lie between my breasts (Song of Songs 1:13). Our Sages explained that the Holy One, blessed be He, would constrict His Presence between the two poles of the Ark and between the two cherubim who cover their wings over the face of the cover. And the covering [sekakh] relates to shade [tzel], for they were the ‘shadow of God,’ as it were. Evidence for this is that in all the work of the Tabernacle it is written ”and he made“ without mentioning Bezalel, but regarding the Ark it is written and Bezalel made the Ark. All this proves that he was called ”betzal El“ [in the shadow of God] because of the Ark. Son of Uri — this refers to the light [or] of the Torah, for he would build a place for the Torah, which is light. Son of Hur — this indicates that it was proper to bring him near to this sacred work more than others, since Hur, his grandfather, sacrificed his life during the incident of the Golden Calf, which caused the breaking of the Tablets. According to our Sages (Sanhedrin 7a), they killed Hur. Of the tribe of Judah — which is compared to a lion cub, and the Temple is called ”Ariel“ [lion of God]. Just as a lion is wider in front and narrower behind, so too the Tabernacle was wider in front and narrower behind. This teaches that the place of the Divine Presence does not depend on expansiveness, for the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, how much less this house. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, chose a narrow place for His Presence to teach that He is not limited to any space, and for the honor of Israel He compromised His own honor by establishing Himself in a place. Nevertheless, He chose a narrow place for Himself, and this is sufficient as a prompt for the enlightened.

He and Oholiab. He was called this because he would build the Tent [Ohel] of Meeting for our Father [Av] in Heaven, and for this reason he was named Oholiab, son of Ahisamakh, because there is the place of support [semikhut] for brothers, namely the Divine Presence with Israel, as it is written For the sake of my brothers and friends, I shall speak of peace in you (Psalms 122:8). And it is written My sister, my beloved (Song of Songs 5:2) [which is understood as God speaking to Israel]. From the tribe of Dan. For he too was compared to a lion’s cub, as it is said Dan is a lion’s cub (Deuteronomy 33:22). Therefore, it was fitting that he build the Ariel [the altar, literally the Lion of God], and there is a hint in Judah and Dan to His two names, the name of mercy and the name of judgment, with which the Holy One, blessed be He, partnered and created the world. Similarly, this Tabernacle, which was made in the image of all the worlds, was made through Judah, whose name includes the entire name of mercy, and through Dan [which means he judged], who indicates the attribute of judgment, for with these two the Lord formed His world, and with these two the Tabernacle was made in the image of the world through the tribes of Dan and Judah. Therefore, it says See, the Lord has called [it] by [His] name, and this secret is correct and clear. And in order to completely liken the building of the Tabernacle to the building of the world, Moses commanded to announce that no man or woman should do any more work. And why was this necessary? Did they commit a sin by bringing more than what was needed? Rather, because Moses saw that the design of this building was a model of the structure of the entire world, and our Sages of blessed memory said (in Chagigah 12a) that when the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world, it kept expanding until the Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked it and said to His world, “Enough!” So too, when Moses saw that this matter was expanding without limit, he rebuked them saying, “Let them do no more work,” because this is what the Holy One, blessed be He, did in the creation of His world. And regarding what is written And they took from before Moses, some say that Moses, to avoid suspicion, did not want to bring the donations into his house and chambers, but rather, when they were placed before him, from there the craftsmen took them.