Chasidut do Wyjścia 38:21
אֵ֣לֶּה פְקוּדֵ֤י הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ מִשְׁכַּ֣ן הָעֵדֻ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר פֻּקַּ֖ד עַל־פִּ֣י מֹשֶׁ֑ה עֲבֹדַת֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם בְּיַד֙ אִֽיתָמָ֔ר בֶּֽן־אַהֲרֹ֖ן הַכֹּהֵֽן׃
Oto obliczenia dla przybytku, przybytku świadectwa, które obliczone zostały z polecenia Mojżesza: służba Lewitów była pod dozorem Ithamara, syna Ahrona, kapłana.
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 38,21. “These are the accounts of the Tabernacle of the Testimony that were rendered according to the commandment of Moses, etc.;” we have already written previously that the construction of the Tabernacle required holy spirit and the knowledge of how G’d used the aleph bet, i.e. the letters of the Torah and their respective combinations that G’d used when He created heaven and earth. (based on Yevamot 47). The subject has been elaborated on further in Bereshit Rabbah section 12,14 which quotes the school of Shammai saying that the idea to create the universe crystallized in G’d’s mind at night whereas the execution occurred by day, and that the letter ה written in smaller script in Genesis 2,4 in the word בהבראם is an allusion to the attribute א-ד-נ-י, one of G’d’s names, whereas afterwards in the same verse when the Torah writes ביום עשות ה' אלוקים ארץ ושמים, “on the day that <ihashem< i=""> made earth and heaven,” the apparent repetition is an allusion to the fact that G’d is unique and the exclusive Creator. [Our author must have had a different version of the Bereshit rabbah, as the second comment concerning the attribute א-ד-נ-י is not found in my updated version of that Midrash. Ed.]
The uniqueness of both Moses and Betzalel paralleled the description of unique attributes possessed by the Creator. Initially, the instructions given by Moses to Betzalel were similar to G’d’s formulating the thought of creating a universe, whereas the execution paralleled the words ביום עשות ה' אלוקים, G’d in His capacity as Hashem carrying out His plan to create the universe. The numerical value of the first letters of the opening words in our portion, אלה פקודי המשכן i.e. א'פ'ה' have a combined value of 86, equivalent to the letters in the name of G’d when it is spelled א-ל-ה-י-ם, i.e. His attribute of א-ד-נ-י, the word signifying the attribute of Justice. The respective last letters in the same sequence of words are ה'י'נ equaling 65, or the numerical value of the attribute א-ד-נ-י. When we examine the respective first and final letters in the second half of the introductory verse of our portion, i.e. משכן העדות, we find that the letters מ'ה correspond to the holy name of G’d consisting of 45 letters, whereas the final letters in these words, i.e. ת'נ or 450 i.e. ten times the value of the opening letters. This suggests that whereas Betzalel was indeed granted great insights, it was Moses, אשר פקד על פי משה who had the highest level of understanding how to manipulate all the letters in the names of G’d.
The uniqueness of both Moses and Betzalel paralleled the description of unique attributes possessed by the Creator. Initially, the instructions given by Moses to Betzalel were similar to G’d’s formulating the thought of creating a universe, whereas the execution paralleled the words ביום עשות ה' אלוקים, G’d in His capacity as Hashem carrying out His plan to create the universe. The numerical value of the first letters of the opening words in our portion, אלה פקודי המשכן i.e. א'פ'ה' have a combined value of 86, equivalent to the letters in the name of G’d when it is spelled א-ל-ה-י-ם, i.e. His attribute of א-ד-נ-י, the word signifying the attribute of Justice. The respective last letters in the same sequence of words are ה'י'נ equaling 65, or the numerical value of the attribute א-ד-נ-י. When we examine the respective first and final letters in the second half of the introductory verse of our portion, i.e. משכן העדות, we find that the letters מ'ה correspond to the holy name of G’d consisting of 45 letters, whereas the final letters in these words, i.e. ת'נ or 450 i.e. ten times the value of the opening letters. This suggests that whereas Betzalel was indeed granted great insights, it was Moses, אשר פקד על פי משה who had the highest level of understanding how to manipulate all the letters in the names of G’d.
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Kedushat Levi
In order to understand this we must once more fall back on a concept that we have dealt with repeatedly, i.e. the two different categories of serving G’d. One reason for serving the Lord is that when we experience miracles we realize that there is a Power beyond the laws of nature with which we are all more or less familiar. This power demonstrates through performance of miracles that it is not only independent of the laws of nature, but is able to make the laws of nature do its bidding. It becomes clear to us that instead of “serving” certain phenomena which clearly exert a great deal of influence on our daily lives, we will do much better to serve the Master under whose direction these phenomena, i.e. sun, moon, fire, water etc., perform their duties.
The second category of serving Hashem is based on our recognizing the Creator directly, without our having to arrive at His existence by such detours as reflecting on the limitations of the laws of nature. We recognize that He is the source of everything that exists and can be perceived by any or all of our senses. To someone who is aware that this Creator, because He created the physical universe, is obviously Himself not part of the physical domain, and therefore able to change the order of things at will, it does not seem strange when he sees that the Creator has decided to make changes in the order of things. This type of individual did not acquire the insights he possesses about the Creator because He saw Him perform miracles, but he arrives at this logically, realizing that the Creator is absolutely free from external pressures and having created this universe has voluntarily given up some of His freedom of action in order for His subjects to possess a feeling of self-worth, human dignity.
Going back to the question of the “smart” son. He wishes to know why G’d had to perform all these miracles seeing that even someone like himself is fully convinced of G’d’s stature and supremacy, and so have been his forefathers. In response to this question, the author of the Haggadah shel pessach advises the father of the questioning son to tell him the halachah concerning the need for the eating of the Passover lamb to be the last item on the menu on that evening. The father is to emphasize that the halachah wishes to impress upon us that when recognition of G’d and His power and His relationship to the Jewish people is the result of having experienced G’d’s miracles, such recognition of G’d will endure forever, whereas when it is merely the result of reason, there is no guarantee that at one time or another someone will not be able to “prove” that the belief in G’d, even when attained after sanctifying themselves, is liable to be shaken by arguments to the contrary.
The second category of serving Hashem is based on our recognizing the Creator directly, without our having to arrive at His existence by such detours as reflecting on the limitations of the laws of nature. We recognize that He is the source of everything that exists and can be perceived by any or all of our senses. To someone who is aware that this Creator, because He created the physical universe, is obviously Himself not part of the physical domain, and therefore able to change the order of things at will, it does not seem strange when he sees that the Creator has decided to make changes in the order of things. This type of individual did not acquire the insights he possesses about the Creator because He saw Him perform miracles, but he arrives at this logically, realizing that the Creator is absolutely free from external pressures and having created this universe has voluntarily given up some of His freedom of action in order for His subjects to possess a feeling of self-worth, human dignity.
Going back to the question of the “smart” son. He wishes to know why G’d had to perform all these miracles seeing that even someone like himself is fully convinced of G’d’s stature and supremacy, and so have been his forefathers. In response to this question, the author of the Haggadah shel pessach advises the father of the questioning son to tell him the halachah concerning the need for the eating of the Passover lamb to be the last item on the menu on that evening. The father is to emphasize that the halachah wishes to impress upon us that when recognition of G’d and His power and His relationship to the Jewish people is the result of having experienced G’d’s miracles, such recognition of G’d will endure forever, whereas when it is merely the result of reason, there is no guarantee that at one time or another someone will not be able to “prove” that the belief in G’d, even when attained after sanctifying themselves, is liable to be shaken by arguments to the contrary.
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