“And Moses saw all the work.” There is a need to be precise about why it first says, And all the service of the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was completed, and similarly it says at the end, Thus the children of Israel did all the service, why did it first call it service [avodah] and afterward work [melachah]? Furthermore, there appears to be a repetition in these two verses. Nachmanides explained that this refers to the Tabernacle and its vessels, and perhaps the Rabbi’s opinion is that the Tabernacle itself is called work [melachah], but the vessels are called service [avodah] because with them they performed the service of the sacrifices. Nevertheless, we have not resolved the issue of repetition, because three times it is mentioned here that they did the service and the work.

Therefore it seems appropriate to explain this, according to the Midrash that interprets the entire construction of the Tabernacle as corresponding to the work of Creation, see the entire Midrash in Rabbeinu Bachya on this portion, besides many similarities that the rabbi added on his own. And with this understanding, the language of avodah [service/work] and melachah [labor/craftsmanship] will also be resolved, because regarding the work of the Tabernacle, it is appropriate to use the term avodah since through it they served the Blessed Holy One, and “avodah” only applies from a servant to a master. But the term melachah applies to the crafting of heaven and earth, because what a creator does for himself is called “melachah,” as it says regarding Creation, And God finished on the seventh day His melachah (Genesis 2:2). And it is just as we find in the work of Creation that it says for each creation that it was good, and at the end it says, And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31). For there are things that are good when each stands on its own, but when mixed together they are not good because their combination does not turn out well. Therefore, regarding Creation it says that each was good individually — meaning a particular good — and afterward it says that there was also a general good in them, because even after they were all joined together, their combination was good. That is why it repeats, And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. Similarly, with the work of the Tabernacle, it first says, Thus all the work of the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting was finished; and the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they did, which implies that each individual component was made as the Lord commanded Moses. But it had not yet been specified that after everything was made, they arranged each service in its designated place — meaning the general good. Therefore, it repeats, According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did all the work, because there was a general good in them, as they were made in the proper order, meaning the connection of all the work together. And afterward, it further explains that everything they made was done according to the command regarding the creation of the worlds, heaven and earth. This is the meaning of And Moses saw all the work — referring to the work of Creation — and behold, they had done it — meaning they had made it resembling that work, as if it was actually the same work. Therefore, Moses blessed them.

“And Moses blessed them.” What blessing did he bless them with? “May it be God’s will that the Divine Presence rest upon the work of your hands,” and May the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us, etc. (Psalms 90:17). Rabbeinu Bachya explained this is because the beginning of the psalm states, A prayer of Moses, the man of God, etc. But this explanation is not sufficient for our purpose if there is no allusion to the construction of the Tabernacle anywhere in the psalm. I say that there is a proper allusion to the building of the Tabernacle at the beginning of the psalm and at its end. For at the beginning it says, Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. This is similar to what Solomon said in his prayer when he dedicated the Temple (1 Kings 8:27): Behold, the heavens and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house! This is what is meant by Lord, You have been our dwelling place — You are the dwelling place of the world, and the world is not a place or dwelling for You. So how could one conceive of preparing a house for You to dwell in? The psalm provides evidence for this by saying, Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God. If the Holy One, Blessed be He, needed to dwell in a place, then before the world was created, in what place did He dwell? Rather, it is certain that the world is not His place; on the contrary, He, blessed be He, is the place and dwelling for the entire world. So how could it be that the Holy One, Blessed be He, would command him to build a house for Him as if He were dwelling in a place? To this, the psalm responds with an explanation: You return mankind to dust, saying, “Return, O children of men.” The Holy One, Blessed be He, needed to set aside His honor and make a dwelling for Himself in the lower realms in order to forgive them for the sin of the Golden Calf. For according to our Sages (Tanchuma, Pekudei 6), the entire Tabernacle was an atonement for the deed of the Golden Calf.

And perhaps for this reason the Mishkan was made in the image of the entire world, since before the giving of the Torah, the entire world was in a state of chaos, and through the Torah, the world emerged from the state of chaos and void. When they made the Golden Calf and the tablets were broken, the world reverted to chaos and void. When they were forgiven for the sin of the Calf, the world emerged a second time from chaos and void. It was as if the world was created a second time at that moment. Therefore, after the atonement of the Calf, they were commanded to build Him a house in the pattern of all three worlds, telling you that now they had returned to the state they were in originally before the sin. In this way, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave an opening for those who repent, as our Sages said (Avodah Zarah 4b): “Israel did not make the Golden Calf except to give an opening for those who repent, etc.” This is what he is explaining as a rationale for why and for what reason He commanded to build Him a house on earth — because He wanted to bring mankind back in repentance to the point of “dakka” [crushed]. The interpreters of hints said that “dakka” is an acronym for dam [blood], “kefirah” [denial/heresy], and “ishah” [woman], because in the act of the Golden Calf, they transgressed all three: denial in its literal sense, blood, and [improper relations with a] woman, as Rashi explained on the verse and they rose up to play (Exodus 32:6) — that they also transgressed sexual immorality and murder. The Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to give an opening for repentance in all three areas. This is what is meant by You say, “Return, O children of man” — from here forward, for there is nothing that prevents repentance. For if repentance helped for these three severe transgressions, how much more so will it help for lighter ones than these. And afterward, For a thousand years in Your eyes — all of this speaks about repentance, which continues until the verse Let Your work appear to Your servants. He [then] comes back to speak about the building of the Mishkan, which was built in the pattern of the entire world, which was the work of the Holy One, blessed be He. Therefore it says, Let Your work appear to Your servants — that they should see Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, and make it according to their pattern. And Your majesty — this refers to the majesty of Your Divine Presence — upon their children. This could be in line with what our Sages said (Berachot 64a): And great peace for your children [banayikh] — don’t read your children [banayikh] but “your builders” [bonayikh]. Similarly, it says in the portion of Vayishlach (32:15), and their children [bneihem] thirty — Rashi explained their children as “their builders.” So too here, their children refers to the builders of the Mishkan, about whom he said that He should show them the majestic radiance of His Divine Presence in their building. From here, the author of the Midrash learned that Moses said, “May it be His will that the Divine Presence rest upon the work of your hands.”

“And he said, ‘May the pleasantness of the Lord our God be upon us.’” Since it is written (Exodus 25:8): And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them — it does not say “in it” but rather among them, because the main presence of the Divine Presence is for the sake of Israel. Therefore, he said that the pleasantness of the Lord, meaning the radiance of His blessed Divine Presence, should be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us, and establish it, the work of our hands. It appears that the word establish it [konnenehu] refers to the Divine Presence, because this verse speaks in the third person about the Divine Presence. Therefore, he said that the work of our hands, meaning the Tabernacle, established a foundation for the Divine Presence and for us, to settle us together in one dwelling place, because the Tabernacle is a dwelling place for both the heavenly and earthly beings together. That is why he said, establish upon us and establish it, in the manner that it is written (Exodus 15:17): The foundation for Your dwelling You have made, O Lord. This is what I thought to add to all the commentaries’ explanations of this psalm as it relates to the building of the Tabernacle.