(Numb. 7:2:) THAT THE PRINCES OF ISRAEL DREW NEAR TO MAKE AN OFFERING. You find the following: when Moses proclaimed and said (in Exod. 35:5): TAKE FROM AMONG YOU AN OFFERING FOR THE LORD, what did the princes do?¹²⁶., 2:27; cf. Numb. R. 12:16. They said: Moses did not know enough to tells us that the Tabernacle was being made. What did they do? They did not give a freewill offering. They said: These people are making the Tabernacle. Now he is telling us to give a freewill offering! The Holy One said: By your life, you should know that I do not need you (princes). What is written there (in Exod. 36:3)? AND THEY (i.e., the children of Israel) [STILL] BROUGHT FREEWILL OFFERINGS UNTO HIM IN THE MORNING, IN THE MORNING.¹²⁷ R. Johanan said: For two mornings they brought all the supplies (mela'khah) for the Tabernacle, and they were more than enough, as stated (in Exod. 36:7): FOR THEY HAD SUFFICIENT SUPPLIES (mela'khah), [MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR ALL THE WORK (mela'khah) TO MAKE IT]. (Exod. 39:43:) WHEN MOSES SAW ALL THE WORK (mela'khah), [ …; THEN MOSES BLESSED THEM].¹²⁸ And with what blessing did he bless them? He said to them: May the Divine Presence dwell in the work of your hands. In this world Moses has blessed them; but in the world to come, the Holy One will bless them, as stated (in Ps. 128:5–6): THE LORD WILL BLESS¹²⁹ YOU FROM ZION. {HE IS MAKER OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. [MAY YOU SEE THE PROSPERITY OF JERUSALEM ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE,] AND MAY YOU SEE YOUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN. PEACE BE UPON ISRAEL!

footnotes: ¹²⁶ Tanh ¹²⁷ See above, Exod. 7:3, and the notes there. ¹²⁸ Above, 2:20. ¹²⁹ Normally the translation would read, MAY THE LORD BLESS, but reading the verb as a simple future indicates that this blessing is reserved for the world to come.