by Rav Moshe Leib HaCohen Halbershtat, founder and head of the Yoru Program for the Training of Rabbis and Community Leaders, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.
This week's Torah portion is Vayakhel (Sh'mot 35,1-38,20), which we read together in some years with Parashat Pekudei. The two of them review the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and its various furnishings, such as the Menorah, Ark, and more, as well as the fashioning of the Priestly garments. We read in these portions of all the acts of construction that were actually carried out, whereas in the portions of Terumah and Tetzaveh, the Torah tells us of each activity that G-d commanded Moshe to do. Aside from this difference, the two accounts are nearly exactly the same, except for occasional small changes from which important details are deduced (see the commentary of the Abarbanel to Vayak'hel and Pekudei).
Why, then, is the story repeated twice? The Torah is generally spare with its words; why did it devote nearly two entire portions to a repetition of all the details we already knew?
The Medrash Tanchuma to Sh'mot 30,8 teaches:
Moshe Rabbeinu said to G-d: "My Master, of the seventy nations of the world, You command me regarding Israel exclusively: 'When you count the people of Bnei Yisrael [the Children of Israel]… Speak to Bnei Yisrael, saying… Command Bnei Yisrael… And now give this command to Bnei Yisrael...' Everything You command me has to do with Israel!"
G-d answered: "It is because they are the most beloved to Me among all the nations; they are My treasure, I love them and I have chosen them, as written: "It is you that Hashem your G-d has chosen to be His treasured nation" (D'varim 14,2).
The Medrash continues to cite the following verse as a proof of how much G-d loves Israel:
"I have given the Levites as a gift to Aharon the Priest and his sons from among Bnei Yisrael, to perform the service of Bnei Yisrael in the Tent of Meeting and to atone for Bnei Yisrael, so that there be no plague among Bnei Yisrael when Bnei Yisrael come near the Sanctuary" (Bamidbar 8,19) – the Children of Israel are mentioned five times (!) in one verse. R. Shimon bar Yochai says it is just like a father who sends his young son to a teacher and does not cease to inquire after him: 'Did he eat well today? Did he drink well today? What time did he get there? What time did he leave?' So too, G-d loves to mention Israel every hour."
From this Medrash we learn the important principle that when one loves another, he continually mentions him and talks about him. Hashem loves Israel, and therefore mentions them five times in one verse. Rabbeinu Bachye (13th-14th centuries, Spain), in his classic commentary on the Torah, says that this is why the Torah repeats the story of the Tabernacle and its accessories no fewer than five times – twice in its details, and thrice in general – just as this verse in Bamidbar mentions Israel five times; both emphasize the affection that G-d has for them.
I believe that we can add another point here, and that is that the reason that the Tabernacle is so beloved to Hashem is precisely because of His great love for Israel! For the Mishkan is the place in which Israel can come close to G-d on the highest level possible on earth. As is written: "They shall build Me a Tabernacle and I will dwell in their midst" (Sh'mot 35,8).
This explanation is also found in the Ramban's commentary on Vayak'hel (36,8):
"And in general, everything here is [to show] His love and high regard, to say that G-d loves the work of the Mishkan, mentioning it in His Torah many times, to increase the reward of those who engage in it…"
And these are the words of the great ethical work Orchot Tzaddikim, Chapter 25:
"Beware very much, my son, of speaking ill and gossip of others, for whoever finds fault – is himself at fault; the fault that is a part of him rests constantly in his heart, because he speaks of it – for every person is judged and recognized by his [speech]. How so? If you see a man who regularly praises women and speaks about them, know that he is a [potential] womanizer; and if he customarily praises good food and wine, it means that he is a glutton; and the same is true for everything else. And the proof is from this verse: "Oh how much do I love Your Torah; it is my conversation all day long" (Psalms 119,97), which tells us that because I love the Torah, that is why I speak of it; everything that a person loves in his heart, he speaks of always."
One of the trials that many Torah students encounter is their desire to always learn new things, accompanied by a lack of will to review again what they have already studied. The solution for this is to imbue their thoughts and desires with the goal and importance of attaining true love of G-d and of the Torah, and when the students truly feel this, they will review their studies with great joy – because whatever a person loves in his heart, he will always speak of, as we saw in the above verse from King David's Psalms.
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