After weeks of preparation, in this week’s
parshah, the Mishkan is finally put together. The entire nation was so excited
to participate in the construction of the Mishkan, eventually, an interesting
problem developed. The pasuk says, “הַמְּלָאכָה הָיְתָה דַיָּם לְכָל הַמְּלָאכָה לַעֲשׂוֹת אֹתָהּ
וְהוֹתֵר” “And the work was sufficient for them for all
the work, to do it and leave over” (Shemos 36:7). Bnei Yisrael donated so
much material to the Mishkan, that Moshe had to tell them to stop.
The Ohr HaChaim asks, how come the pasuk
has to say both that there was enough materials to finish the work, and also that
there was enough to finish the construction and leave over extra? Isn’t it
enough to say this once? Furthermore, the Torah already told us before in pasuk
5 that there was enough material, that’s why Moshe told them to stop bringing! Why
does the Torah repeat this fact in our pasuk?
He explains that the extra mentions in
this pasuk are describing an amazing miracle that took place. Really, there
were already enough materials donated to build the entire Mishkan, but Hashem
did not want any of the remaining Jews to feel bad that their donations would
not be used since they were excess. Therefore, He made it that every single
item that had been donated, even from the excess, would be used in the Mishkan.
The miracle was that even though these materials were brought, they did not
appear necessary, however, it turned out that every bit was used in the
construction. This is what the pasuk means when it includes the fact that there
was enough to leave over, these parts were also used in the construction of the
Mishkan.
But why did Moshe feel that there was a
limit to how much was needed? Wouldn’t it be a good thing to have extra stores
of gold and silver prepared in the event that the Mishkan needed repairs? Or
perhaps he could have figured out a way to get them into the original construction
plan; after all, it can’t be a bad thing to over-decorate the resting place for
the Shechinah!
The pasuk says, “אַל
יַעֲשׂוּ עוֹד מְלָאכָה לִתְרוּמַת הַקֹּדֶשׁ וַיִּכָּלֵא הָעָם מֵהָבִיא” “Do not do any more work…so the nation
stopped bringing” (36:6). The Seforno explains that Moshe did not tell them
to stop bringing, rather he told them to stop doing any preparatory
work. There were other materials besides for gold and silver, such as wool, animal
hides, and wood, which would have gone bad if they went unused. Granted, the
extra gold and silver could have been stored long-term and used at a later
time, however, these natural materials would not have lasted. In order that
Bnei Yisrael shouldn’t lose money, Moshe told them to stop their work with
them. So really all the material could have and would have been used; however,
in order to save Bnei Yisrael from financial loss, and in order to prevent these
items from going to waste, the people were told to cease working with them. As a
result of the fact that they couldn’t work with them, they stopped bringing
them.
Shabbat
Shalom!
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