출애굽기 36:1의 Musar

Since there are so many difficulties in this whole legislation, there seems little point in listing another question. However, permission has been granted to try and understand to the extent that it is possible. Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan, whose words Rashi quotes, proves that Moses himself had said: "I wished to become wise, but it has remained far from me" i.e. והיא רחוקה ממני (Kohelet 7,23). It is interesting that he had not said: "I did not acquire wisdom, i.e. לא חכמתי." What is meant is that though study of that subject results in successively better appreciation of the many allusions contained in the text, the essential logic keeps eluding the scholar who delves into it. We read words similar to those quoted in the name of Rabbi Moshe HaDarshan by Rabbi Yitzchak in Bamidbar Rabbah 3, who concludes his commentary by saying that Solomon was satisfied that he had a thorough understanding of the entire Torah except for this portion. He quotes Solomon as saying that he had been studying and examining this portion without penetrating to its essence. This was in contrast to the rest of the Torah, which he felt he thoroughly understood. In view of what others have done, I too will make whatever little contribution I can to the better understanding of our פרשה.

We have here an allusion to the fact that the cause is fond of the effect, i.e. the hidden longs for the revealed. Our sages (Pesachim 112a) articulated this thought when they said that more than the calf desires to suckle on the teats of its mother, the cow is anxious to nurse its calf. In פרשת ויקהל 36,1 the Torah writes: אשר נתן ה' חכמה ותבונה בהמה, "whom G–d had given wisdom and insight." Shemot Rabbah 48,3 states that the word beheimah in the above verse is to teach us that it was not only man whom G–d imbued with wisdom but also the animals. Betzalel was the only one who was privy to the wisdom possessed by the animals. Perhaps the Torah wants to hint at the proverb we quoted earlier that the mother cow is more anxious to nurse its calf than the calf is anxious to be nursed. It is all an allusion to the close connection between cause and effect. We are taught a lesson in reciprocal attachment and unity, i.e. that nothing exists outside of G–d Himself, that He is inextricably involved with all that He has created. It is this lesson the Rabbis wanted to teach us when they said that מקדש and משכן can be used interchangeably; the exterior, visible part, is called משכן, whereas the interior, invisible part, is called מקדש. We have a further clear allusion to this relationship between cause and effect, the visible and the invisible, when the Torah describes the way the קרשים, planks of the Tabernacle, were joined together. The Torah (Exodus 26,24) uses the term "תאמם, twins," when describing the manner in which these planks were joined to each other. When ??? they are described as תמים, perfect. We have here a description of the essence of the Tabernacle, i.e. that it was a microcosm.