דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְיִקְחוּ־לִ֖י תְּרוּמָ֑ה מֵאֵ֤ת כָּל־אִישׁ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִדְּבֶ֣נּוּ לִבּ֔וֹ תִּקְח֖וּ אֶת־תְּרוּמָתִֽי׃
רעד צו די קינדער פֿון ישׂראל, זײ זאָלן נעמען פֿאַר מיר אַן אָפּשײדונג; פֿון יעטװעדער מאַן װאָס זײַן האַרץ װעט אים באַװיליקן, זאָלט איר נעמען מײַן אָפּשײדונג.
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 25,2. “and they shall take for Me a contribution, each person according to how his heart moves him. And these are the contributions you are to accept from them: gold, silver and copper.” As we explained earlier, every person serving the Lord, must do so also by something tangible in addition to the lofty thoughts that he entertains while doing so. The holy thoughts and intention of each man are considered as if man helps the Presence of the Lord to arise from the dust on earth [where it appears to have been buried. Ed.]., and the tangible acts are made to benefit to the man himself.
When keeping this in mind we can answer the enigma posed by the words כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו, “each person according to how his heart moves him.” These words form the link between the generous thought and the generous deed. By making a voluntary contribution, i.e. the size of the contribution is completely voluntary, it is not a tax as the half shekel in Exodus 30,13, the Presence of G’d on earth will become so much more manifest.
The words: וזאת התרומה, may be understood as if the Torah had written: וזאת ההתרוממות, “and this will constitute the “exaltation, elevation.” The examples of the materials that were to be denoted are symbolic of how lofty and generous thoughts are to be translated into “lofty” and generous deeds.
When keeping this in mind we can answer the enigma posed by the words כל איש אשר ידבנו לבו, “each person according to how his heart moves him.” These words form the link between the generous thought and the generous deed. By making a voluntary contribution, i.e. the size of the contribution is completely voluntary, it is not a tax as the half shekel in Exodus 30,13, the Presence of G’d on earth will become so much more manifest.
The words: וזאת התרומה, may be understood as if the Torah had written: וזאת ההתרוממות, “and this will constitute the “exaltation, elevation.” The examples of the materials that were to be denoted are symbolic of how lofty and generous thoughts are to be translated into “lofty” and generous deeds.
Tiferet Shlomo
...Exodus 25:2: In the name of the Baal Shem Tov, the meaning of the verse is that every person should acquire good character [traits] to serve the Creator. "...With your magnanimous heart take My offering" means that the energy of the Evil Inclination, to love and fear bad things, should be redirected to love Hashem and acquire and good character [traits]. In truth, it says in holy books that Esav's service would've surpassed that of Yaakov if he would've redirected himself toward good -- Esav comes from the side of Great Judgement, and his heart turns to all undesirable lusts. If he would've redirected and elevated his energy to Hashem that would've been good since all light comes from darkness. This is also the explanation of the verse: "love Hashem with all your hearts"-- the Talmud explains that "hearts" refers to the Good Inclination and the Evil Inclination. This helps elucidate the verse, "He forms light and creates darkness" -- [this can be answered with a question:] If the world of Beriah is above the world of Yetzirah [and thus is holier and has less darkness], then why use "create" ["briah," which is similar to "Beriah"] and associate it with darkness? In truth, someone who is in a dark place and exerts themselves to go to the light will ascend to a higher level, a higher world called darkness as it says on Torah, "He makes darkness his cloak." This is also idea of gold: gold is judgement, and [there's a concept of] pure gold because there's [such a thing as] impure gold, and purity is greater than holiness because holiness never interacts with the otherside [its opposite] but purity does [by its nature]. Angels are called all pure. [Why? Because] it is explained in the holy books that there's a world where the angels announce the sins of people, and the blemish of the sins affect the angels. The angels have to purify themselves since they spoke about the sin in their mouth; thus they're called "pure." This is also the meaning of the verse, "Hashem is coming to test you"-- [to explain:] this verse was written after Jewish people asked not to speak directly to G-d lest they perish. They didn't want fall from their level into slavery, and Hashem answered them that, on the contrary, they'll reach a loftier level because, through Hashem's test, they will strengthen the good, and there is no light that doesn't come out of darkness.
Kedushat Levi
Exodus 25,9.“in accordance with all the pattern I show you; the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings so you shall make it.” Rashi (Sanhedrin 16) comments on this verse that these instructions, i.e. that just as the building of the Temple was to be approved by Moses who represented all the judges of the High Court, the building of future Temples would also have to be approved and supervised by the judges of the High Court.
Tossaphot on that folio already raises questions concerning this interpretation; they point out that the measurements of the altar of the Tabernacle did not correspond to the measurements of the altar in Solomon’s Temple (Kings I chapters 6-7) Nachmanides also found difficulty with Rashi’s commentary in Sanhedrin.
When you consider our explanation above (at the end of Mishpatim) that the words: וכן תעשו ומראה כבוד ה', refer to how a person can be certain that his manner of serving the Lord pleases his Creator, then the words: וכן תעשו, do not refer to the measurements of the Tabernacle or the Temple at all. There was no need for the Torah to repeat its instructions on these points as all the details had already been spelled out. Moses had received visual instructions from G’d, instructions that could hardly be “confirmed” by a human Court which had not been “shown” the dimensions G’d had shown to Moses. The entire Tabernacle must be viewed as the tangible symbol of holy thoughts expressed by the righteous when they worship the Creator, which, as we explained, need a כלי, visible, tangible instrument, in the form of a commandment to be performed by the worshipper, in order to give concrete expression to the נדבת לבו, the generosity of the heart, of which Exodus 25,2 speaks. The completed Tabernacle is the expression of the collective service of the Jewish people, or the לבוש, the “garment” behind which the holy nature of the collective soul of Jewish people resides.
The Talmud in Sanhedrin 89 already explains that no two prophets convey the same message from G’d to the people using the same wording. There is an element of individuality which permits each prophet to “dress up” the message in a style that he considers appropriate to his listeners. He also receives the vision from G’d in a manner that allows for his individuality, one that G’d is thoroughly familiar with, of course. It follows that Moses and his generation received G’d’s instructions concerning the Tabernacle in a manner that was appropriate for them, whereas Solomon and his generation received the instructions in a manner appropriate for the level of their respective generation. The tangible expression of the difference between the spiritual level of these two generations, one a people wandering in the desert, the other a people that had lived in a sovereign Jewish homeland for over 400 years already was reflected in the size and appurtenances of their respective “Temples.”
When Rashi explained the word לדורות, to describe the meaning of וכן תעשו, he meant that the same yardsticks that applied in the desert when the Tabernacle was being built were also to be applied in future generations when a Temple will again be built. The tangible version of the people’s service of G’d is to conform to the manner in which the subject would be communicated to the prophet or High Court that is the highest spiritual authority of the people at the time.
Nachmanides’ critique of Rashi that the altars in the two Temples were of completely different sizes is completely out of place, as Solomon constructed the altar in accordance with specific instructions given to him, emphasizing further that what was appropriate in the desert was not appropriate in his time. G’d’s appearing to Solomon when he had completed the Temple (Kings I 6,11-12) is proof that although the measurements of that Temple were quite different (though proportionate), he had not deviated from the instructions given by G’d to Moses in our portion.
Tossaphot on that folio already raises questions concerning this interpretation; they point out that the measurements of the altar of the Tabernacle did not correspond to the measurements of the altar in Solomon’s Temple (Kings I chapters 6-7) Nachmanides also found difficulty with Rashi’s commentary in Sanhedrin.
When you consider our explanation above (at the end of Mishpatim) that the words: וכן תעשו ומראה כבוד ה', refer to how a person can be certain that his manner of serving the Lord pleases his Creator, then the words: וכן תעשו, do not refer to the measurements of the Tabernacle or the Temple at all. There was no need for the Torah to repeat its instructions on these points as all the details had already been spelled out. Moses had received visual instructions from G’d, instructions that could hardly be “confirmed” by a human Court which had not been “shown” the dimensions G’d had shown to Moses. The entire Tabernacle must be viewed as the tangible symbol of holy thoughts expressed by the righteous when they worship the Creator, which, as we explained, need a כלי, visible, tangible instrument, in the form of a commandment to be performed by the worshipper, in order to give concrete expression to the נדבת לבו, the generosity of the heart, of which Exodus 25,2 speaks. The completed Tabernacle is the expression of the collective service of the Jewish people, or the לבוש, the “garment” behind which the holy nature of the collective soul of Jewish people resides.
The Talmud in Sanhedrin 89 already explains that no two prophets convey the same message from G’d to the people using the same wording. There is an element of individuality which permits each prophet to “dress up” the message in a style that he considers appropriate to his listeners. He also receives the vision from G’d in a manner that allows for his individuality, one that G’d is thoroughly familiar with, of course. It follows that Moses and his generation received G’d’s instructions concerning the Tabernacle in a manner that was appropriate for them, whereas Solomon and his generation received the instructions in a manner appropriate for the level of their respective generation. The tangible expression of the difference between the spiritual level of these two generations, one a people wandering in the desert, the other a people that had lived in a sovereign Jewish homeland for over 400 years already was reflected in the size and appurtenances of their respective “Temples.”
When Rashi explained the word לדורות, to describe the meaning of וכן תעשו, he meant that the same yardsticks that applied in the desert when the Tabernacle was being built were also to be applied in future generations when a Temple will again be built. The tangible version of the people’s service of G’d is to conform to the manner in which the subject would be communicated to the prophet or High Court that is the highest spiritual authority of the people at the time.
Nachmanides’ critique of Rashi that the altars in the two Temples were of completely different sizes is completely out of place, as Solomon constructed the altar in accordance with specific instructions given to him, emphasizing further that what was appropriate in the desert was not appropriate in his time. G’d’s appearing to Solomon when he had completed the Temple (Kings I 6,11-12) is proof that although the measurements of that Temple were quite different (though proportionate), he had not deviated from the instructions given by G’d to Moses in our portion.