Parashat Terumah

At the opening of Parashat Fikudei, Rashi describes Betzaleil ben Uri’s confusion over whether to first build the Keilim of the Mishkan or the Mishkan itself. On one hand, in Parashat Terumah, Hashem first details the construction of the Aron, Shulchan and Menorah, and afterwards mentions the Ohel. On the other hand, at the beginning of Parashat VaYakhel, Moshe Rabbeinu first lists the Ohel and then mentions the Keilim within.

Ultimately, Betzaleil decides that Minhag Olam, common practice, should govern the Mishkan’s construction. Just as Derech Eretz Kadma LaTorah, HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s home within this physical world must fit into the preconditioned context. Logically, just as one normally builds a house first and buys the furniture second, so too one builds Hashem’s house first and the Keilim second.

In contrast, when Hashem speaks to Moshe, He discusses the Ohel and Keilim in the order of their importance, relative to the overarching purpose of the Mishkan. The Aron, as the central dwelling place of the Shchina, comes first on Hashem’s list. The Menorah and Shulchan, manifestations of Hashem’s miracles, come second. The Ohel, a mere envelope for the Kedusha within, comes next.

It is absolutely clear that Parashat Terumah does not discuss the Keilim in the order of their construction. After all, if one had to build walls and a ceiling for a structure, he would naturally build the walls first. Yet Hashem discusses the Krashim, the walls of the Ohel Mo’ed, only after describing the various types of Yerios and Michsos, the Ohel Mo’ed’s curtain ceiling.

But the ordering of the Yerios and Krashim, aside from a support Betzaleil’s conjecture, is also an enigma. If Hashem discusses each item in order of its relative importance and purpose, why should the Yerios be any more integral to the Mishkan’s purpose than the Krashim were? The Ohel, as a viable and functional entity, presumably could not exist without both objects.

Make fifty golden hooks and attach the [two sets of five Yerios] to one another, using the hooks. And the Mishkan will be one.

Shemos 26:6

It what way will the Mishan be one? Hashem hasn’t said a word about the Krashim yet, all He has mentioned is a drape of ten panels stitched and hooked together. Hashem hasn’t even described the other two (or three, according to Rabbi Nechemyah) types of Yerios and Michsos, yet somehow the Mishkan is already “one.”

To fully understand (and thereby appreciate) the significance of the Yerios, one must first have a clear picture of their arrangement. Here is a brief overview of the important details:

1) The Ohel Mo’ed spanned 30 amos in length and 10 amos in width. The Krashim closed this space in on three out of four sides and were each one amah thick. Essentially, the Ohel Mo’ed had three walls, each ten amos high, and an opening on the eastern side of the structure. Five pillars, also ten amos high, lined the entrance, but with spaces in between.

2) Yerios Tachtonos. The bottom cover spanned 40 amos in length and 28 amos in width. This cover spread over the five front pillars, over the airspace of the Ohel, and draped over the back of the Ohel, hanging down 8 amos. The Yerios also draped 8 amos over the sides of the Ohel, leaving the bottom two amos of the Krashim exposed. This cover was a weave of several fancy materials.

3) Yerios Izim. The next cover spanned 44 amos in length and 30 amos in width. The extra lengths and widths of material were distributed evenly. On the back, the Yerios Izim touched all the way to the ground, covering all 10 amos of the Ohel. On the sides, the Yerios Izim draped 9 Amos, one amah farther than the Yerios Tachtonos, leaving only the Adanim supporting the Krashim visible. And on the front, the extra two amos were folded back over the front pillars and the easternmost amah of the Ohel.

4) Michseh Oros Eilim M’adamim / Michseh Oros Techashim. These two coverings (or two materials blended into one covering, according to Rabbi Yehuda) were 30 amos in length and 10 amos in width. They spanned only the airspace above the Ohel, not even the airspace above the Krashim or pillars.

So to summarize, a lot of work went into designing and organizing these tapestries. Yet from the outside, all one could see (unless he was observing from ten amos above the ground) was the Yerios HaOhel, which draped over all three sides of the Ohel, and a few sockets. The three Yerios made an interesting design on the inside. The Yerios Tachtonos covered the top eight amos of the surrounding space, the Yerios Izim dropped one amah lower, leaving an Amah long gap between then and the floor, thereby creating a fancy ring pattern (except on the western side of the Ohel, where the Yerios Izim dropped all the way to the floor and blocked the Yerios HaOhel from sight). But even this design went for naught, for it was entirely blocked by the Krashim.

What was the point of all these fancy materials and fancy patterns and designs? Obviously they were not for man’s satisfaction, for nobody could see any of them! Rather, they were exclusively for Hashem’s satisfaction.

And make for Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among you.

Shemos 25:8

“And make for Me a sanctuary.” [Meaning,] and make for My Name (Lishmi) a house of Kedusha.

Rashi, Shemos 25:8

At the outset of the project, Hashem explains that the purpose of a Mishkan is not simply that He should have a place to rest in this world. Rather, the benefits of a Mishkan belong to Klal Yisroel, for Hashem will reside among them. In this, Rashi notes, the construction of a Mishkan must be Lishma; it must reflect the nation’s desire to live with Hashem in their midst. Of course, the Mishkan was a dazzling structure; who’s to say the donors lent materials in G-d’s name? Who’s to say the designers wove these designs with the proper intent? Who’s to say the builders erected these pillars Lishma? Yet the donors, weavers and builders all acted Lishma, and the Yerios reflect this intent.

Even the first covering, the Yerios Tachtonos, alone conveys this selfless endeavor. Hashem describes them as Ma’aseh Choshev, a double sided embroidery, and Rashi explains that the weavers stitched a different image onto the two sides of the tapestries. One side bore a lion while the other bore an eagle. However, only one of the two sides of the Yerios could ever be seen; one side functioned as the Ohel Mo’ed’s ceiling (visible from inside) while the other was forever covered by two (or three) other drapes.

The weavers of the Yerios Tachonos went to painstaking lengths to stitch perfect designs on both sides of the fabric, a task far more technically difficult than any single sided embroidery. No human perspective could marvel the technical complexity of these weavers’ handiwork, yet they still followed their directions wholeheartedly and wove the images Lishma. The Yerios Tachtonos alone reflected an element of oneness, a union of workers with a single selfless goal, building a structure with a single purpose. Therefore, upon their conceptualization, Hashem declares “the Mishkan will be one.”

Presumably, Hashem described the Yerios first because of their importance, but the Krashim were built first because of their function. Right?

[You should build] the Mishkan, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its beams (Krashim) and its staves, its pillars and its sockets.

Shemos 35:11

And all the wise hearted laborers made ten Yerios [for] the Mishkan… And [Betzaleil] made the Krashim.

Shemos 36:8, 36:20

Astonishingly, the Yerios were not only conceptualized before the Krashim, but were even built first! The Krashim obviously acted as the walls of the Ohel Moed, and the Yerios clearly functioned as its ceiling. No builder would ever construct a decorative enclosure without first laying down the foundation! How does Betzaleil’s actions here reflect any measure of “Minhag Olam”?

Of course, one must keep in mind that Betzaleil merely built the Yerios before the Krashim, but the Torah clearly states (Shemos, 40:18-19) that Moshe erected the Krashim before the Yerios. In terms of HaKamas HaMishkan, every step followed normal building procedures. But in terms of Meleches HaMishkan, the Minhag Olam to which Betzaleil subscribed follows the mindset and morals of a functional society. The average man would never purchase his furniture until he has a viable structure to shelter it; therefore the building of the Ohel Mo’ed preceded the building of its Keilim. But society also has a mindset bent towards charity, and the Yerios represented Klal Yisrael’s selfless devotion toward building a Mishkan Lishma. The Yerios were not only built before the Krashim; they were the very first task undertaken by Betzaleil’s laborers. And they weren’t built by the regular builders; rather, they were the handiwork of Kol Chachmei Leiv, the wise-hearted individuals, the ones who wholeheartedly and selflessly wished to give of themselves to the Meleches HaMishkan.

Shlomo HaMelech teaches in Sefer Mishlei, Matan BaSaiser Yichpeh Af (21:14), a concealed gift covers up anger. The gemara interprets this pasuk to mean that Tzedaka can save an individual from G-d’s wrath, or as the seasonal adage goes, “(Teshuva Tefila and) Tzedaka tear up the evil decree.”

However, one can understand the proverb in terms of Minhag Olam, without bringing Hashem’s Gezairos into the picture. A public donation is initially appreciated, but the appreciation is eventually lost. The donor hopes to earn a good name for himself, but instead earns a reputation as a giving man. “Why hasn’t he given any more?” the recipients wonder the next year, and the generosity of the donor’s initial gesture is overshadowed by his recent stinginess, relative to the past. The donor cannot even appreciate his own generosity anymore, for his beneficiaries no longer value his gesture. An anonymous donation, however, bears no such burden. The recipients can appreciate the benefits of their gift without considering the length to which their donor went to help them. Alongside, the donor retains his own satisfaction through the effects of his gift and the lasting satisfaction of the beneficiaries.

Likewise, the wise-hearted individuals felt a natural inclination towards public donation but did not want their charity publicized. The complexity and difficulty of their work was for them alone to appreciate, and not for the public to recognize and praise. In this manner, the Chachmei Leiv did not require any Krashim to justify their project, and so they began on the Yerios, their selfless donation to Klal Yisrael’s cause, immediately.