Torah Teasers

Fire Comes After The First Shabbos “Lo Sivaaru Eish Bichol Moshvoseichem BiYom HaShabos,” (Vayakhel 35:3). The only Milacha of Shabbos singled out in the Torah is lighting a fire. Why?
Rav Yehonoson Eibshitz explains that in the first Luchos it says that we rest from work on Shabbos because Hashem rested after six days of creation. On Shabbos, we refrain from performing anything pertaining to those first six days. However, fire was created on Motza’ei Shabbos. Therefore, we may think it stands outside the prohibition of doing Milacha, so the Torah must tell us that even lighting a fire is assur on Shabbos.
There Comes A Point When Enough Is Enough After the Bnei Yisrael brought their generous donations to the builders of the Mishkan, they came to Moshe and told him (Vayakhel 36:5), “Marbim Ha’am L’Havi Midei HaAvodah LaMilacha; The deluge of donations is more than they need for the mishkan.” Moshe promptly issued an order to Bnei Yisrael to stop bringing. Rav Yehoshua Rokeach, the second Belzer Rebbe asks, “Why all the nervousness about the overflow of donations? If people wanted to give, would it not be a good idea to accept it, and keep it in the coffers for future use?”
He answers that a Ba’al Tshuva cannot go overboard. Tshuva must be done completely, but not more than is needed, or else it will have a negative impact on the person going forward. The Mishkan was a kapara for the Chait HaEigel through Bnei Yisrael’s donations. When Bnei Yisrael brought all that needed to be brought, the gaba’im got nervous when they saw the pace maintaining its frenzy. They immediately notified Moshe, who put an abrupt end to it, making sure things did not get out of hand and keeping things in perspective.
Equal Opportunity Employment For Women in The Midbar The pasuk (35:25) says that all the talented women spun the wool for the Mishkan. The pasuk also points out that all the work for the Mishkan was done by Nidiv Lev, generous volunteers. The Chasam Sofer asks, “Since a woman’s earnings belong to her husband, how can she volunteer her services if it doesn’t belong to her?”
He answers that the reason why Chazal decreed that a woman’s earnings should go to her husband is because he supports her. In the Midbar where everyone lived from “Mun” that fell from Shamayim, the men had no claim on the earnings of their wife. Therefore, the women were free to use their talents for the task of building the Mishkan.
Why The Kiyor Is Made From Vanity Mirrors The Kiyor, which was used to hold water in the Chatzer of the Mishkan, was made of bronze mirrors. These were the Maros Tzov’os the vanity mirrors (Vayakhel 38:8) that Rashi said that, although treasured by the women and used to beautify themselves, they nevertheless donated them to the Mishkan.
Why were the mirrors used specifically for the Kiyor? The Kli Yakar answers that when there was a Sotah, they would take water from the Kiyor to erase Hashem’s name into it to make the Mei Sotah. Even knowing that these precious mirrors may one day be used against them, they donated them because they knew that they themselves were tznuos, modest women.
Another reason he gives is because a mirror is like water, and it reflect a person’s image. So, too, the Mei Sotah that comes from the Kiyor reflects the Sotah’s image showing the whole world whether she is innocent or not.
The Incredible Auto Expanding Walls Of the Mishkan “V’HaMilacha Haysa Dayam… Vohoseir; There were enough donations brought for the building of the Mishkan… and there was a surplus.” This is a self contradicting statement. Was there exactly enough or was there excess?
The Mekach Tov brings and answer from the Bnei Yosef. The Mishna in Avos says that one of the great nissim in the Bais HaMikdash was that although when the people stood in the Azara it was packed with no place to move, when they needed to bow down everybody had room.
How did this work? The Gemara in Gittin says the Eretz Yisrael is called Eretz Tzvi, the land of the deer. If you skin a deer you will find that the skin is far smaller than the deer that it covered. However, the skin is flexible to cover the entire deer without a problem.
We see from here that the walls of the Mishkan were auto-expandable when necessary. This was part of the Chochma of Betzalel to make such walls. This is what the pasuk means that the material was enough. It provided exactly what was built for the Mishkan. “V’Hoseir,” and built inside of it was the ability to grow when needed.
Which Part Of The Mishkan Did The Biggest Tzaddikim Vie To Make? After all the materials were collected for the Mishkan and the work begins, the pasuk tells us (Vayakhel 36:8), “Vaya’asu Kol Chacham Lev B’Osei HaMilacha Es HaMishkan Eser Yeri’os; All craftsmen, ‘Chacham Lev.’ made the mishkan out of ten drapes.” The Netziv says that this implies that the best workers, the ‘Chacham Lev.’ made the Yeri’os. “Chacham Lev,” explains the Netziv, “means the great Yirei Shamayim. Why were they so interested in the Yeri’os?”
The Netziv answers that surely the Bigdei Kehuna were more Kadosh than the Yeri’os. However, when Moshe told Betzalel to make the Keilim first, Betzalel correctly told him that he believes Hashem wants the structure of the Mishkan to be made first. Since the Yeri’os was the first item on the agenda, there was a big debate among the craftsmen if they should take the first job or wait for the more prestigious work. The Yirei Shamayim or Chacham Lev decided that Zerizim Makdimim is more important than waiting, even for the Bigdei Kehuna and they volunteered to make the Yeri’os.

Created By Avrohom Sherman
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