ואלה שמות אלה הנזכרים בכאן היו ראוים להודע בשם כי כל אחד מהם ראוי להיות נחשב איש על שמו המורה על צורתו האישיית. ואלה כל ימי חייהם היו למאורות, ולא יצא הדור לתרבות רעה. אמנם אחרי מותם לא היו הצדיקים שבבניהם כל כך חשובים בעיני אלהים ואדם:
אלה, the ones mentioned here were deserving to be mentioned with their names. The reason is that each one of them possessed sufficient individuality to give meaning to his name. They were all of them an inspiration to their children as not one of them abandoned his family tradition. However, after the death of that generation even the relatively righteous ones among them did not rate so highly in the eyes of G’d or man so that the Torah deemed it necessary to tell us their names.
ככל אשר אני מראה אותך את תבנית המשכן ואת תבנית כל כליו וכן תעשו (שמות כה, ט). ופירש רש"י וכן תעשו לדורות. ומקשה התוספות הלא לא היה שוה מזבח שעשה משה למזבח שעשה שלמה וכן הקשה הרמב"ן. אך לפי דברינו הנ"ל ניחא, דכוונת הכתוב וכן תעשו, הוא המכוון לדבר אחר. דהנה באמת תבנית המשכן וכל כליו אשר הוכרח הכל להיות מציור על נכון בגובה ובקומה ובמשקל ובמדה וזה היה לבוש וציור לרוחניות הקדושה וכפי הנבואה שראה משה בהר סיני וכל ישראל וכפי שהמשיכו רוחניות הקדושה בעבדות שלהם כך היה בערך זה צריך להיות הלבוש דהוא הכלי והמשכן עשוי כתבניתו. וידוע דברי חכמינו ז"ל (סנהדרין פט.) דאין שני נביאים מתנבאים בסגנון אחד, רק כל אחד לפי בחינתו וכפי שעובד השם באותו הבחינה עצמה נראה אליו רוח הנבואה. משום הכי משה ודור המדבר כפי ערך עבודתם ורוח גבורתם אשר השיגו בהר סיני כך היו צריכין לעשות צורת המשכן ותבנית הכלים אשר נעשים לבוש לאורות הרוחנים של הקדושה. ואם כן כך הוא פירוש הכתוב ככל אשר אני מראה אותך כו', כפי גדר הנבואה כך יהיה תבנית המשכן וכל כליו. וכן תעשו, לדורות, רצה לומר בכל דור ודור כשתרצה לבנות בית המקדש יהיה עשייה כתבנית הנבואה אשר ישיג אז כך יעשה הציור של המקדש והכלים ושלמה כפי עבודתו ורוח נבואתו אשר השיג כך היה עושה הציור. ולא קשה כלל קושית הרמב"ן דהלא המזבח לא היה דומה עיין שם. וזהו אינו, דאדרבה כך היה הציווי שלא יעשה תמיד על ציור אחד רק כפי השראת הנבואה כך יהיה מצויר למטה תבנית הכלים:
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.
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי, מִי לִי. וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי, מָה אֲנִי. וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתָי:
He [Rabbi Hillel] used to say: If I am not for me, who will be for me? And when I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, then when?
"The day you were born is the day God decided that the world could not exist without you."
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav
Rabbi Nachman of Bratzlav