ויקחו מלפני משה, “They took from Moses’ presence, etc.” The people had brought their contributions to Moses’ tent from where the artisans had taken whatever it was they required on the day that he had received them. He had given orders immediately to transfer the various materials to the artisans qualified to convert them into parts for the Tabernacle. Upon receiving these contributions the artisans sent word to Moses immediately that they had received more than they needed for their part of the work. The Torah did not spell out the amount of the excess materials donated. It was not of historic significance for subsequent generations to know the margin by which the contributions to the Tabernacle had been oversubscribed. Neither was it historically interesting to record what had been done with the excess materials. Possibly, they were used in repairs from time to time, and possibly some materials were used as auxiliary sacred vessels.

מרבים העם להביא, “the people are bringing too many contributions.” The Torah records this fact in order to flatter the people who had contributed so generously, and in order to praise the honesty of the artisans who, instead of pocketing the excess received, drew attention to it and thus enhanced their reputation as being honest. The person in charge of counting all these contributions also deserves praise for preventing the people from bringing more than was needed, as he was not interested in accumulating the people’s gold and silver.

איש ואשה אל יעשו עוד מלאכה, “man and woman shall not do more work;” in this instance, as in some others, the word מלאכה refers to money. Another example of this meaning comes to mind in Exodus 22,7 where the words אם לא שלח ידו במלאכת רעהו mean “that he had not laid a hand on his fellow man’s money (possessions).” In this instance, the women were also stopped from spinning and weaving materials for use in the coverings of the Tabernacle.

ויעשו כל חכם לב, ”the wise-hearted among those doing the work, etc.” Nachmanides writes that the Torah repeats the expression מלאכת המשכן no fewer than five times during the stage where the carrying out of these instructions is described. In two instances the operative instruction is in the singular mode ועשית, i.e. 25,23 and In 25,10 the Torah uses the plural mode, indirect speech, i.e. ועשו, whereas in 31, 6-7 the plural mode indirect speech is used again although the directive is addressed primarily to Oholiov. The reason for all this is that initially, Moses, at the command of G’d, instructed the main architects and supervisors of the work, Betzalel and Oholiov, respectively, whereas these two experts instructed the various artisans working under them in their individual duties. None of these workers had become capable of performing these tasks until the holy spirit had descended on Betzalel through his being instructed and charged by Moses, personally. In chapter 35 the directive to make coverings as a portable roof for the Tabernacle was given, but only at this stage some details such as the need to make 10 carpet-like coverings, and the length and width of each of these, were revealed. As a general rule, although Moses had received detailed instructions in chapter 25-27, all the details were revealed to the people concerned as and when the time had come to commence work on them. The artisans already understood that in order to link two large carpets such as described one to another, they had to fashion loops and clasps in order to join them in such a fashion that they could easily dismantle the structure. The artisans had been granted sufficient insights by G’d to enable them to spontaneously attend to the details described in Parshat Terumah and Tetzaveh. When the Torah in chapter 36,8 first mentions ויעשו in the plural mode, this includes all the people previously described as חכם לב, “wise-hearted.” The subsequent use of the singular mode ויעש, describes individuals of this group of artisans fashioning certain parts of the project. When, in chapter 37,1 the Torah attributes certain furnishings as having been made by Betzalel, mentioning him by name, the Torah tells us that the work of making these furnishings required additional skill, skills not possessed by the חכמי לב. After all, he had been described as מלא רוח אלוקים, “filled with the spirit of G’d.” However, the Torah then reverts to the anonymous ויעש, in order for us to understand that he word ויעש, “he fashioned,” refers to one of the artisans filled with חכמת הלב in the paragraphs dealing with the fashioning of the Table and the Menorah, the golden altar and the copper altar, as well as the basin and the courtyard in all its details. Ibn Ezra, on the other hand, is of the opinion that the “anonymous” ויעש continues to describe work performed by Betzalel personally, so that that all the sacred vessels would have been attributed to him by the Torah. Nachmanides does not agree, pointing out that the same word ויעש in 38,10 introduces the construction of the courtyard around the Tabernacle, and it is most unlikely that this part of the project required the kind of holy spirit possessed only by Betzalel. The Torah, at that point or even earlier, reverts to the people endowed “only” with חכמת לב. Just as the actual making of all these components of the project “Tabernacle” are described both in general terms as well as in its specifics, the presentation of the work to Moses is also described both in general terms as in specific terms, i.e. only the finished product was brought to Moses. It is noteworthy that during the report of the construction of the Tabernacle and its auxiliaries, we do not find the recurring sentence כאשר צוה ה' את משה, “as Hashem had commanded Moses,” whereas in Parshat Pekudey, in connection with the garments of the Priests, this sentence recurs no fewer than eight times. The reason, presumably, is that when constructing the Tabernacle the Torah sums it all up in the 38,22 when the Torah writes that “Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Chur, had completed all that G’d had commanded Moses.” It is possible that the reason why the Torah repeats these matters in different ways is due to changes in the order of construction having taken place. The Torah, i.e. G’d, wanted to signal that in spite of Betzalel having changed the order in which the Tabernacle and the furnishings respectively were constructed, G’d had approved the changes so that whatever he had done was considered as complying with what “G’d had commanded Moses.”