Moses assembled the entire congregation of the children of Israel (35:1)
This was on the morning after Yom Kippur, the day that Moses descended from the mountain [with the second tablets].
(Rashi)
Moses assembled the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and said to them . . . a sabbath of sabbaths to G‑d (35:1–2)
This teaches us that Moses instituted the practice of assembling on Shabbat to listen to the reading of the Torah.
(Midrash)
Six days work shall be done; and the seventh day shall be holy . . . (35:2)
The Torah describes the Jew’s work in the course of the week as a passive endeavor—“six days work shall be done” (not “six days you shall do work”). For the Jew regards his workday endeavors not as the source of his sustenance, but merely as a “vessel” in which to receive G‑d’s blessing.
(The Chassidic Masters)
Six days work shall be done; and the seventh day shall be holy. . . . Every wise-hearted man among you shall come and make all that G‑d has commanded . . . (35:2, 10)
Why does the Torah place the commandment to cease work on Shabbat next to the work of the Mishkan? To teach us that a person is guilty of violating the Shabbat only if the work he does has a counterpart in the work of making the Sanctuary: they sowed (the herbs from which to make dyes for the tapestries); you too shall not sow [on Shabbat]. They harvested [the herbs]; you too shall not harvest. They loaded the boards from the ground onto the wagons; you too shall not bring an object from a public domain into a private domain . . .
(Talmud and Rashi, Shabbat 49b)
Thus the Mishkan not only defines the type of work forbidden on Shabbat, but also the type of work the Jew is engaged in on the other six days of the week: the work of building a home for G‑d out of the materials of physical life.
(Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi)
Gold, silver and copper (35:5)
“Gold” represents the purity and perfection of the tzaddik. “Silver” represents the great yearning of the baal teshuvah (“returnee” or penitent) for closeness to G‑d—a yearning many times more powerful than that of the tzaddik, because it is a yearning from afar (kessef, the Hebrew word for silver, also means “yearning”). Copper, the lowliest of metals, represents the good deeds of the sinner. G‑d’s home on earth is complete only when it includes all three.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
They came, everyone whose heart stirred them . . . brought the offering to G‑d (35:21)
It is written, “That which emerges from your lips you shall observe and do” (Deuteronomy 23:24). From this we know only that if he uttered it with his lips; if he decided in his mind, how do we know that he must keep his promise? Because it says, “Everyone whose heart stirred them . . . brought the offering to G‑d.”
(Talmud, Shevuot 26b)
They came, the men along with the women (35:22)
The women came first, and the men followed.
(Nachmanides)
The tribal heads brought the shoham stones (35:27)
When Moses said, “Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, the offering for G‑d,” and did not say it directly to the princes, they were displeased at not being asked to bring. So they thought: Let the people bring what they will, and we shall make good whatever they omit. But all Israel entered with zeal into the work of the Mishkan, and joyfully and enthusiastically brought all the donations. See what is written about this! “They came, the men along with the women”—they came one on top of another, men and women together in an intermingled throng, and in two mornings they had brought all the necessary donations. . . . The princes then wished to bring their donations but could not, because Moses had already given orders: “Let neither man nor woman bring any more . . .” The princes were distressed, and said: “Seeing that we were not privileged to participate in the offerings to the Mishkan, let us give towards the garments of the high priest . . .” This is why when the Mishkan was completed the princes took the initiative, and were the first to bring offerings for its dedication (cf. Numbers 7).
(Midrash Rabbah)
They spoke to Moses, saying: “The people are bringing much more than enough . . .” (36:5)
Said Rabbi Aba bar Acha: There’s no understanding the character of this people! They’re solicited for the [Golden] Calf, and they give; they’re solicited for the Mishkan, and they give.
(Jerusalem Talmud, Shekalim 1:1)
The people were restrained from bringing (36:7)
When so commanded, refraining from doing a mitzvah is no less a mitzvah than doing a mitzvah.
(Alshich)
He made the altar of burnt offering . . . five cubits was its length and five cubits its breadth—it was square—and three cubits its height (38:1)
“And three cubits its height”: Rabbi Yehudah says that this is meant literally. Rabbi Yosei said: Here it says “square” (ravua), and regarding the incense altar it also says “square”: just as the incense altar’s height was twice its length, so here too its height was twice its length. . . . As the Tabernacle was ten cubits high, so was the altar ten cubits high. How, then, do I understand the verse “And three cubits its height”? Three cubits above the ledge (which encircled the altar, and served as a walkway for the kohanim).
(Talmud, Zevachim 59b; Rashi)
He made the basin of copper . . . out of the mirrors of the assembled women . . . (38:8)
The daughters of Israel had mirrors, in which they looked to adorn themselves; these too they did not refrain from donating to the making of the Mishkan. Moses disdained these mirrors, since their purpose is to awaken lust. Said G‑d to him: Accept them, for these are more beloved to Me than everything else: through these, the women begot hosts of children in Egypt. When their men were exhausted by hard labor, they would go and bring them food and drink and feed them. They would take along the mirrors, and each would look at herself in the mirror together with her husband and tease him, saying, “Look, I’m more beautiful than you,” thus awakening desire in her husband and cohabiting with him and conceiving and giving birth there, as it is written (Song of Songs 8:5), “Under the apple tree I roused you.”
(Midrash Tanchuma; Rashi)
These are the accounts of the Tabernacle . . . by the command of Moses . . . by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron (38:21)
The sages taught: Always appoint at least two people together as trustees over public funds. Even Moses, who enjoyed the full trust of G‑d—as it is written (Numbers 12:7), “In all My house he is trusted”—figured the accounts of the Sanctuary together with others, as it says, “By the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron.”
Thus the sages taught: the one who withdrew [the monies donated to the Holy Temple] did not enter the chamber wearing either a hemmed cloak, shoes, sandals, tefillin or an amulet (i.e., nothing in which money can be hidden), lest if he became poor, people might say that he became poor because of an iniquity committed in the chamber, or if he became rich, people might say that he became rich from the withdrawal from the chamber. For it is a person’s duty to be free of blame before men as before G‑d, as it is said (Numbers 32:22): “And be guiltless towards G‑d and towards Israel.”
(Midrash Tanchuma; Mishnah, Shekalim 3:2)
The silver . . . was one hundred talents, and one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, according to the shekel of the Sanctuary (38:25)
The Roman general Controcos questioned Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai: If each gave half a shekel, there should have been 201 talents and 11 maneh of silver. . . . Was Moses your teacher a thief or a swindler, or else a bad mathematician? He gave a half, took a half, and did not [even] return a complete half? Replied Rabbi Yochanan: Moses our teacher was a trustworthy treasurer and a good mathemetician; these talents were measured in “the shekel of the Sanctuary,” which is double the common measure.
(Talmud, Bechorot 5a)
It came to pass . . . that the Tabernacle was erected (40:17)
Whenever the Torah uses the word vayehi (“it came to pass”), this connotes a woeful event. What woe was there in the Mishkan’s completion? This is comparable to a king who had a contentious wife. So he said to her: “Make me a purple cloak.” As long as she was preoccupied with it, she did not quarrel. When her work was completed, she brought it to the king. The king saw it and was pleased with it, and began cry out, “Woe! Woe!” Said his wife: “What is this, my lord? I have labored to do your will, and you cry, ‘Woe, woe’?” Said he to her: “The work is beautiful and favorable in my eyes. But as long as you were preoccupied with it, you did not anger or provoke me; now that you are free of it, I fear that you will again anger me.”
So too said G‑d: “As long as My children were occupied with the Mishkan, they did not grumble against Me. Now they will again begin to provoke Me.” Therefore it says vayehi—implying vai hi, “woe is it.”
(Midrash Tanchuma)
In the first month . . . on the first day of the month, the Tabernacle was erected (40:17)
On the 25th of Kislev the work of Mishkan was completed, and its components sat folded up [for three months] until the 1st of Nissan, because G‑d wanted that the Mishkan should be erected in the month that Isaac was born. . . . The month of Kislev was thus deprived. Said G‑d: “I must compensate it.” How did G‑d compensate the month of Kislev? With the dedication of the Temple by the Hasmoneans (on Chanukah).
(Pesikta Rabbati)
When did the consecration of the Sanctuary begin? On the 23rd of Adar. And on the 1st of Nissan the days of consecration were completed. During each of the seven days of consecration Moses set up the Tabernacle, offered his sacrifices in it every morning, and then pulled it down. On the eighth day he put it up but did not dismantle it again.
(Midrash Rabbah)
Seven times Moses erected the Mishkan and then dismantled it, presaging the seven Sanctuaries that would serve the Jewish people: the Tabernacle in the desert, those at Gilgal, Shiloh, Nov and Givon, and the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. Seven times Moses dismantled the Tabernacle and then set it up again, so that the future falls of these Sanctuaries should not be permanent, but be followed by a rebuilding. Thus we are guaranteed that the destruction of the seventh Sanctuary will be followed by the building of the Third Temple, which shall never be destroyed.
(Rabbi Avraham Mordechai of Gur)
The glory of G‑d filled the Tabernacle (40:34)
What is the meaning of the verse (Song of Songs 5:1), “I have come into My garden, My sister, My bride”? This means [the G‑d says, “I have returned] to My bridal chamber, to the place which has been My principal abode from the very beginning.” For was not the principal abode of the Shechinah (Divine Presence) in the terrestrial regions? For so it is written (Genesis 3:8), “They heard the voice of the L‑rd G‑d walking in the garden” . . .
But when Adam sinned, the Shechinah betook itself to the first heaven. When Cain sinned, it betook itself to the second heaven. When the generation of Enosh sinned, it ascended to the third heaven. When the generation of the Flood sinned, it rose to the fourth heaven. When the generation of the Tower of Babel sinned, it moved up into the fifth heaven. When the people of Sodom sinned, it rose into the sixth heaven. And when the Egyptians sinned, it ascended into the seventh heaven.
Then arose seven righteous people who brought the Shechinah down from the celestial to the terrestrial regions: Abraham brought it down from the seventh heaven to the sixth, Isaac brought it down from the sixth to the fifth, Jacob brought it down from the fifth to the fourth, Levi brought it down from the fourth to the third, Kohath brought it down from the third to the second, Amram brought it down from the second to the first, and Moses brought it down from the celestial to the terrestrial region. . . . When did the Shechinah come to dwell on earth? On the day when the Tabernacle was erected, as it says, “The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of G‑d filled the Tabernacle.”
(Midrash Rabbah)
Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud rested on it, and the glory of G‑d filled the Tabernacle (40:35)
Rav Zerika raised the following contradiction: One verse reads, “Moses was not able to enter into the Tent of Meeting because the cloud rested on it,” whereas another verse (Exodus 24:18) says, “Moses entered into the midst of the cloud”? This is to tell us that G‑d took hold of Moses and brought him into the cloud.
(Talmud, Yoma 4b)
Said Rabbi Chama bar Chaninaa: Can it be that Moses feared the cloud? Is it not already written, “Moses entered into the midst of the cloud”? . . . In what sense was he “not able”? Because Moses accorded honor to the Shechinah, and did not enter until he was summoned inside.
(Midrash HaGadol)