Midras Keluaran 35:21: Seder Olam Rabbah & Shemot Rabbah

On the seventh day after the Ten Commandments Moshe went up on the mountain, as it says "The Presence of the LORD abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days..." (Shemot 24:16) This was in order for Moshe to purify himself. "On the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud." (ibid.) "Moses went inside the cloud and ascended the mountain; and Moses remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights." (Shemot 24:18) On the 17th of Tammuz he came down and shattered the tablets, "The next day Moses said to the people, “You have been guilty of a great sin. Yet I will now go up to the LORD; perhaps I may win forgiveness for your sin.” Moshe went back up on the 18th of Tammuz and pleaded for mercy on behalf of Israel, as it is written "When I lay prostrate before the LORD those forty days and forty nights, because the LORD was determined to destroy you," (Devarim 9:25) At that moment, the Holy One once again viewed Israel with favor and said to Moshe to carve new tablets and to come up the mountain once again, as it says "Thereupon the LORD said to me, “Carve out two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain; and make an ark of wood." (Devarim 10:1) He came down on the 28th of Av and carved the second tablets, as it says "So Moses carved two tablets of stone, like the first, and early in the morning he went up on Mount Sinai..." (Shemot 34:4) He went back up on the 29th of Av and the Torah was repeated to him a second time, as it says "I had stayed on the mountain, as I did the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the LORD heeded me once again: the LORD agreed not to destroy you." (Devarim 10:10) 'As I did the first time,' just as the first was a time of favor, so too the second were a time of favor- we can derive from this that those in the middle were a time of anger. He came down on the 10th of Tishre, which was Yom Kippur, and announced to them that they had found favor before God (Hamakom), as it says "Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your own!” (Shemot 34:9) Therefore it was established as a fixed day and a remembrance for the generations, as it says "This shall be to you a law for all time: to make atonement for the Israelites for all their sins once a year..." (Vayikra 16:34)

In his regard it is stated: “They did not require a reckoning from the men [by whose hand] they gave the silver [to give to the workmen, as they acted with trustworthiness]” (II Kings 12:16).²This is describing the situation in the reign of Yoash, king of Judah, but the midrash applies it to Moses. “They did not require a reckoning” – this was in the generation of Yoash, when they would act with trustworthiness. Our Rabbis taught: The one who would enter to collect from the chamber would not enter while wearing a cuffed garment or with a soft shoe, for if he would [do so and] become wealthy they might say he became rich from the collection of the chamber. As, a person must pass [the scrutiny] of people just as he must pass [the scrutiny] of the Omnipresent, as it is stated: “And you shall be vindicated before the Lord and before Israel” (Numbers 32:22).³Mishna Shekalim 3:2. Yet Moses was the executor of the labor of the Tabernacle by himself. It is because when the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses to craft the Tabernacle, immediately, “Every man [whose heart inspired him] came…[and brought the gift of the Lord for the labor of the Tent of Meeting]” (Exodus 35:21). In how many days did they bring all the gifts? Rabbi Yoḥanan said: They brought it in two mornings,⁴This is based on the double usage of the Hebrew term for morning in Exodus 36:3. and there was a surplus, as it is stated: “The labor was sufficient…[and beyond]” (Exodus 36:7).⁵Because the funds were raised so quickly, Moses did not have time to appoint additional executors (Etz Yosef). Alternatively, although Moses was the sole executor his behavior was beyond suspicion, as he announced that people should stop bringing gifts because there was already enough material (Exodus 36:6), and yet he still made a reckoning of what had been done with the materials together with others, as the midrash understands based on Exodus 38:21 (Maharzu). Moses came to Betzalel and saw that he had a surplus [of materials] from the Tabernacle. He said before the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Master of the universe, we performed the labor of the Tabernacle and have a surplus. What shall we do with the surplus?’ He said to him: ‘Go and craft with them a tabernacle for the Testimony.’⁶Construct a tent for the Ark, within the Tabernacle (Matnot Kehuna). Alternatively, construct a tent similar to the Tabernacle outside the camp, to which people will go to study Torah (see Rabbi David Luria; Maharzu). Moses went and he crafted it with [the surplus materials]. When he came to give a reckoning, he said to them: ‘Such and such was expended for the Tabernacle, and with the surplus I crafted a tabernacle for the Testimony.’ That is, “these are the reckonings of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Testimony.”