Midrasch zu Schemot 35:4

[(Exod. 38:21:) THESE ARE THE RECORDS OF THE TABERNACLE]. This text is related (to II Kings 12:16 [15]): AND THEY DID NOT ASK AN ACCOUNTING FROM THE ONES INTO WHOSE HANDS THEY GAVE THE MONEY TO GIVE TO THOSE DOING THE WORK, BECAUSE THEY WERE ACTING IN GOOD FAITH. This is the generation of King Joash, which did act in good faith.²Tanh., Exod. 11:5; Exod. R. 51:2. Our masters have taught: Whoever entered the Temple treasury to make a withdrawal did not enter in a hemmed tunic³Gk.: paragaudes (“purple-bordered garment”); Lat.: paragauda (“laced garment”). or with a money girdle,⁴Lat.: funda (“moneybag”). for if he became wealthy, they would say he became rich from what belonged to the Temple treasury.⁵Cf. Sheq. 3:2; Yev. 102b. Thus a person must satisfy the people just as he satisfies Heaven, as stated (in Numb. 32:22): SO YOU SHALL BE BLAMELESS BEFORE THE LORD AND BEFORE ISRAEL…. Now Moses was sole treasurer over the business of the Tabernacle. When the Holy One said to Moses (in Exod. 25:8): MAKE ME A SANCTUARY, Moses said to all the children of Israel (in Exod. 35:4–5): THIS IS THE THING WHICH THE LORD HAS COMMANDED <…:> TAKE FROM AMONG YOU AN OFFERING…. R. Johanan said: In two mornings they brought < building materials > for the whole Tabernacle, so that they had more than enough.⁶For R. Johanan’s reasoning, see above, 7:3, and the note there. (Exod. 36:6–7:) THEN MOSES COMMANDED, AND THEY HAD IT PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE CAMP…: FOR THEY HAD SUFFICIENT SUPPLIES…. Moses said to the Holy One: Sovereign of the World, We have done all the work for the Tabernacle, and we have more than enough. What shall we do with the surplus? He said to them: Go and make a tabernacle for the commandments. He went and made a tabernacle for the commandments. When he came to give the accounting, he said to them (i.e., to the Israelites) thus and so was spent for the <actual> Tabernacle, and with the rest I made a tabernacle for the testimony. It is so stated (in Exod. 38:21): THESE ARE THE RECORDS OF THE TABERNACLE, THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY. What is the meaning of TABERNACLE (MShKN), TABERNACLE (MShKN), <with the word repeated> two times?⁷Exod. R. 51:3. R. {Simeon} [Samuel] said: It was mortgaged (NTMShKN) two times for them.⁸The two mortgages are the two destructions of the Temple, when the Holy One took it in pledge for payment of Israel’s sins. So Exod. R. 31:10. R. Ishmael said: This < usage > is a sign⁹Gk.: semeion. for all who come into the world that there is only forgiveness for Israel alone.¹⁰Tanh., Exod. 11:6; Exod. R. 51:4. THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY is testimony for all who come into the world that the Holy One has been reconciled with Israel. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a king who took a wife and loved her excessively. He became angry with her and left her. Her woman neighbors said to her: He will not return to you. After some days the king was reconciled to her and entered his palace¹¹Lat.: palatium; Gk.: palation. [with her], where he ate and drank. Now her neighbors would not believe that he had been reconciled to her; but when there was an aroma in the heavens over her, they immediately knew that the king had been reconciled to her. Similarly the Holy One loved Israel, brought them to Mount Sinai, gave them the Torah, and called them kings (in Exod. 19:6). At the end of forty days they made the calf and said (in Exod. 32:4): THIS IS YOUR GOD, O ISRAEL. In that hour the peoples of the world said: The Holy One will never again be reconciled to them. When Moses arose and prayed for them, the Holy One said to him (in Numb. 14:20): I HAVE PARDONED THEM AS YOU ASKED.¹²Jellinek, Beth ha-Midrasch, op. cit., vol. 6, p. 105. And not only that but I have had my Divine Presence dwell over them and among them, so that everyone may know that I have forgiven them. It is so stated (in Exod. 25:8): AND LET THEM MAKE ME A SANCTUARY [THAT I MAY DWELL AMONG YOU].