Midras Keluaran 33:8: Otzar Midrashim, Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Midrash Tanchuma & Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition)

11) Come and hear: anything of Torah has heaps upon heaps of midrash. And the Holy Blessed One cautioned Israel about them, saying "Look at these serifs. If you replace them you will destroy the universe! For instance, if you make ḥet into hei or hei into ḥet, you will destroy the universe!" For instance "Our souls hope for the LORD"¹"nafshenu ḥikta l-Adonai." If "ḥikta" were replaced with "hikta" this would be read "our souls struck the LORD!" (Psalms 33:20), or "Let all with breath praise Yah,²"kol ha-nshama tehallel Yah" If "tehalel" were replaced with "teḥallel" this would be read "let all with breath desecrate Yah!" hallelujah!" (Psalms 150:6). "What's more, if you make dalet into resh or resh into dalet, you will destroy the universe!" For instance, "Hear, Israel, the LORD is our God, the LORD is one!³"Adonai eḥad" If "eḥad" were replaced with "aḥer," spelled the same in Hebrew without vowels, this would be read "the LORD is another!"" (Deuteronomy 6:4) or "Do not bow down to another deity⁴"el aḥer." If "aḥer" were replaced with "eḥad," spelled the same in Hebrew without vowels, this would be read "Do not bow down to the One Deity!"" (Exodus 34:14). From this can be learned that every single serif in the Torah has heaps and heaps of laws, all the more so an entire letter or an entire word. And the Holy Blessed One saw all the humans He created and found no find a man as worthy to be given the Torah by his hand as Moshe. And why did Moshe merit to be the groom of the Torah? Because of his humility and awe that was in him. From where? As it is written, "And Moshe hid his face for he was afraid to gaze upon God" (Exodus 3:6). The sages said, in reward for three things he did, Moshe merited three things. In reward for his fear, he merited "they were afraid to come near him" (Exodus 34:30). In reward for his hiding his face, he merited to have a glowing countenance. In reward for not gazing, he merited to "see the form of the LORD" (Numbers 12:8) and he merited "they gazed after Moshe until he entered the tent" (Exodus 33:8). And from where is humility found in Moshe? As it is said, "And now, go, and I will send you to Pharaoh, etc." (Exodus 3:10). The sages said, the hei of "go"⁵"lekhah" is closed. And why is it closed? When the Holy Blessed One said to Moshe, "Go and redeem Israel," out of his great humility that he had, he said, "Who am I to go to Pharaoh? Could I bring the children of Israel out of Egypt!?" He said, "There are those greater than me in the family with regards to wealth and silver and gold!" The Holy Blessed One said to him, to Moshe, "You are great," as it is said, "And the man Moshe was very great" (Exodus 11:3).

(Exod. 38:21:) THESE ARE THE RECORDS OF THE TABERNACLE. Whatever Moses did he did through others, as stated (ibid.): <THESE ARE THE RECORDS OF THE TABERNACLE, THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY, WHICH WERE DRAWN UP AT MOSES' BIDDING,> THE WORK OF THE LEVITES BY MEANS OF ITHAMAR <BEN AARON >.¹⁴Exod. R. 51:6. He only did <the accounting > after the work on the Tabernacle was finished. He said to them: Come and let me make an accounting before you. All Israel gathered while he sat and made calculations. He forgot one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, of which he had made hooks for the pillars.¹⁵Tanh., Exod. 11:7. He said to them (in vs. 28): AND OF THE ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE < SHEKELS > [HE (Ithamar) MADE HOOKS FOR THE PILLARS]. At that time Israel was mollified¹⁶A form of piyyes, which may come from the Gk. aorist, peisai (“to persuade”). over the building of the Tabernacle. And who brought it about for him? <It was> because he < himself> sat down and mollified them. (Exod. 38:21:) THESE ARE THE RECORDS OF THE TABERNACLE. But why did he make an accounting with them when the Holy One trusted him? It is so stated (in Numb. 12:7): NOT SO WITH MY SERVANT MOSES; [HE IS TRUSTED IN ALL MY HOUSE]. Yet Moses said: Come and make an accounting with me. It was simply that Moses had heard Israel speaking behind his back, as stated {in Exod. 33:9): AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT WHEN MOSES WOULD GO [TO THE TENT], THE PILLAR OF CLOUD WOULD DESCEND…, AND THE LORD WOULD SPEAK WITH MOSES.} [(in Exod. 33:8): AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT WHEN MOSES WOULD GO OUT UNTO THE TENT, <ALL THE PEOPLE WOULD RISE>… AND STARE AFTER MOSES.] And what were they saying?¹⁷Cf. yBik. 3:3 (65c); ySheq. 5:3 (49a), which in what follows omit the attributions to named authorities; also Tanh., Exod. 9:27, which reverses the views of R. Isaac and R. Hama. Exod. R. 51:6 reads R. Johanan instead of R. Isaac. R. Isaac says: They were saying in his favor: Blessed is she who bore this man. All his days the Holy One speaks with him; all his days he genuinely belongs to the Holy One. (Exod. 33:8:) <ALL THE PEOPLE WOULD RISE …> AND STARE AFTER MOSES. But R. Hama said: They were saying to his shame: Look at the <fat> neck; look at the <fat> thighs. Moses is eating from what belongs to Jews and drinking from what belongs to Jews, for everything he possesses comes from the Jews. Then an associate of his would reply: Would you not want a person in charge of the work on the Tabernacle to be wealthy? As soon as Moses heard that, he said to them: By your life, after the Tabernacle is finished, I am making an accounting with you. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 38:21:) THESE ARE THE RECORDS OF THE TABERNACLE….

What prompted him to sit down and give an accounting: These are the accounts of the Tabernacle? Why did he trouble to render an accounting, since the Holy One, blessed be He, trusted him, as it is said: He is trusted in all My house (Num. 12:7)? He gave them an accounting because he heard the scoffers of that generation whispering behind his back, as is said: And it came to pass, when Moses entered into the tent … and they looked after Moses (Exod. 33:8). What were they saying? R. Isaac explained: When one person would praise him, his companion would retort: “Fool, do you imagine that a man in charge of the work of building a Sanctuary, with weights of silver and gold that are not examined, nor weighed or accounted for, will not become wealthy!” When he heard that he said: “Be assured, when the work of the Tabernacle is completed, I will give them an accounting.” When it was completed he said to them: These are the accounts of the Tabernacle.