Cytowanie Komentarza do Wyjścia 28:11

Another Midrashic comment in Tanchuma 3 remarks on the words באהל מועד, that previously G’d had spoken to Moses at the burning bush, as we know from Exodus 3,4. Later He spoke to him in Midian (Exodus 4,19). Subsequently, He had spoken to him in Egypt (compare Exodus 12,1). Still later He spoke to him at Sinai (Leviticus 25,1). As soon as the Tabernacle had been erected G’d changed the venue, preferring the privacy of the Tabernacle to any of the other locations from which He had addressed Moses previously. This concept is reflected in the words of Micah 6,8 that the Lord desires that we relate to Him “by walking modestly with your G’d.” As of now, G’d began to converse with Moses in the Tent of Meeting. When David said in Psalms 45,14 that “the honour and glory of a king’s daughter is observed only within the home,” he merely used a metaphor to describe that matters between the Lord and man are to be conducted in private. The fancy garments worn by the princess are not meant for show. In that verse the בת מלך is a reference to Moses as we know from Isaiah 19,4: “I will place the Egyptians at the mercy of a harsh master.” This was a reference to the Ten Plagues they were to endure. Isaiah continues: “and a ruthless king shall rule them.” This refers to Moses who represented the Kingdom of Torah known as עוז, the same word used by Isaiah in that verse. We know that Torah is called עוז, from ה' עוז לעמו יתן “the Lord gives עוז to His people” (Psalms 29,11). It is also written in Proverbs 8,15: “Kings reign through Me.” He who realizes that all mortal authority is dependent on G’d’s approval will be modest. Our sages (Tanchuma Bamidbar 3) say that any woman who practices modesty is entitled to marry a High Priest even if she is not of priestly or Levitic descent; she is fit to bear children who in turn will become High Priests. They base this on the end of the verse in Psalms 45,14 where the psalmist says: “her dress is embroidered with golden mountings.” The words “golden mountings” are also used in the garments of the High Priest (compare Exodus 28,11). It is the mark of the modest woman not to display her fancy garments outside her home. When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak to G’d he would hear the heavenly voice (Numbers 7,89).
Rabbi Joshua son of Levi said: “if the Gentiles would realise how much benefit they derive from the existence of the Temple (ours) they would place armed guards around it in order to protect it. In fact it is of greater benefit to them than it is to the Jewish people. Even Solomon included the importance to the Gentiles of his Temple when he prayed to G’d to respond favourably to the prayers offered by them in the Jewish Temple (Kings I 8, 41-42). He asked for outright acceptance of the prayers of the Gentiles whereas he asked only for qualified acceptance of prayers offered by Jews, i.e. deserving Jews only. As a result of this it is clear that seeing a Jew is aware of G’d and His power, he will search his heart for sins he may have committed when he finds that G’d did not respond to his prayer. A Gentile, who does not know G’d, would react angrily if he finds his prayer rejected. He would point to the fact that after having taken all the trouble to cross the seas in order to pray at such a world-famous shrine, he had wasted his time and money. As a result he would cause G’d’s image to become tarnished among other human beings. Not only is the Temple (of the Jews) more beneficial to them than to the Jews, but even the Jewish people’s existence is of great importance to them. Were it not for the Jewish people they would not be the beneficiaries of rain and dew at the appropriate times of the year. Even the sun dispenses its light and warmth only for the sake of the Jewish people as we know from Jeremiah 33,25: “Were it not for My covenant day and night, I would not have set the statutes of heaven and earth”. The message is that destruction of the Jewish people would make the continued existence of mankind pointless. In the future the Gentiles will see that the Lord G’d speaks to the Jewish people and as a result of this they will come and flock to establish close ties with Israel. This is what Zecharyah 8,23 spoke about when he said (the Gentiles speaking) “let us go with you for we have heard that G’d is with you.”

Tanchuma Metzora 2, quoting Proverbs 18,21 that “life and death are within the power of the tongue,” says that everything depends on the tongue. If it is used properly it confers life, if it is abused it results in death for its owner. The word חיים, “life" in that context refers to Torah which has been described as עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה, “it is a tree of life for the ones who hold on to it.” In fact, Torah is an effective medication against the damage one has inflicted upon oneself through indulging in evil gossip. The Midrash bases this on Proverbs 15,4: “a tree of life is a healing tongue.” If the person had been engaged in disseminating evil gossip he had thereby forfeited his life; the sin of spreading evil gossip is considered morally as worse than killing. The reason is that when one kills one only kills a single life, whereas when one spreads evil gossip about someone one causes death to at least three people, i.e. the one who tells it, the one who listens to it (approvingly), and the one concerning whom the gossip is related.
Let us take an historical example from Samuel I 22,16: Doeg the Edomite who spread gossip about Achimelech son of Achitov was killed. Achimelech was killed by Saul who had accepted the slander without investigating it. King Saul was also killed as we know from Chronicles I 10,13: “Saul died on account of the trespass he committed against the Lord.” Saul himself is quoted as telling the Amalekite youth to give him the last stab as he was already in the throes of a death struggle” (Samuel II 1,9). He had become guilty for destroying Nov the city of priests based on evil gossip which he had not checked out. The word שבץ used by Saul and which we translated as “death throes,” are understood by the sages as a reference to the priestly garments as we know from Exodus 28,13 ועשית משבצות זהב, “make them golden settings.”
Doeg the Edomite was uprooted not only from life on earth but also from the hereafter as we know from Psalms 52,7: a hymn composed on that occasion, “G’d will tear you down for good, will break you and pluck you from your tent, and root you out of the land of the living, Selah.” [For a brilliant analysis of this psalm read the Alshich’s commentary. Ed.]
What is a greater sin? He who kills with the sword or he who kills by shooting an arrow? We would assume that killing by an arrow is the greater sin as the archer does not have to risk his own life in personal combat in order to achieve his goal. If this is true, it is clear that he who engages in evil gossip is guilty of the worst kind of assassination as he keeps out of danger himself. This is why character assassination is compared to shooting arrows at the victim such as in Jeremiah 9,7: “their tongue is sharpened like an arrow, they use their mouths to deceive; one speaks to his fellow in friendship, but lays an ambush for him in his heart.” Another verse describing something similar is found in Psalms 57,5: “people whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongue is a sharp sword.”

and who knows how to make engravings Heb. לְפַתֵּחַ פִּתּוּחִים. An example is (Ex. 28:36) פִּתּוּחֵי חֹתָם, the engravings of a signet; someone who knows how to cut and make forms in stones, graber or greber in Middle German.

Craftsmen and gatekeepers. [Targum] Yonoson rendered the craftsmen and the sentries of the gates. But, our Rabbis said that these were great Torah scholars,⁷I.e., “craftsmen and gatekeepers” is a metaphoric allusion to Torah scholars. See Maseches Sanhedrin 38a. that when one would begin [to speak], all remained silent [=חרש], as it is written, “Be silent before Me, O islands.”⁸Yeshayohu 41:1. ”מסגר” [is one who] all sit before him and learn from him, as it is stated, ”And he will open, and no one will close, and he will close, and no one will open.”⁹Ibid 22:22. ¹⁰See Maseches Gittin 88a.