עֶ֥שֶׂר אַמּ֖וֹת אֹ֣רֶךְ הַקָּ֑רֶשׁ וְאַמָּה֙ וַחֲצִ֣י הָֽאַמָּ֔ה רֹ֖חַב הַקֶּ֥רֶשׁ הָאֶחָֽד׃
Setiap papan harus sepuluh hasta panjangnya dan satu setengah hasta lebarnya.
Ezra ben Solomon
Thus Scripture states, His banner of love was over me, alluding to the camp of the shekhinah located in the midst of the four tribal ensigns, as it is written: “Then, midway between the divisions, the Tent of Meeting, the division of the Levites, shall move” [Num. 2:17].
And we have similarly found that the figures of the Tabernacle constitute a symbol of the Holy One, blessed be He, and of the world. So our sages have said: “R. Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of R. Levi: ‘When the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses “Make Me a sanctuary that I might dwell among you,” he was to erect four poles and stretch out the tabernacle upon them. This teaches that the Holy One showed him red fire, green fire, black fire, and white fire. He said to him: “follow the patterns … that are being shown to you on the mountain” [Exod. 25:40].’
“R. Berechyah said: ‘This can be likened in a parable to a king who had a wonderful garment made of pearls. He said to his retainer: “Make me another like this one.” The retainer said to him: “My lord king, can I really make one like it?” The king said: “I in accord with my glory, you in accord with your own material.” Similarly, our teacher Moses said to God: “Can I construct something like these?” God said: “In accord with their patterns, using blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine linen.’”
“Thus is the entire world included within the construction of the sanctuary. Concerning the world it is written: ‘God created the heavens and the earth’ [Gen. 1:1] and ‘He stretches the heavens out like a curtain’ [Ps. 104:2]. The Tabernacle contained goat skins for its tent. On the second day it is written: ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, separating water from water’ [Gen. 1:6]. Concerning the tabernacle it states: ‘the curtain shall serve as a partition between the Holy and the Holy of Holies’ [Exod. 26:33]. On the third day of creation, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one area …’ [Gen. 1:9]. Concerning the sanctuary: ‘You shall make a brass basin’ [Exod. 30:18]. On the fourth day: ‘Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the sky’ [Gen. 1:14] while in the tabernacle there was the candelabrum of pure gold. On the fifth day of creation: ‘… and birds that fly above the earth’ [Gen. 1:20] while in the Sanctuary: ‘Let there be cherubim with outstretched wings’ [Exod. 25:20]. Humanity was created on the sixth day. Concerning the sanctuary it states: ‘Bring forward Aaron your brother’ [Exod. 28:1]. On the seventh day: ‘The heaven and the earth were completed’ [Gen. 2:1]. Concerning the tabernacle: ‘Thus was completed all of the work of the Tabernacle …’ [Exod. 39:32]. Concerning the work of Creation, it is written: ‘God blessed them’ [Gen. 1:33] and concerning the construction of the tabernacle: ‘Moses blessed them …’ [Exod. 39:43]. On the seventh day it states: ‘On the seventh day God finished the work that He had been doing’ [Gen. 2:2], concerning the tabernacle: ‘On the day which Moses completed …’ [Num. 7:1]. On the seventh day: ‘God sanctified it’ [Gen. 2:3]; concerning the tabernacle: ‘Moses consecrated it …’ [Num. 7:1].”72Midrash Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 1.
All of the above alludes to the fact that this world draws its life and is connected and adheres to the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. So too the ark and its utensils are symbolic allusions. Above “seraphim stand” [Isa. 6:2]; below “acacia wood stands” [Exod. 26:16]. Above “He sits upon the cherubim” [Ps. 80:2]; below “cherubim of outstretched wing” [Exod. 37:9]. Above are the holy wheels (of Ezekiel’s vision); below “the structure of the wheels was like the structure of the wheel of the heavenly chariot-throne” [I Kings 7:33].
And we have similarly found that the figures of the Tabernacle constitute a symbol of the Holy One, blessed be He, and of the world. So our sages have said: “R. Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of R. Levi: ‘When the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses “Make Me a sanctuary that I might dwell among you,” he was to erect four poles and stretch out the tabernacle upon them. This teaches that the Holy One showed him red fire, green fire, black fire, and white fire. He said to him: “follow the patterns … that are being shown to you on the mountain” [Exod. 25:40].’
“R. Berechyah said: ‘This can be likened in a parable to a king who had a wonderful garment made of pearls. He said to his retainer: “Make me another like this one.” The retainer said to him: “My lord king, can I really make one like it?” The king said: “I in accord with my glory, you in accord with your own material.” Similarly, our teacher Moses said to God: “Can I construct something like these?” God said: “In accord with their patterns, using blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine linen.’”
“Thus is the entire world included within the construction of the sanctuary. Concerning the world it is written: ‘God created the heavens and the earth’ [Gen. 1:1] and ‘He stretches the heavens out like a curtain’ [Ps. 104:2]. The Tabernacle contained goat skins for its tent. On the second day it is written: ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, separating water from water’ [Gen. 1:6]. Concerning the tabernacle it states: ‘the curtain shall serve as a partition between the Holy and the Holy of Holies’ [Exod. 26:33]. On the third day of creation, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one area …’ [Gen. 1:9]. Concerning the sanctuary: ‘You shall make a brass basin’ [Exod. 30:18]. On the fourth day: ‘Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the sky’ [Gen. 1:14] while in the tabernacle there was the candelabrum of pure gold. On the fifth day of creation: ‘… and birds that fly above the earth’ [Gen. 1:20] while in the Sanctuary: ‘Let there be cherubim with outstretched wings’ [Exod. 25:20]. Humanity was created on the sixth day. Concerning the sanctuary it states: ‘Bring forward Aaron your brother’ [Exod. 28:1]. On the seventh day: ‘The heaven and the earth were completed’ [Gen. 2:1]. Concerning the tabernacle: ‘Thus was completed all of the work of the Tabernacle …’ [Exod. 39:32]. Concerning the work of Creation, it is written: ‘God blessed them’ [Gen. 1:33] and concerning the construction of the tabernacle: ‘Moses blessed them …’ [Exod. 39:43]. On the seventh day it states: ‘On the seventh day God finished the work that He had been doing’ [Gen. 2:2], concerning the tabernacle: ‘On the day which Moses completed …’ [Num. 7:1]. On the seventh day: ‘God sanctified it’ [Gen. 2:3]; concerning the tabernacle: ‘Moses consecrated it …’ [Num. 7:1].”72Midrash Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 1.
All of the above alludes to the fact that this world draws its life and is connected and adheres to the name of the Holy One, blessed be He. So too the ark and its utensils are symbolic allusions. Above “seraphim stand” [Isa. 6:2]; below “acacia wood stands” [Exod. 26:16]. Above “He sits upon the cherubim” [Ps. 80:2]; below “cherubim of outstretched wing” [Exod. 37:9]. Above are the holy wheels (of Ezekiel’s vision); below “the structure of the wheels was like the structure of the wheel of the heavenly chariot-throne” [I Kings 7:33].
Ramban
TWO TENONS SHALL THERE BE IN EACH BOARD. Rashi wrote: “He cut out the lower part of the board in the middle to a height of one cubit, and he left one quarter of its width on the one side and one quarter of it on the other side. These [pieces on each side] are the yadoth (the tenons). The part cut out between the tenons was one half of the breadth of the board, and these tenons they fixed into the sockets which were hollowed out. The sockets were one cubit in height, forty of them fitting closely one to the other. The tenons of the boards which were fixed into the sockets were cut away on three sides, the width of the portions cut away being equal to the thickness of the rim of the sockets, so that when the boards [were fitted into the sockets, the wood of the board] would cover the entire top of the socket. For if this were not so [if the same thickness were not cut away from the tenons], there would have been a space between one board and the other equal to the thickness of the rims of the two sockets which would have separated them. This is what is meant when it is said, And they shall be coupled together beneath,197Verse 24. meaning, that they should cut away the sides of the tenons so that the boards should fit closely one to the other.” So I found the language of the Rabbi.
But I wonder! If the part cut away in the middle was half of the breadth of the board [as Rashi has it] — measuring four and a half handbreadths198The whole breadth of the board was a cubit and a half (Verse 16) which are nine handbreadths, and a half thereof is four and a half. — it follows that the thickness of the rim of each socket must be the same as a fourth of the breadth of the board, which is two handbreadths and a thumb, in order that the thickness [of the rims] of the two sockets should cover the part cut away in the middle, which is half of the breadth of the board, and thus there would be no space between one socket and the other. But if so, if you cut away the boards199“The boards.” In Mizrachi quoting Ramban: “the tenons.” This is correct. The Hebrew text before us also means the same, except that the term “boards” is here used in a general sense. on three sides in that way, there would be nothing left [for the tenons], since the rims of the sockets were alike on all sides! Moreover, the Rabbi [Rashi] brought proof further on in Verse 20, stating: “Thus it is taught in the Mishnah of ‘The structure of the Tabernacle:' The order of arranging the boards for making the Tabernacle was as follows: He made the sockets hollow and cut away from200The text in Rashi states v’choreitz (and he cuts away) — “and he cuts away a quarter on one side and a quarter on the other side.” Ramban will then ask: if in addition to these two quarters which he cuts away at the sides he also cuts away in the middle half of the width of the board — then there is nothing left for the tenons! Mizrachi answers that Rashi’s understanding of the Beraitha was that the expression “a quarter on one side etc.” does not refer to the cutting away but to what is “left” at the sides of the board as tenons. The translation would then be: “and he cuts the board at the bottom, [leaving] a quarter on one side and a quarter on the other.” To understand the text of Ramban though requires the first translation as above. the board at the bottom a quarter of its width on one side and a quarter on the other, and the cut-away portion in the middle totalled one half of its width. Thus they made for each board two tenons like two rungs of a ladder, and these they fixed into the two sockets.” But if one takes this Beraitha too in its ordinary sense, it would result in something exceedingly astonishing. For if he cuts away from the board a quarter on each side, and in the middle he cuts away half of the breadth of the board, then the whole bottom part [to the height of a cubit] is cut away, and nothing is left of it at all [to serve as a tenon]! In my opinion, however, this Beraitha did not specify the size of the amount cut away, since the Torah also gave no measurements for the thickness of the rims of the sockets. Therefore what the Rabbis [in this Beraitha] said is that he cut away a quarter of the total amount of the board on one side in order to cover one rim of the socket, and another quarter he cut away on the other side; and in the middle of the board he cut away half of the total amount cut away from the whole board, in order to cover the rims of the two sockets.
But according to all opinions it still needs to be clarified further, because the Tabernacle at the bottom to the height of a cubit was not wide ten cubits,201That is to say, Scripture states that the height of each board was to be ten cubits (Verse 16). But because of the cutting away at the bottom to the height of a cubit for the tenons, its size was reduced to nine cubits high, as it lay on top of the sockets! since the thickness of the two sockets, one on each side, reduced its size! Perhaps there is no objection to that. And in the words of Rashi we read: “He cut away from the thickness of the tenons inside, out of the board which was a cubit thick, according to the thickness of the rims of the sockets”. This is correct, but it is not mentioned in the Beraitha.
But I wonder! If the part cut away in the middle was half of the breadth of the board [as Rashi has it] — measuring four and a half handbreadths198The whole breadth of the board was a cubit and a half (Verse 16) which are nine handbreadths, and a half thereof is four and a half. — it follows that the thickness of the rim of each socket must be the same as a fourth of the breadth of the board, which is two handbreadths and a thumb, in order that the thickness [of the rims] of the two sockets should cover the part cut away in the middle, which is half of the breadth of the board, and thus there would be no space between one socket and the other. But if so, if you cut away the boards199“The boards.” In Mizrachi quoting Ramban: “the tenons.” This is correct. The Hebrew text before us also means the same, except that the term “boards” is here used in a general sense. on three sides in that way, there would be nothing left [for the tenons], since the rims of the sockets were alike on all sides! Moreover, the Rabbi [Rashi] brought proof further on in Verse 20, stating: “Thus it is taught in the Mishnah of ‘The structure of the Tabernacle:' The order of arranging the boards for making the Tabernacle was as follows: He made the sockets hollow and cut away from200The text in Rashi states v’choreitz (and he cuts away) — “and he cuts away a quarter on one side and a quarter on the other side.” Ramban will then ask: if in addition to these two quarters which he cuts away at the sides he also cuts away in the middle half of the width of the board — then there is nothing left for the tenons! Mizrachi answers that Rashi’s understanding of the Beraitha was that the expression “a quarter on one side etc.” does not refer to the cutting away but to what is “left” at the sides of the board as tenons. The translation would then be: “and he cuts the board at the bottom, [leaving] a quarter on one side and a quarter on the other.” To understand the text of Ramban though requires the first translation as above. the board at the bottom a quarter of its width on one side and a quarter on the other, and the cut-away portion in the middle totalled one half of its width. Thus they made for each board two tenons like two rungs of a ladder, and these they fixed into the two sockets.” But if one takes this Beraitha too in its ordinary sense, it would result in something exceedingly astonishing. For if he cuts away from the board a quarter on each side, and in the middle he cuts away half of the breadth of the board, then the whole bottom part [to the height of a cubit] is cut away, and nothing is left of it at all [to serve as a tenon]! In my opinion, however, this Beraitha did not specify the size of the amount cut away, since the Torah also gave no measurements for the thickness of the rims of the sockets. Therefore what the Rabbis [in this Beraitha] said is that he cut away a quarter of the total amount of the board on one side in order to cover one rim of the socket, and another quarter he cut away on the other side; and in the middle of the board he cut away half of the total amount cut away from the whole board, in order to cover the rims of the two sockets.
But according to all opinions it still needs to be clarified further, because the Tabernacle at the bottom to the height of a cubit was not wide ten cubits,201That is to say, Scripture states that the height of each board was to be ten cubits (Verse 16). But because of the cutting away at the bottom to the height of a cubit for the tenons, its size was reduced to nine cubits high, as it lay on top of the sockets! since the thickness of the two sockets, one on each side, reduced its size! Perhaps there is no objection to that. And in the words of Rashi we read: “He cut away from the thickness of the tenons inside, out of the board which was a cubit thick, according to the thickness of the rims of the sockets”. This is correct, but it is not mentioned in the Beraitha.