Terumah (parsha)
Encyclopedia
Terumah or Trumah is the nineteenth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
and the seventh in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
read it the nineteenth Sabbath
after Simchat Torah
, generally in February or early March.
The parshah tells of God’s
instructions to make the Tabernacle and its furnishings.
to tell all Israelite
s whose heart so moved them to bring gifts of gold
, silver
, copper
, colored yarn
s, fine linen
, goats’
hair, tanned ram skins, acacia
wood, oil, spices, lapis lazuli
, and other fine stones to make a sanctuary — the Tabernacle (Mishkan, מִּשְׁכָּן) — and its furnishings, so that God could dwell among them.
God instructed them to make the Ark of the Covenant
of acacia wood overlaid with gold in which to deposit the tablets setting forth God’s commandments. God told them to make two cherub
im of gold to place on the ark’s cover or mercy seat
. God promised to impart commandments to Moses from between the two cherubim above the cover of the Ark.
God instructed them to make a table of acacia wood overlaid with gold, on which to set the bread of display or showbread
.
God instructed them to make a six-branched, seven-lamped lampstand — menorah — of pure gold.
God instructed them to make the Tabernacle of ten strips of fine twisted linen, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, with a design of cherubim worked into them. God instructed them to make 11 cloths of goats’ hair for a tent over the Tabernacle , and coverings of tanned ram skins and tachash skins (תְּחָשִׁים). God instructed them to make planks of acacia wood for the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen, with a design of cherubim, to serve as a partition obscuring the Holy of Holies
. God instructed them to place the Ark, the table, and the lampstand in the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a screen for the entrance of the Tent, of colored yarns, and fine twisted linen, done in embroidery and supported by five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold. God instructed them to make the altar of acacia wood overlaid with copper. And God instructed them to make the enclosure of the Tabernacle from fine twisted linen.
The Priestly story of the Tabernacle in echoes the Priestly story of creation in As the creation story unfolds in seven days ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ), the instructions about the Tabernacle unfold in seven speeches. ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ) In both creation and Tabernacle accounts, the text notes the completion of the task. In both creation and Tabernacle, the work done is seen to be good. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, God takes an action in acknowledgement. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, a blessing is invoked. And in both creation and Tabernacle, God declares something “holy.” (See generally Jon D. Levenson
. “Cosmos and Microcosm.” In Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence, 78–99. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. ISBN 0-06-254845-X.)
The Tabernacle exhibited similarities with Mount Sinai. Both Mount Sinai and the Tabernacle had three separate areas with increasing levels of exclusivity — one for the people generally, one for the anointed class, and one for only the single representative of the people (Sinai: 21–23; Tabernacle: ); the tablets of the law (Sinai: 28–29; Deuteronomy 15; Tabernacle:
Terumah or Trumah (תְּרוּמָה — Hebrew
for "gift" or “offering,” the twelfth word and first distinctive word in the parshah) is the nineteenth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
and the seventh in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
read it the nineteenth Sabbath
after Simchat Torah
, generally in February or early March.
The parshah tells of God’s
instructions to make the Tabernacle and its furnishings.
to tell all Israelite
s whose heart so moved them to bring gifts of gold
, silver
, copper
, colored yarn
s, fine linen
, goats’
hair, tanned ram skins, acacia
wood, oil, spices, lapis lazuli
, and other fine stones to make a sanctuary — the Tabernacle (Mishkan, מִּשְׁכָּן) — and its furnishings, so that God could dwell among them.
God instructed them to make the Ark of the Covenant
of acacia wood overlaid with gold in which to deposit the tablets setting forth God’s commandments. God told them to make two cherub
im of gold to place on the ark’s cover or mercy seat
. God promised to impart commandments to Moses from between the two cherubim above the cover of the Ark.
God instructed them to make a table of acacia wood overlaid with gold, on which to set the bread of display or showbread
.
God instructed them to make a six-branched, seven-lamped lampstand — menorah — of pure gold.
God instructed them to make the Tabernacle of ten strips of fine twisted linen, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, with a design of cherubim worked into them. God instructed them to make 11 cloths of goats’ hair for a tent over the Tabernacle , and coverings of tanned ram skins and tachash skins (תְּחָשִׁים). God instructed them to make planks of acacia wood for the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen, with a design of cherubim, to serve as a partition obscuring the Holy of Holies
. God instructed them to place the Ark, the table, and the lampstand in the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a screen for the entrance of the Tent, of colored yarns, and fine twisted linen, done in embroidery and supported by five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold. God instructed them to make the altar of acacia wood overlaid with copper. And God instructed them to make the enclosure of the Tabernacle from fine twisted linen.
The Priestly story of the Tabernacle in echoes the Priestly story of creation in As the creation story unfolds in seven days ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ), the instructions about the Tabernacle unfold in seven speeches. ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ) In both creation and Tabernacle accounts, the text notes the completion of the task. In both creation and Tabernacle, the work done is seen to be good. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, God takes an action in acknowledgement. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, a blessing is invoked. And in both creation and Tabernacle, God declares something “holy.” (See generally Jon D. Levenson
. “Cosmos and Microcosm.” In Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence, 78–99. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. ISBN 0-06-254845-X.)
The Tabernacle exhibited similarities with Mount Sinai. Both Mount Sinai and the Tabernacle had three separate areas with increasing levels of exclusivity — one for the people generally, one for the anointed class, and one for only the single representative of the people (Sinai: 21–23; Tabernacle: ); the tablets of the law (Sinai: 28–29; Deuteronomy 15; Tabernacle:
Terumah or Trumah (תְּרוּמָה — Hebrew
for "gift" or “offering,” the twelfth word and first distinctive word in the parshah) is the nineteenth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
and the seventh in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
read it the nineteenth Sabbath
after Simchat Torah
, generally in February or early March.
The parshah tells of God’s
instructions to make the Tabernacle and its furnishings.
to tell all Israelite
s whose heart so moved them to bring gifts of gold
, silver
, copper
, colored yarn
s, fine linen
, goats’
hair, tanned ram skins, acacia
wood, oil, spices, lapis lazuli
, and other fine stones to make a sanctuary — the Tabernacle (Mishkan, מִּשְׁכָּן) — and its furnishings, so that God could dwell among them.
God instructed them to make the Ark of the Covenant
of acacia wood overlaid with gold in which to deposit the tablets setting forth God’s commandments. God told them to make two cherub
im of gold to place on the ark’s cover or mercy seat
. God promised to impart commandments to Moses from between the two cherubim above the cover of the Ark.
God instructed them to make a table of acacia wood overlaid with gold, on which to set the bread of display or showbread
.
God instructed them to make a six-branched, seven-lamped lampstand — menorah — of pure gold.
God instructed them to make the Tabernacle of ten strips of fine twisted linen, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, with a design of cherubim worked into them. God instructed them to make 11 cloths of goats’ hair for a tent over the Tabernacle , and coverings of tanned ram skins and tachash skins (תְּחָשִׁים). God instructed them to make planks of acacia wood for the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen, with a design of cherubim, to serve as a partition obscuring the Holy of Holies
. God instructed them to place the Ark, the table, and the lampstand in the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a screen for the entrance of the Tent, of colored yarns, and fine twisted linen, done in embroidery and supported by five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold. God instructed them to make the altar of acacia wood overlaid with copper. And God instructed them to make the enclosure of the Tabernacle from fine twisted linen.
The Priestly story of the Tabernacle in echoes the Priestly story of creation in As the creation story unfolds in seven days ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ), the instructions about the Tabernacle unfold in seven speeches. ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ) In both creation and Tabernacle accounts, the text notes the completion of the task. In both creation and Tabernacle, the work done is seen to be good. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, God takes an action in acknowledgement. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, a blessing is invoked. And in both creation and Tabernacle, God declares something “holy.” (See generally Jon D. Levenson
. “Cosmos and Microcosm.” In Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence, 78–99. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. ISBN 0-06-254845-X.)
The Tabernacle exhibited similarities with Mount Sinai. Both Mount Sinai and the Tabernacle had three separate areas with increasing levels of exclusivity — one for the people generally, one for the anointed class, and one for only the single representative of the people (Sinai: 21–23; Tabernacle: ); the tablets of the law (Sinai: 28–29; Deuteronomy 15; Tabernacle: ); a cloud (Sinai: 16; Tabernacle: ); and God's presence (Sinai: Tabernacle: ) And God spoke to Moses at both Mount Sinai and the Tabernacle. (Sinai: 9, 16; Tabernacle: )
But in contrast to Mount Sinai, with the Tabernacle God's presence was constant; God's presence was in their midst, no longer distant; and God's presence was no longer rooted to a fixed place. (See generally Terence E. Fretheim
. Exodus: Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, 264. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8042-3102-8.)
interpreted the Tabernacle and its furnishings to represent the universe. He saw the Tabernacle’s two parts accessible to the priests (the Holy and the Courtyard) to denote the land and the sea, the third division set aside for God (the Holy of Holies) to represent heaven, inaccessible to people. He saw the 12 loaves to denote the year divided into months. He saw the Menorah divided into 70 parts, representing the 70 divisions of the planets, and the seven lamps on the Menorah to refer to the course of the seven planets (then known). He saw the veils, composed of four things, to declare the four elements: the fine linen signified the earth, because the flax grows out of the earth; the purple signified the sea, because purple was dyed by the blood of shellfish from the sea; the blue signified the air; and the scarlet signified fire. (Antiquities of the Jews
3:7:7.)
read to say “that they take Me as an offering” and thus to tell how God gave the Torah to Israel and said to them: “You are taking Me.” (Exodus Rabbah
33:6.)
A midrash taught that calls for offerings of gold, silver, and brass for the construction of the Tabernacle, because gold symbolizes Babylon
, of which says, “As for that image, its head was of fine gold”; silver symbolizes the Medes
, of which says, “Its breast and its arms were of silver”; and brass refers to Greece
, of which says, “Its belly and thighs were of brass.” But the Bible makes no mention of iron in the construction either of the Tabernacle or of the Temple in Jerusalem
, because iron symbolizes Rome
, which destroyed the Temple. (Exodus Rabbah 35:5.)
The Rabbis taught in a Baraita
that the turquoise wool (techeilet, תְכֵלֶת) listed in came from an animal called a chilazon that resembled the sea in color and a fish in shape, that appeared once every 70 years, and whose blood was used to dye the expensive blue thread. (Babylonian Talmud
Shabbat 26a; Menachot 42b.)
The Tosefta
deduced from (and the principle that the law prohibits doing on the Sabbath all that was done to build the Tabernacle) that one who tans hides on the Sabbath violates the commandment to keep the Sabbath. (Tosefta Shabbat 8:23.)
The Tosefta taught that invalidity of either the onyx stones or the stones to be set described in invalidated the other, and invalidity of any of the cups, knops, or flowers of the candlestick described in invalidated the others. (Tosefta Menachot 6:11.)
The Tosefta taught that provided the commandment that said that Moses fulfilled. (Tosefta Menachot 7:7.)
A midrash explained with a parable God’s instruction to build a Tabernacle. A king had only one daughter, who married another king. When the son-in-law king wished to return to his country and take his wife with him, the father king told him that he could neither part with his daughter nor tell her husband not to take her, as she was now his wife. The father king thus asked the son-in-law king the favor that wherever the son-in-law king would go to live, he would have a chamber ready for the father king to dwell with them, for he could not bear to leave his daughter. Thus, God told Israel that God had given Israel a Torah from which God could not part, and yet God also could not tell Israel not to take the Torah. Thus, God asked the Israelites to make for God a house wherein God might sojourn wherever the Israelites went, and thus says, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” (Exodus Rabbah 33:1.)
Rabbi Simeon son of Rabbi Ishmael interpreted the term “the Tabernacle of the testimony” in to mean that the Tabernacle was God’s testimony to the whole world that God had forgiven Israel for having made the Golden Calf
. Rabbi Isaac explained with a parable. A king took a wife whom he dearly loved. He became angry with her and left her, and her neighbors taunted her, saying that he would not return. Then the king sent her a message asking her to prepare the king’s palace and make the beds therein, for he was coming back to her on such-and-such a day. On that day, the king returned to her and became reconciled to her, entering her chamber and eating and drinking with her. Her neighbors at first did not believe it, but when they smelled the fragrant spices, they knew that the king had returned. Similarly, God loved Israel, bringing the Israelites to Mount Sinai, and giving them the Torah, but after only 40 days, they sinned with the Golden Calf. The heathen nations then said that God would not be reconciled with the Israelites. But when Moses pleaded for mercy on their behalf, God forgave them, as reports, “And the Lord said: ‘I have pardoned according to your word.’” Moses then told God that even though he personally was quite satisfied that God had forgiven Israel, he asked that God might announce that fact to the nations. God replied that God would cause God’s Shechinah
to dwell in their midst, and thus says, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” And by that sign, God intended that all nations might know that God had forgiven the Israelites. And thus calls it “the Tabernacle of the testimony,” because the Tabernacle was a testimony that God had pardoned the Israelites’ sins. (Exodus Rabbah 51:4.)
A midrash told that when God told Moses to make a tabernacle for God (in ), Moses questioned how God could command Moses make a tabernacle for God, if God’s Glory fills heaven and earth. And Moses saw prophetically that Solomon
would one day build a Temple, much larger than the Tabernacle, and yet (in 1 Kings
) Solomon would say to God, “But will God in truth dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built!” God replied that God does not think as humans think. Twenty boards on the north, twenty on the south, and eight in the west can suffice. God could even confine God’s Shechinah within one square cubit. (Exodus Rabbah 34:1.)
Rav Assi of Hozna'ah deduced from the words, “And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month,” in that the Tabernacle was erected on the first of Nisan
. With reference to this, a Tanna
taught that the first of Nisan took ten crowns of distinction by virtue of the ten momentous events that occurred on that day. The first of Nisan was: (1) the first day of the Creation (as reported in ), (2) the first day of the princes’ offerings (as reported in ), (3) the first day for the priesthood to make the sacrificial offerings (as reported in ), (4) the first day for public sacrifice, (5) the first day for the descent of fire from Heaven (as reported in ), (6) the first for the priests’ eating of sacred food in the sacred area, (7) the first for the dwelling of the Shechinah in Israel (as implied by ), (8) the first for the Priestly Blessing
of Israel (as reported in employing the blessing prescribed by ), (9) the first for the prohibition of the high place
s (as stated in ), and (10) the first of the months of the year (as instructed in ). (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 87b.)
Interpreting the words, “And they shall make an Ark,” in Rabbi Judah ben Rabbi Shalom taught that God said that all should come and occupy themselves with the Ark so that they all might merit the Torah. Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai taught that there are three crowns: (1) the crown of kingship, (2) the crown of priesthood, and (3) the crown of Torah. The table is the crown of kingship, of which says, “And make thereto a crown of gold round about.” The altar is the crown of priesthood, of which says, “And you shall make unto it a crown of gold round about.” And the Ark is the crown of the Torah, of which says, “And you shall make upon it a crown of gold round about.” The word for “crown” (zer, זֵר) can also be read as zar (stranger), to teach that if a person has merit, it becomes like a crown, but if a person does not have merit, then it becomes alien to that person. Of the other furnishings, Scripture says, “And you shall make,” whereas of the Ark, says, “And they shall make,” to teach that the crown of the Torah stands above all; when a person acquires the Torah, it is as though that person has acquired all the rest. (Exodus Rabbah 34:2.)
Noting that says, “You shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without,” Rava
interpreted that any scholar whose inside is not like the outside is no scholar. (A scholar thus should have the same golden character inside and out.) (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 72b.)
The Mishnah
described how on Yom Kippur
the High Priest (Kohen Gadol
) would place a fire pan between the two bars of the Ark of the Covenant described in (Mishnah Yoma 5:1; Babylonian Talmud Yoma 52b.)
Rabbi Abbahu
taught that a cherub (as in ) had a face like a child (keravya), for in Babylonia they called a child ravya. Rav Papa
asked Abaye
that if this is so, then there is a difficulty interpreting Ezekiel
which says of Ezekiel
’s vision, “the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.” Would not the face of the cherub and the face of a man be the same? The Gemara
answered that one was a big face, and the other was a small face. (Babylonian Talmud Chagigah 13b.)
The Mishnah described details of the table envisioned in (Mishnah Menachot 11:5–7; Babylonian Talmud Menachot 96a, 99b.) Rabbi Jose
differed with the Mishnah to teach that the handbreadth-high frame described in not props, held the showbread in place, but they interpreted the table’s rim to exist only at the feet of the table, not at its surface. (Tosefta Menachot 11:6.)
The Mishnah taught that one who stole one of the sacred vessels (kisvot) described in and was struck down by zealots on the spot. (Mishnah Sanhedrin 9:6; Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 81b.)
Ben Zoma
interpreted to teach that the showbread had to have faces. (Mishnah Menachot 11:4; Babylonian Talmud Menachot 96a.) And the Tosefta interpreted to teach that the table did not remain overnight without bread. (Tosefta Menachot 11:12.)
Rabbi Abin compared the instruction of to a handsome king who instructed a servant to fashion a bust exactly like him. The servant exclaimed that he could not possibly make a likeness exactly like the king. But the king replied that the servant would paint it with his materials, but the king would appear in his own glory. Thus, when in God told Moses “see that you make them after their pattern,” Moses complained that he was not God that he should be able to make one exactly like the pattern. God replied that Moses should follow the pattern of blue, purple, and scarlet that he saw above. The “acacia-wood, standing up” of would reflect the Seraph
im who stand above, and Rabbi Hiyya ben Abba said that the gold clasps of would reflect the glittering stars in heaven. Thus God told Moses that if he would make below a replica of that which was above, God would cause God’s Shechinah to dwell among the people. (Exodus Rabbah 35:5.)
interpreted the word “Lebanon
” in to refer to the Temple in Jerusalem and “that goodly mountain” to refer to the Temple Mount. (Babylonian Talmud Gittin 56b.) A midrash employed this understanding of “Lebanon” as the Temple to explain the role of gold in the world. Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish taught that the world did not deserve to have the use of gold. But God created gold for the sake of the Tabernacle (for example, in ) and the Temple. The midrash deduced this from the use of the word “good” in both Genesis where it says, “the gold of that land is good,” and where it says, “that goodly hill-country, and Lebanon,” concluding that the gold of the land was created for that which is good, the Temple. (Genesis Rabba
h 16:2; see also Exodus Rabbah 35:1.)
Rav Ashi taught that one could derive from the term עַשְׁתֵּי-עֶשְׂרֵה, ashtei-esreih, or “eleven,” in that one who adds to God’s word actually subtracts from it. Were one to subtract the first letter of the term, it would yield שְׁתֵּי-עֶשְׂרֵה, shtei-esreih, or “twelve,” so adding that letter reduces its meaning. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 29a.)
The Rabbis taught in a Baraita that the Tabernacle’s lower curtains were made of blue wool, purple wool, crimson wool, and fine linen, while the upper curtains that made the tent spread were made of goats’ hair. And they taught that the upper curtains required greater skill than the lower, for says of the lower ones, “And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands,” while says of the upper ones, “And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats.” It was taught in Rabbi Nehemiah's name that the hair was washed on the goats and spun while still on the goats. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 99a.)
Rav Adda bar Ahavah
said that the tachash skins mentioned in came from an animal that lived in the days of Moses. The Gemara interpreted Rabbi Nehemiah
to say that its skin had many colors. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 28a.)
Rabbi Haninah taught that the world was unworthy to have cedar trees, but God created them for the sake of the Tabernacle (for example, in the acacia-wood of ) and the Temple, as Psalm
says, “The trees of the Lord have their fill, the cedars of Lebanon, which He has planted,” once again interpreting Lebanon to mean the Temple. Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman
in the name of Rabbi Jonathan
taught that there are 24 kinds of cedars, of which seven are especially fine, as says, “I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane-tree, and the larch together.” God foresaw that the Tabernacle would be made of these trees, as says, “Wherein the birds make their nests,” and “birds” refers to those birds that the priests offered. And when says, “As for the stork (חֲסִידָה, hasidah), the fir-trees are her house,” the חֲסִידָה, hasidah (stork) refers to the High Priest, of whom says, “Your Thummim and Your Urim
be with Your holy one (חֲסִידֶךָ, hasidekha).” (Exodus Rabbah 35:1.)
Another midrash explained that in God chose acacia-wood — the wood of a tree that does not bear fruit — to build the Tabernacle to set an example for all time that people should not build houses with the wood of fruit-producing trees. (Exodus Rabbah 35:2.)
The Gemara deduced from the report in of the length of the boards that both the Tabernacle and the altar were ten cubit
s (about 15 feet) high. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 92a.)
In Moses foretold that “A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you . . . like me,” and Rabbi Johanan
thus taught that prophets would have to be, like Moses, strong, wealthy, wise, and meek. Strong, for says of Moses, “he spread the tent over the tabernacle,” and a Master taught that Moses himself spread it, and reports, “Ten cubit
s shall be the length of a board.” Similarly, the strength of Moses can be derived from in which Moses reports, “And I took the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them,” and it was taught that the tablets were six handbreadths in length, six in breadth, and three in thickness. Wealthy, as reports God’s instruction to Moses, “Carve yourself two tablets of stone,” and the Rabbis interpreted the verse to teach that the chips would belong to Moses. Wise, for Rav
and Samuel both said that 50 gates of understanding were created in the world, and all but one were given to Moses, for said of Moses, “You have made him a little lower than God.” Meek, for reports, “Now the man Moses was very meek.” (Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 38a.)
Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman used the description of the side (צֶלַע, zela) of the tabernacle in to help interpret the creation of woman. Rabbi Jeremiah ben Leazar taught that when God created Adam, God created him a hermaphrodite — two bodies, male and female, joined together — for says, “male and female created He them . . . and called their name Adam.” Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman taught that when God created Adam, God created Adam double-faced. Then God split Adam and made Adam of two backs, one back on this side and one back on the other side. An objection was raised that says, “And He took one of his ribs” (implying that God created Eve separately from Adam). Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman replied that the word read as “rib” — מִצַּלְעֹתָיו, mi-zalotav — actually means one of Adam’s sides, just as one reads in “And for the second side (צֶלַע, zela) of the tabernacle.” (Genesis Rabbah 8:1.)
Rabbi Levi read regarding “the middle bar in the midst of the boards, which shall pass through from end to end,” calculated that the beam must have been 32 cubits in length, and asked where the Israelites would find such a beam in the desert. Rabbi Levi deduced that the Israelites had stored up the cedar to construct the Tabernacle since the days of Jacob
. Thus reports, “And every man, with whom was found acacia-wood,” not “with whom would be found acacia-wood.” Rabbi Levi taught that the Israelites cut the trees down in Magdala
of the Dyers near Tiberias and brought them with them to Egypt
, and no knot or crack was found in them. (Genesis Rabbah 94:4.)
The Mishnah described two veils that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the Second Temple
, but Rabbi Jose said that there was only a single veil, as described in in connection with the Tabernacle. (Mishnah Yoma 5:1; Tosefta Kippurim (Yoma) 2:12; Babylonian Talmud Yoma 51b.)
10:9.)
A midrash taught that the length of the courtyard reported in at 100 cubits added to the length of the Tabernacle — 30 cubits — to total 130 cubits. And the midrash taught that this number was alluded to when (as reports) the prince of the Tribe of Simeon
brought an offering of “one silver dish, the weight of which was 130 shekels.” The midrash taught that the dish was in allusion to the court that encompassed the Tabernacle as the sea encompasses the world. (Numbers Rabbah 13:19.)
The Gemara, however, cited Abaye’s as the plain meaning of the words, “The length of the court shall be 100 cubits, and the breadth 50 everywhere,” in Abaye taught that the Israelites erected the Tabernacle 50 cubits from the entrance to the courtyard, so that there might be a space of 50 cubits in front of the Tabernacle and a space of 20 cubits on every other side of the Tabernacle. (Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 23b.)
and Sefer ha-Chinuch
, there are 2 positive and 1 negative commandments
in the parshah:
(See, e.g., Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 1:27–29, 36–37; 2:84–85. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 1:355–77. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)
for the parshah is
to draft 30,000 men and send them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000, with one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Solomon also had 70,000 men who bore burdens, 80,000 men who hewed stone in the mountains, and 3,300 chief officers who supervised the work. Solomon ordered great and costly stones cut to lay the foundation of the Temple in Jerusalem, and Solomon's builders, Hiram's builders, and the Gebalites
fashioned them and prepared the timber and the stones to build the Temple.
Solomon began to build the Temple in the 480th year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign, in the month Ziv
. The Temple measured 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, and had a portico 20 cubits long and 10 cubits deep. Its windows were broad within and narrow without. Along the Temple’s wall all around were side-structures and side-chambers, with the lowest story of the side-structure 5 cubits broad, the middle 6 cubits broad, and the third story 7 cubits broad, and recesses ringed the outside wall. The Temple was built from stone made ready at the quarry, and no hammer, ax, or other iron tool was heard at the building site. The door for the lowest story of side-chambers was on the right side of the Temple, and winding stairs went into the middle story and out into the third. So Solomon built the Temple and finished it with planks of cedar over beams, with all the Temple resting on cedar timbers.
And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: “As for this house that you are building, if you will walk in My statutes, and execute My ordinances, and keep all My commandments, then I will establish My word with you that I spoke to David your father and I will dwell therein among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”
. Both the parshah and the haftarah describe conditions for a structure where God could dwell (ve-shakhanti) among (be-tokh) the Israelites.
. (Reuven Hammer
. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
for Shabbat and Festivals, 19. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly
, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8. Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 66. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3.)
The kindled lights of the Menorah of played a key role in Hanukkah
and are thus in turn noted in the Hanukkah insertion to the Modim section of the Amidah
prayer in each of the three prayer services. (Hammer, at 8.)
, Sephardi Jews
each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For Parshah Terumah, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Hoseni, the maqam that expresses beauty. This is especially appropriate for this parshah because it is the parshah where the beauty of the Tabernacle and its utensils are elaborated.
(cherubim); (cherubim); 11 (Tabernacle, courts); (dwelling); (courts); (court); (ark).
.jpg)
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
cycle of Torah reading
Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
and the seventh in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
read it the nineteenth Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
after Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah or Simḥath Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle...
, generally in February or early March.
The parshah tells of God’s
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
instructions to make the Tabernacle and its furnishings.
Summary
God instructed MosesMoses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
to tell all Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
s whose heart so moved them to bring gifts of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, colored yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
s, fine linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
, goats’
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
hair, tanned ram skins, acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
wood, oil, spices, lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli is a relatively rare semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color....
, and other fine stones to make a sanctuary — the Tabernacle (Mishkan, מִּשְׁכָּן) — and its furnishings, so that God could dwell among them.
God instructed them to make the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
of acacia wood overlaid with gold in which to deposit the tablets setting forth God’s commandments. God told them to make two cherub
Cherub
A cherub is a type of spiritual being mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and cited later on in the Christian biblical canons, usually associated with the presence of God...
im of gold to place on the ark’s cover or mercy seat
Mercy seat
According to the Bible, the mercy seat was an object which rested upon the Ark of the Covenant, and was connected with the rituals of Yom Kippur; the term also appears in the Pauline Epistles, and has a significance in Christian theology...
. God promised to impart commandments to Moses from between the two cherubim above the cover of the Ark.
God instructed them to make a table of acacia wood overlaid with gold, on which to set the bread of display or showbread
Showbread
Showbread , in the King James Version: shewbread, in a biblical or Jewish context, refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present on a specially dedicated table, in the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to God...
.
God instructed them to make a six-branched, seven-lamped lampstand — menorah — of pure gold.
God instructed them to make the Tabernacle of ten strips of fine twisted linen, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, with a design of cherubim worked into them. God instructed them to make 11 cloths of goats’ hair for a tent over the Tabernacle , and coverings of tanned ram skins and tachash skins (תְּחָשִׁים). God instructed them to make planks of acacia wood for the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen, with a design of cherubim, to serve as a partition obscuring the Holy of Holies
Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept during the First Temple, which could be entered only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur...
. God instructed them to place the Ark, the table, and the lampstand in the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a screen for the entrance of the Tent, of colored yarns, and fine twisted linen, done in embroidery and supported by five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold. God instructed them to make the altar of acacia wood overlaid with copper. And God instructed them to make the enclosure of the Tabernacle from fine twisted linen.
Inner-biblical interpretation
This is the pattern of instruction and construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings:| Item | Instruction | Construction | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order | Verses | Order | Verses | |
| Contribution | 1 | 2 | ||
| Ark | 2 | 5 | ||
| Table | 3 | 6 | ||
| Menorah | 4 | 7 | ||
| Tabernacle | 5 | 4 | ||
| Altar of Sacrifice | 6 | 11 | ||
| Tabernacle Court | 7 | 13 | ||
| Lamp | 8 | 16 | Numbers Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch.... |
|
| Priestly Garments | 9 | 14 | ||
| Ordination Ritual | 10 | 15 | Leviticus | |
| Altar of Incense | 11 | 8 | ||
| Laver | 12 | 12 | ||
| Anointing Oil | 13 | 9 | ||
| Incense | 14 | 10 | ||
| Craftspeople | 15 | 3 | ||
| The Sabbath | 16 | 1 | ||
The Priestly story of the Tabernacle in echoes the Priestly story of creation in As the creation story unfolds in seven days ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ), the instructions about the Tabernacle unfold in seven speeches. ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ) In both creation and Tabernacle accounts, the text notes the completion of the task. In both creation and Tabernacle, the work done is seen to be good. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, God takes an action in acknowledgement. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, a blessing is invoked. And in both creation and Tabernacle, God declares something “holy.” (See generally Jon D. Levenson
Jon D. Levenson
Jon D. Levenson is the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at the Harvard Divinity School.-Education:*Ph.D. Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, 1975,*M.A...
. “Cosmos and Microcosm.” In Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence, 78–99. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. ISBN 0-06-254845-X.)
The Tabernacle exhibited similarities with Mount Sinai. Both Mount Sinai and the Tabernacle had three separate areas with increasing levels of exclusivity — one for the people generally, one for the anointed class, and one for only the single representative of the people (Sinai: 21–23; Tabernacle: ); the tablets of the law (Sinai: 28–29; Deuteronomy 15; Tabernacle:
Terumah or Trumah (תְּרוּמָה — Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
for "gift" or “offering,” the twelfth word and first distinctive word in the parshah) is the nineteenth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
cycle of Torah reading
Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
and the seventh in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
read it the nineteenth Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
after Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah or Simḥath Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle...
, generally in February or early March.
The parshah tells of God’s
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
instructions to make the Tabernacle and its furnishings.
Summary
God instructed MosesMoses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
to tell all Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
s whose heart so moved them to bring gifts of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, colored yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
s, fine linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
, goats’
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
hair, tanned ram skins, acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
wood, oil, spices, lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli is a relatively rare semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color....
, and other fine stones to make a sanctuary — the Tabernacle (Mishkan, מִּשְׁכָּן) — and its furnishings, so that God could dwell among them.
God instructed them to make the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
of acacia wood overlaid with gold in which to deposit the tablets setting forth God’s commandments. God told them to make two cherub
Cherub
A cherub is a type of spiritual being mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and cited later on in the Christian biblical canons, usually associated with the presence of God...
im of gold to place on the ark’s cover or mercy seat
Mercy seat
According to the Bible, the mercy seat was an object which rested upon the Ark of the Covenant, and was connected with the rituals of Yom Kippur; the term also appears in the Pauline Epistles, and has a significance in Christian theology...
. God promised to impart commandments to Moses from between the two cherubim above the cover of the Ark.
God instructed them to make a table of acacia wood overlaid with gold, on which to set the bread of display or showbread
Showbread
Showbread , in the King James Version: shewbread, in a biblical or Jewish context, refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present on a specially dedicated table, in the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to God...
.
God instructed them to make a six-branched, seven-lamped lampstand — menorah — of pure gold.
God instructed them to make the Tabernacle of ten strips of fine twisted linen, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, with a design of cherubim worked into them. God instructed them to make 11 cloths of goats’ hair for a tent over the Tabernacle , and coverings of tanned ram skins and tachash skins (תְּחָשִׁים). God instructed them to make planks of acacia wood for the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen, with a design of cherubim, to serve as a partition obscuring the Holy of Holies
Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept during the First Temple, which could be entered only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur...
. God instructed them to place the Ark, the table, and the lampstand in the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a screen for the entrance of the Tent, of colored yarns, and fine twisted linen, done in embroidery and supported by five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold. God instructed them to make the altar of acacia wood overlaid with copper. And God instructed them to make the enclosure of the Tabernacle from fine twisted linen.
Inner-biblical interpretation
This is the pattern of instruction and construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings:| Item | Instruction | Construction | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order | Verses | Order | Verses | |
| Contribution | 1 | 2 | ||
| Ark | 2 | 5 | ||
| Table | 3 | 6 | ||
| Menorah | 4 | 7 | ||
| Tabernacle | 5 | 4 | ||
| Altar of Sacrifice | 6 | 11 | ||
| Tabernacle Court | 7 | 13 | ||
| Lamp | 8 | 16 | Numbers Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch.... |
|
| Priestly Garments | 9 | 14 | ||
| Ordination Ritual | 10 | 15 | Leviticus | |
| Altar of Incense | 11 | 8 | ||
| Laver | 12 | 12 | ||
| Anointing Oil | 13 | 9 | ||
| Incense | 14 | 10 | ||
| Craftspeople | 15 | 3 | ||
| The Sabbath | 16 | 1 | ||
The Priestly story of the Tabernacle in echoes the Priestly story of creation in As the creation story unfolds in seven days ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ), the instructions about the Tabernacle unfold in seven speeches. ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ) In both creation and Tabernacle accounts, the text notes the completion of the task. In both creation and Tabernacle, the work done is seen to be good. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, God takes an action in acknowledgement. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, a blessing is invoked. And in both creation and Tabernacle, God declares something “holy.” (See generally Jon D. Levenson
Jon D. Levenson
Jon D. Levenson is the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at the Harvard Divinity School.-Education:*Ph.D. Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, 1975,*M.A...
. “Cosmos and Microcosm.” In Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence, 78–99. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. ISBN 0-06-254845-X.)
The Tabernacle exhibited similarities with Mount Sinai. Both Mount Sinai and the Tabernacle had three separate areas with increasing levels of exclusivity — one for the people generally, one for the anointed class, and one for only the single representative of the people (Sinai: 21–23; Tabernacle: ); the tablets of the law (Sinai: 28–29; Deuteronomy 15; Tabernacle:
Terumah or Trumah (תְּרוּמָה — Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
for "gift" or “offering,” the twelfth word and first distinctive word in the parshah) is the nineteenth weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
cycle of Torah reading
Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
and the seventh in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
read it the nineteenth Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
after Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah or Simḥath Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle...
, generally in February or early March.
The parshah tells of God’s
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
instructions to make the Tabernacle and its furnishings.
Summary
God instructed MosesMoses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
to tell all Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
s whose heart so moved them to bring gifts of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
, silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
, colored yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
s, fine linen
Linen
Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
, goats’
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
hair, tanned ram skins, acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
wood, oil, spices, lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli is a relatively rare semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense blue color....
, and other fine stones to make a sanctuary — the Tabernacle (Mishkan, מִּשְׁכָּן) — and its furnishings, so that God could dwell among them.
God instructed them to make the Ark of the Covenant
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
of acacia wood overlaid with gold in which to deposit the tablets setting forth God’s commandments. God told them to make two cherub
Cherub
A cherub is a type of spiritual being mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and cited later on in the Christian biblical canons, usually associated with the presence of God...
im of gold to place on the ark’s cover or mercy seat
Mercy seat
According to the Bible, the mercy seat was an object which rested upon the Ark of the Covenant, and was connected with the rituals of Yom Kippur; the term also appears in the Pauline Epistles, and has a significance in Christian theology...
. God promised to impart commandments to Moses from between the two cherubim above the cover of the Ark.
God instructed them to make a table of acacia wood overlaid with gold, on which to set the bread of display or showbread
Showbread
Showbread , in the King James Version: shewbread, in a biblical or Jewish context, refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present on a specially dedicated table, in the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to God...
.
God instructed them to make a six-branched, seven-lamped lampstand — menorah — of pure gold.
God instructed them to make the Tabernacle of ten strips of fine twisted linen, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, with a design of cherubim worked into them. God instructed them to make 11 cloths of goats’ hair for a tent over the Tabernacle , and coverings of tanned ram skins and tachash skins (תְּחָשִׁים). God instructed them to make planks of acacia wood for the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and fine twisted linen, with a design of cherubim, to serve as a partition obscuring the Holy of Holies
Holy of Holies
The Holy of Holies is a term in the Hebrew Bible which refers to the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and later the Temple in Jerusalem where the Ark of the Covenant was kept during the First Temple, which could be entered only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur...
. God instructed them to place the Ark, the table, and the lampstand in the Tabernacle. God instructed them to make a screen for the entrance of the Tent, of colored yarns, and fine twisted linen, done in embroidery and supported by five posts of acacia wood overlaid with gold. God instructed them to make the altar of acacia wood overlaid with copper. And God instructed them to make the enclosure of the Tabernacle from fine twisted linen.
Inner-biblical interpretation
This is the pattern of instruction and construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings:| Item | Instruction | Construction | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order | Verses | Order | Verses | |
| Contribution | 1 | 2 | ||
| Ark | 2 | 5 | ||
| Table | 3 | 6 | ||
| Menorah | 4 | 7 | ||
| Tabernacle | 5 | 4 | ||
| Altar of Sacrifice | 6 | 11 | ||
| Tabernacle Court | 7 | 13 | ||
| Lamp | 8 | 16 | Numbers Book of Numbers The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch.... |
|
| Priestly Garments | 9 | 14 | ||
| Ordination Ritual | 10 | 15 | Leviticus | |
| Altar of Incense | 11 | 8 | ||
| Laver | 12 | 12 | ||
| Anointing Oil | 13 | 9 | ||
| Incense | 14 | 10 | ||
| Craftspeople | 15 | 3 | ||
| The Sabbath | 16 | 1 | ||
The Priestly story of the Tabernacle in echoes the Priestly story of creation in As the creation story unfolds in seven days ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ), the instructions about the Tabernacle unfold in seven speeches. ((1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ) In both creation and Tabernacle accounts, the text notes the completion of the task. In both creation and Tabernacle, the work done is seen to be good. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, God takes an action in acknowledgement. In both creation and Tabernacle, when the work is finished, a blessing is invoked. And in both creation and Tabernacle, God declares something “holy.” (See generally Jon D. Levenson
Jon D. Levenson
Jon D. Levenson is the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at the Harvard Divinity School.-Education:*Ph.D. Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, 1975,*M.A...
. “Cosmos and Microcosm.” In Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence, 78–99. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. ISBN 0-06-254845-X.)
The Tabernacle exhibited similarities with Mount Sinai. Both Mount Sinai and the Tabernacle had three separate areas with increasing levels of exclusivity — one for the people generally, one for the anointed class, and one for only the single representative of the people (Sinai: 21–23; Tabernacle: ); the tablets of the law (Sinai: 28–29; Deuteronomy 15; Tabernacle: ); a cloud (Sinai: 16; Tabernacle: ); and God's presence (Sinai: Tabernacle: ) And God spoke to Moses at both Mount Sinai and the Tabernacle. (Sinai: 9, 16; Tabernacle: )
But in contrast to Mount Sinai, with the Tabernacle God's presence was constant; God's presence was in their midst, no longer distant; and God's presence was no longer rooted to a fixed place. (See generally Terence E. Fretheim
Terence E. Fretheim
Terence E. Fretheim is an Old Testament scholar and the Elva B. Lovell professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary. His writings have played a major part in the development of process theology and open theism.- Biographical Information :...
. Exodus: Interpretation, a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, 264. Louisville: John Knox Press, 1991. ISBN 0-8042-3102-8.)
Early nonrabbinic interpretation
JosephusJosephus
Titus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
interpreted the Tabernacle and its furnishings to represent the universe. He saw the Tabernacle’s two parts accessible to the priests (the Holy and the Courtyard) to denote the land and the sea, the third division set aside for God (the Holy of Holies) to represent heaven, inaccessible to people. He saw the 12 loaves to denote the year divided into months. He saw the Menorah divided into 70 parts, representing the 70 divisions of the planets, and the seven lamps on the Menorah to refer to the course of the seven planets (then known). He saw the veils, composed of four things, to declare the four elements: the fine linen signified the earth, because the flax grows out of the earth; the purple signified the sea, because purple was dyed by the blood of shellfish from the sea; the blue signified the air; and the scarlet signified fire. (Antiquities of the Jews
Antiquities of the Jews
Antiquities of the Jews is a twenty volume historiographical work composed by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the thirteenth year of the reign of Roman emperor Flavius Domitian which was around 93 or 94 AD. Antiquities of the Jews contains an account of history of the Jewish people,...
3:7:7.)
Classical rabbinic interpretation
Exodus chapter 25
A midrashMidrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
read to say “that they take Me as an offering” and thus to tell how God gave the Torah to Israel and said to them: “You are taking Me.” (Exodus Rabbah
Exodus Rabbah
Exodus Rabbah is the midrash to Exodus, containing in the printed editions 52 parashiyyot. It is not uniform in its composition.- Structure :In parashiyyot i.-xiv...
33:6.)
A midrash taught that calls for offerings of gold, silver, and brass for the construction of the Tabernacle, because gold symbolizes Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, of which says, “As for that image, its head was of fine gold”; silver symbolizes the Medes
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
, of which says, “Its breast and its arms were of silver”; and brass refers to Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, of which says, “Its belly and thighs were of brass.” But the Bible makes no mention of iron in the construction either of the Tabernacle or of the Temple in Jerusalem
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
, because iron symbolizes Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, which destroyed the Temple. (Exodus Rabbah 35:5.)
The Rabbis taught in a Baraita
Baraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
that the turquoise wool (techeilet, תְכֵלֶת) listed in came from an animal called a chilazon that resembled the sea in color and a fish in shape, that appeared once every 70 years, and whose blood was used to dye the expensive blue thread. (Babylonian Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
Shabbat 26a; Menachot 42b.)
The Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
deduced from (and the principle that the law prohibits doing on the Sabbath all that was done to build the Tabernacle) that one who tans hides on the Sabbath violates the commandment to keep the Sabbath. (Tosefta Shabbat 8:23.)
The Tosefta taught that invalidity of either the onyx stones or the stones to be set described in invalidated the other, and invalidity of any of the cups, knops, or flowers of the candlestick described in invalidated the others. (Tosefta Menachot 6:11.)
The Tosefta taught that provided the commandment that said that Moses fulfilled. (Tosefta Menachot 7:7.)
A midrash explained with a parable God’s instruction to build a Tabernacle. A king had only one daughter, who married another king. When the son-in-law king wished to return to his country and take his wife with him, the father king told him that he could neither part with his daughter nor tell her husband not to take her, as she was now his wife. The father king thus asked the son-in-law king the favor that wherever the son-in-law king would go to live, he would have a chamber ready for the father king to dwell with them, for he could not bear to leave his daughter. Thus, God told Israel that God had given Israel a Torah from which God could not part, and yet God also could not tell Israel not to take the Torah. Thus, God asked the Israelites to make for God a house wherein God might sojourn wherever the Israelites went, and thus says, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” (Exodus Rabbah 33:1.)
Rabbi Simeon son of Rabbi Ishmael interpreted the term “the Tabernacle of the testimony” in to mean that the Tabernacle was God’s testimony to the whole world that God had forgiven Israel for having made the Golden Calf
Golden calf
According to the Hebrew Bible, the golden calf was an idol made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites during Moses' absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai...
. Rabbi Isaac explained with a parable. A king took a wife whom he dearly loved. He became angry with her and left her, and her neighbors taunted her, saying that he would not return. Then the king sent her a message asking her to prepare the king’s palace and make the beds therein, for he was coming back to her on such-and-such a day. On that day, the king returned to her and became reconciled to her, entering her chamber and eating and drinking with her. Her neighbors at first did not believe it, but when they smelled the fragrant spices, they knew that the king had returned. Similarly, God loved Israel, bringing the Israelites to Mount Sinai, and giving them the Torah, but after only 40 days, they sinned with the Golden Calf. The heathen nations then said that God would not be reconciled with the Israelites. But when Moses pleaded for mercy on their behalf, God forgave them, as reports, “And the Lord said: ‘I have pardoned according to your word.’” Moses then told God that even though he personally was quite satisfied that God had forgiven Israel, he asked that God might announce that fact to the nations. God replied that God would cause God’s Shechinah
Shekhinah
Shekinah is the English spelling of a grammatically feminine Hebrew word that means the dwelling or settling, and is used to denote the dwelling or settling divine presence of God, especially in the Temple in Jerusalem.-Etymology:Shekinah is derived...
to dwell in their midst, and thus says, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” And by that sign, God intended that all nations might know that God had forgiven the Israelites. And thus calls it “the Tabernacle of the testimony,” because the Tabernacle was a testimony that God had pardoned the Israelites’ sins. (Exodus Rabbah 51:4.)
A midrash told that when God told Moses to make a tabernacle for God (in ), Moses questioned how God could command Moses make a tabernacle for God, if God’s Glory fills heaven and earth. And Moses saw prophetically that Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
would one day build a Temple, much larger than the Tabernacle, and yet (in 1 Kings
Books of Kings
The Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years...
) Solomon would say to God, “But will God in truth dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built!” God replied that God does not think as humans think. Twenty boards on the north, twenty on the south, and eight in the west can suffice. God could even confine God’s Shechinah within one square cubit. (Exodus Rabbah 34:1.)
Rav Assi of Hozna'ah deduced from the words, “And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month,” in that the Tabernacle was erected on the first of Nisan
Nisan
Nisan is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year, on the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian; in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, referring to the month in which barley was ripe. It is a spring month of 30 days...
. With reference to this, a Tanna
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
taught that the first of Nisan took ten crowns of distinction by virtue of the ten momentous events that occurred on that day. The first of Nisan was: (1) the first day of the Creation (as reported in ), (2) the first day of the princes’ offerings (as reported in ), (3) the first day for the priesthood to make the sacrificial offerings (as reported in ), (4) the first day for public sacrifice, (5) the first day for the descent of fire from Heaven (as reported in ), (6) the first for the priests’ eating of sacred food in the sacred area, (7) the first for the dwelling of the Shechinah in Israel (as implied by ), (8) the first for the Priestly Blessing
Priestly Blessing
The Priestly Blessing, , also known in Hebrew as Nesiat Kapayim, , or Dukhanen , is a Jewish prayer recited by Kohanim during certain Jewish services...
of Israel (as reported in employing the blessing prescribed by ), (9) the first for the prohibition of the high place
High place
High Place, in the English version of the Old Testament, the literal translation of the Hebrew במה .This rendering is etymologically correct, as appears from the poetical use of the plural in such expressions as to ride, or stalk, or stand on the high places of the earth, the sea, the clouds, and...
s (as stated in ), and (10) the first of the months of the year (as instructed in ). (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 87b.)
Interpreting the words, “And they shall make an Ark,” in Rabbi Judah ben Rabbi Shalom taught that God said that all should come and occupy themselves with the Ark so that they all might merit the Torah. Rabbi Simeon bar Yohai taught that there are three crowns: (1) the crown of kingship, (2) the crown of priesthood, and (3) the crown of Torah. The table is the crown of kingship, of which says, “And make thereto a crown of gold round about.” The altar is the crown of priesthood, of which says, “And you shall make unto it a crown of gold round about.” And the Ark is the crown of the Torah, of which says, “And you shall make upon it a crown of gold round about.” The word for “crown” (zer, זֵר) can also be read as zar (stranger), to teach that if a person has merit, it becomes like a crown, but if a person does not have merit, then it becomes alien to that person. Of the other furnishings, Scripture says, “And you shall make,” whereas of the Ark, says, “And they shall make,” to teach that the crown of the Torah stands above all; when a person acquires the Torah, it is as though that person has acquired all the rest. (Exodus Rabbah 34:2.)
Noting that says, “You shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without,” Rava
Rava (amora)
For the third generation Amora sage of Babylon, with a similar name, see: Joseph b. Hama .Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama, who is exclusively referred to in the Talmud by the name Rava , was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora, born in 270. He is one of the most often-cited Rabbis...
interpreted that any scholar whose inside is not like the outside is no scholar. (A scholar thus should have the same golden character inside and out.) (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 72b.)
The Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
described how on Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
the High Priest (Kohen Gadol
Kohen Gadol
The High Priest was the chief religious official of Israelite religion and of classical Judaism from the rise of the Israelite nation until the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem...
) would place a fire pan between the two bars of the Ark of the Covenant described in (Mishnah Yoma 5:1; Babylonian Talmud Yoma 52b.)
Rabbi Abbahu
Abbahu
Abbahu was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel, of the 3rd amoraic generation , sometimes cited as R. Abbahu of Caesarea . His rabbinic education was acquired mainly at Tiberias, in the academy presided over by R. Johanan, with whom his relations were almost...
taught that a cherub (as in ) had a face like a child (keravya), for in Babylonia they called a child ravya. Rav Papa
Rav Papa
For the Amora sages of the Land of Israel,of the 3d Amoraic generetion, see Hanina b. Papi or Hanina ben Pappa.For another Babylonian Amora sage of the 5th Amoraic generetion, see Rav Papi....
asked Abaye
Abaye
Abaye was a rabbi of the Jewish Talmud who lived in Babylonia [בבל], known as an amora [אמורא] born about the close of the third century; died 339 . His father, Kaylil, was the brother of Rabbah bar Nachmani, a teacher at the Academy of Pumbedita. Abaye's real name was Nachmani, after his...
that if this is so, then there is a difficulty interpreting Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
which says of Ezekiel
Ezekiel
Ezekiel , "God will strengthen" , is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet...
’s vision, “the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.” Would not the face of the cherub and the face of a man be the same? The Gemara
Gemara
The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
answered that one was a big face, and the other was a small face. (Babylonian Talmud Chagigah 13b.)
The Mishnah described details of the table envisioned in (Mishnah Menachot 11:5–7; Babylonian Talmud Menachot 96a, 99b.) Rabbi Jose
Jose ben Halafta
Rabbi Jose ben Halafta or Yose ben Halafta was a Tanna of the fourth generation . Jose was a student of Rabbi Akiba and was regarded as one of the foremost scholars of halakha and aggadah of his day...
differed with the Mishnah to teach that the handbreadth-high frame described in not props, held the showbread in place, but they interpreted the table’s rim to exist only at the feet of the table, not at its surface. (Tosefta Menachot 11:6.)
The Mishnah taught that one who stole one of the sacred vessels (kisvot) described in and was struck down by zealots on the spot. (Mishnah Sanhedrin 9:6; Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 81b.)
Ben Zoma
Simon ben Zoma
Simon ben Zoma or simply Ben Zoma was a Tanna of the first third of the 2nd century. His full name is Simon ben Zoma without the title "Rabbi", for, like Ben Azzai, he remained in the grade of "pupil," and is often mentioned together with Ben Azzai as a distinguished representative of this class...
interpreted to teach that the showbread had to have faces. (Mishnah Menachot 11:4; Babylonian Talmud Menachot 96a.) And the Tosefta interpreted to teach that the table did not remain overnight without bread. (Tosefta Menachot 11:12.)
Rabbi Abin compared the instruction of to a handsome king who instructed a servant to fashion a bust exactly like him. The servant exclaimed that he could not possibly make a likeness exactly like the king. But the king replied that the servant would paint it with his materials, but the king would appear in his own glory. Thus, when in God told Moses “see that you make them after their pattern,” Moses complained that he was not God that he should be able to make one exactly like the pattern. God replied that Moses should follow the pattern of blue, purple, and scarlet that he saw above. The “acacia-wood, standing up” of would reflect the Seraph
Seraph
A seraph is a type of celestial being in Judaism and Christianity...
im who stand above, and Rabbi Hiyya ben Abba said that the gold clasps of would reflect the glittering stars in heaven. Thus God told Moses that if he would make below a replica of that which was above, God would cause God’s Shechinah to dwell among the people. (Exodus Rabbah 35:5.)
Exodus chapter 26
Rabban Johanan ben ZakaiYochanan ben Zakai
Johanan ben Zakai , also known as Johanan B. Zakkai was one of the tannaim, an important Jewish sage in the era of the Second Temple, and a primary contributor to the core text of Rabbinical Judaism, the Mishnah. He is widely regarded as one of the most important Jewish figures of his time...
interpreted the word “Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
” in to refer to the Temple in Jerusalem and “that goodly mountain” to refer to the Temple Mount. (Babylonian Talmud Gittin 56b.) A midrash employed this understanding of “Lebanon” as the Temple to explain the role of gold in the world. Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish taught that the world did not deserve to have the use of gold. But God created gold for the sake of the Tabernacle (for example, in ) and the Temple. The midrash deduced this from the use of the word “good” in both Genesis where it says, “the gold of that land is good,” and where it says, “that goodly hill-country, and Lebanon,” concluding that the gold of the land was created for that which is good, the Temple. (Genesis Rabba
Genesis Rabba
Genesis Rabba is a religious text from Judaism's classical period. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis ....
h 16:2; see also Exodus Rabbah 35:1.)
Rav Ashi taught that one could derive from the term עַשְׁתֵּי-עֶשְׂרֵה, ashtei-esreih, or “eleven,” in that one who adds to God’s word actually subtracts from it. Were one to subtract the first letter of the term, it would yield שְׁתֵּי-עֶשְׂרֵה, shtei-esreih, or “twelve,” so adding that letter reduces its meaning. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 29a.)
The Rabbis taught in a Baraita that the Tabernacle’s lower curtains were made of blue wool, purple wool, crimson wool, and fine linen, while the upper curtains that made the tent spread were made of goats’ hair. And they taught that the upper curtains required greater skill than the lower, for says of the lower ones, “And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands,” while says of the upper ones, “And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats.” It was taught in Rabbi Nehemiah's name that the hair was washed on the goats and spun while still on the goats. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 99a.)
Rav Adda bar Ahavah
Adda bar Ahavah
Adda bar Ahavah or Adda bar Ahabah is the name of two Jewish rabbis and Talmudic scholars, known as Amoraim, who lived in Babylonia.-The amora of the second generation:...
said that the tachash skins mentioned in came from an animal that lived in the days of Moses. The Gemara interpreted Rabbi Nehemiah
Rabbi Nehemiah
Rabbi Nehemiah was an Israelite, circa AD 150 .He is attributed as the author of the Mishnat ha-Middot , making it the earliest known Hebrew text on geometry, although other historians assign to a later period by an unknown author...
to say that its skin had many colors. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 28a.)
Rabbi Haninah taught that the world was unworthy to have cedar trees, but God created them for the sake of the Tabernacle (for example, in the acacia-wood of ) and the Temple, as Psalm
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
says, “The trees of the Lord have their fill, the cedars of Lebanon, which He has planted,” once again interpreting Lebanon to mean the Temple. Rabbi Samuel ben Nahman
Samuel ben Nahman
Samuel ben Nahman or Samuel Nahmani was a rabbi of the Talmud, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel from the beginning of the 3rd century until the beginning of the 4th century. He was a pupil of R. Jonathan ben Eleazar and one of the most famous haggadists of his time...
in the name of Rabbi Jonathan
Rabbi Jonathan
Rabbi Jonathan was a Palestinian tanna of the 2nd century and schoolfellow of R. Josiah, apart from whom he is rarely quoted. Jonathan is generally so cited without further designation; but there is ample reason for identifying him with the less frequently occurring Jonathan b. Joseph Rabbi...
taught that there are 24 kinds of cedars, of which seven are especially fine, as says, “I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane-tree, and the larch together.” God foresaw that the Tabernacle would be made of these trees, as says, “Wherein the birds make their nests,” and “birds” refers to those birds that the priests offered. And when says, “As for the stork (חֲסִידָה, hasidah), the fir-trees are her house,” the חֲסִידָה, hasidah (stork) refers to the High Priest, of whom says, “Your Thummim and Your Urim
Urim and Thummim
In ancient Israelite religion and culture, Urim and Thummim is a phrase from the Hebrew Scriptures or Torah associated with the Hoshen , divination in general, and cleromancy in particular...
be with Your holy one (חֲסִידֶךָ, hasidekha).” (Exodus Rabbah 35:1.)
Another midrash explained that in God chose acacia-wood — the wood of a tree that does not bear fruit — to build the Tabernacle to set an example for all time that people should not build houses with the wood of fruit-producing trees. (Exodus Rabbah 35:2.)
The Gemara deduced from the report in of the length of the boards that both the Tabernacle and the altar were ten cubit
Cubit
The cubit is a traditional unit of length, based on the length of the forearm. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times....
s (about 15 feet) high. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 92a.)
In Moses foretold that “A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you . . . like me,” and Rabbi Johanan
Yochanan bar Nafcha
Rabbi Yochanan ;...
thus taught that prophets would have to be, like Moses, strong, wealthy, wise, and meek. Strong, for says of Moses, “he spread the tent over the tabernacle,” and a Master taught that Moses himself spread it, and reports, “Ten cubit
Cubit
The cubit is a traditional unit of length, based on the length of the forearm. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times....
s shall be the length of a board.” Similarly, the strength of Moses can be derived from in which Moses reports, “And I took the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them,” and it was taught that the tablets were six handbreadths in length, six in breadth, and three in thickness. Wealthy, as reports God’s instruction to Moses, “Carve yourself two tablets of stone,” and the Rabbis interpreted the verse to teach that the chips would belong to Moses. Wise, for Rav
Abba Arika
Abba Arika was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the 3rd century who established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud...
and Samuel both said that 50 gates of understanding were created in the world, and all but one were given to Moses, for said of Moses, “You have made him a little lower than God.” Meek, for reports, “Now the man Moses was very meek.” (Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 38a.)
Rabbi Levi read regarding “the middle bar in the midst of the boards, which shall pass through from end to end,” calculated that the beam must have been 32 cubits in length, and asked where the Israelites would find such a beam in the desert. Rabbi Levi deduced that the Israelites had stored up the cedar to construct the Tabernacle since the days of Jacob
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
. Thus reports, “And every man, with whom was found acacia-wood,” not “with whom would be found acacia-wood.” Rabbi Levi taught that the Israelites cut the trees down in Magdala
Magdala
Magdala is the name of at least two places in ancient Israel mentioned in the Jewish Talmud and one place that may be mentioned in the Christian New Testament...
of the Dyers near Tiberias and brought them with them to Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, and no knot or crack was found in them. (Genesis Rabbah 94:4.)
The Mishnah described two veils that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the Second Temple
Second Temple
The Jewish Second Temple was an important shrine which stood on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem between 516 BCE and 70 CE. It replaced the First Temple which was destroyed in 586 BCE, when the Jewish nation was exiled to Babylon...
, but Rabbi Jose said that there was only a single veil, as described in in connection with the Tabernacle. (Mishnah Yoma 5:1; Tosefta Kippurim (Yoma) 2:12; Babylonian Talmud Yoma 51b.)
Exodus chapter 27
Rabbi Jose noted that even though reported that the Tabernacle’s courtyard was just 100 cubits by 50 cubits (about 150 feet by 75 feet), a little space held a lot, as implied that the space miraculously held the entire Israelite people. (Genesis Rabbah 5:7; Leviticus RabbahLeviticus Rabbah
Leviticus Rabbah, Vayikrah Rabbah, or Wayiqra Rabbah is a homiletic midrash to the Biblical book of Leviticus . It is referred to by Nathan ben Jehiel in his Aruk as well as by Rashi in his commentaries on , and elsewhere. According to Leopold Zunz, Hai Gaon and Nissim knew and made use of it...
10:9.)
A midrash taught that the length of the courtyard reported in at 100 cubits added to the length of the Tabernacle — 30 cubits — to total 130 cubits. And the midrash taught that this number was alluded to when (as reports) the prince of the Tribe of Simeon
Tribe of Simeon
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Simeon was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BC, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes...
brought an offering of “one silver dish, the weight of which was 130 shekels.” The midrash taught that the dish was in allusion to the court that encompassed the Tabernacle as the sea encompasses the world. (Numbers Rabbah 13:19.)
The Gemara, however, cited Abaye’s as the plain meaning of the words, “The length of the court shall be 100 cubits, and the breadth 50 everywhere,” in Abaye taught that the Israelites erected the Tabernacle 50 cubits from the entrance to the courtyard, so that there might be a space of 50 cubits in front of the Tabernacle and a space of 20 cubits on every other side of the Tabernacle. (Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 23b.)
Commandments
According to MaimonidesMaimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
and Sefer ha-Chinuch
Sefer ha-Chinuch
The Sefer ha-Chinuch , often simply "the Chinuch" is a work which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th century Spain...
, there are 2 positive and 1 negative commandments
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
in the parshah:
- To build a Sanctuary
- Not to remove the staves from the Ark of the Covenant
- To make the showbread
Haftarah
The haftarahHaftarah
The haftarah or haftoroh is a series of selections from the books of Nevi'im of the Hebrew Bible that is publicly read in synagogue as part of Jewish religious practice...
for the parshah is
Summary
God gave King Solomon wisdom, and Solomon made a peace treaty with King Hiram I of Tyre. Solomon directed his tax collector AdoniramAdoniram
Adoniram ; ; Hebrew, אדונירם, 'my Lord has exalted'; alternate form Adoram, 'the Lord has exalted'),the son of Abda, was the tax collector In the United Kingdom of Israel for over forty years, from the late years of King David's reign until the reign of Rehoboam. In the language of the Tanakh, he...
to draft 30,000 men and send them to Lebanon in shifts of 10,000, with one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Solomon also had 70,000 men who bore burdens, 80,000 men who hewed stone in the mountains, and 3,300 chief officers who supervised the work. Solomon ordered great and costly stones cut to lay the foundation of the Temple in Jerusalem, and Solomon's builders, Hiram's builders, and the Gebalites
Byblos
Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
fashioned them and prepared the timber and the stones to build the Temple.
Solomon began to build the Temple in the 480th year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign, in the month Ziv
Iyar
Iyar is the eighth month of the civil year and the second month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew calendar. The name is Babylonian in origin. It is a spring month of 29 days. Iyar usually falls in April–June on the Gregorian calendar.In the Hebrew Bible, before the Babylonian Exile, the...
. The Temple measured 60 cubits long, 20 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, and had a portico 20 cubits long and 10 cubits deep. Its windows were broad within and narrow without. Along the Temple’s wall all around were side-structures and side-chambers, with the lowest story of the side-structure 5 cubits broad, the middle 6 cubits broad, and the third story 7 cubits broad, and recesses ringed the outside wall. The Temple was built from stone made ready at the quarry, and no hammer, ax, or other iron tool was heard at the building site. The door for the lowest story of side-chambers was on the right side of the Temple, and winding stairs went into the middle story and out into the third. So Solomon built the Temple and finished it with planks of cedar over beams, with all the Temple resting on cedar timbers.
And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: “As for this house that you are building, if you will walk in My statutes, and execute My ordinances, and keep all My commandments, then I will establish My word with you that I spoke to David your father and I will dwell therein among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”
Connection to the Parshah
Both the parshah and the haftarah describe a great Jewish leader’s marshalling of resources to build a dwelling place for God, the parshah in Moses’ collection of gifts to build the Tabernacle , and the haftarah in Solomon’s conscription of labor and collection of timber and stone to build the Temple in JerusalemTemple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
. Both the parshah and the haftarah describe conditions for a structure where God could dwell (ve-shakhanti) among (be-tokh) the Israelites.
Liturgy
God’s Presence in a throne between cherubim in is reflected in which is in turn one of the six Psalms recited at the beginning of the Kabbalat Shabbat prayer serviceJewish services
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
. (Reuven Hammer
Reuven Hammer
Reuven Hammer is a Conservative Jewish rabbi, scholar of Jewish liturgy, author and lecturer. He is a founder of the Masorti movement in Israel and a past president of the International Rabbinical Assembly. He served many years as head of the Masorti Beth Din in Israel...
. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom may refer to any siddur in a family of siddurim, Jewish prayerbooks, and related commentaries on these siddurim, published by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism....
for Shabbat and Festivals, 19. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly
Rabbinical Assembly
The Rabbinical Assembly is the international association of Conservative rabbis. The RA was founded in 1901 to shape the ideology, programs, and practices of the Conservative movement. It publishes prayerbooks and books of Jewish interest, and oversees the work of the Committee on Jewish Law and...
, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8. Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 66. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3.)
The kindled lights of the Menorah of played a key role in Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
and are thus in turn noted in the Hanukkah insertion to the Modim section of the Amidah
Amidah
The Amidah , also called the Shmoneh Esreh , is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. This prayer, among others, is found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book...
prayer in each of the three prayer services. (Hammer, at 8.)
Weekly maqam
In the Weekly MaqamThe Weekly Maqam
In Mizrahi and Sephardic Middle Eastern Jewish prayer services, each Shabbat the congregation conducts services using a different maqam. A maqam , which in Arabic literally means 'place', is a standard melody type and set of related tunes. The melodies used in a given maqam aims effectively to...
, Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For Parshah Terumah, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Hoseni, the maqam that expresses beauty. This is especially appropriate for this parshah because it is the parshah where the beauty of the Tabernacle and its utensils are elaborated.
Biblical
- 2 SamuelBooks of SamuelThe Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
(cherubim). (cherubim); (cherubim).
Early nonrabbinic
- 1 Maccabees1 MaccabeesThe First book of Maccabees is a book written in Hebrew by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, about the latter part of the 2nd century BC. The original Hebrew is lost and the most important surviving version is the Greek translation contained in the Septuagint...
4:47–59 (rededication of the Temple). - PhiloPhiloPhilo , known also as Philo of Alexandria , Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia, "Philon", and Philo the Jew, was a Hellenistic Jewish Biblical philosopher born in Alexandria....
. Allegorical Interpretation 3:33:102; Who Is the Heir of Divine Things? 23:113; 34:166; 46:218; On Mating with the Preliminary Studies 2:8; 17:89; 21:114; 30:168; On Flight and Finding 19:101; On the Change of Names 35:190. AlexandriaAlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt, early 1st Century C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by Charles Duke YongeCharles Duke YongeCharles Duke Yonge was an English historian, classicist, and cricketer. He wrote numerous works of modern history, and translated several classical works.-Life:...
, 62, 285, 290, 294, 304, 312, 314, 319, 330, 357. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1993. ISBN 0-943575-93-1.
- JosephusJosephusTitus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
, Antiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the Jews is a twenty volume historiographical work composed by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the thirteenth year of the reign of Roman emperor Flavius Domitian which was around 93 or 94 AD. Antiquities of the Jews contains an account of history of the Jewish people,...
3:6:1. Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William WhistonWilliam WhistonWilliam Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
, 85–86. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
Classical rabbinic
- MishnahMishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
: Yoma 5:1; Sanhedrin 9:6; Menachot 11:4–7;. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob NeusnerJacob NeusnerJacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
, 272, 604, 757–58. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4. - ToseftaToseftaThe Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
: Shabbat 8:23; Eruvin 4:9; Shekalim 3:13–14; Kippurim (Yoma) 2:12; Sanhedrin 4:8; Menachot 6:11, 7:7, 11:6, 12. Land of Israel, circa 300 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:384, 444, 535–36, 553; 2:1159, 1431, 1434–35, 1457, 1458–59. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2. - Jerusalem TalmudJerusalem TalmudThe Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
: Terumot 1a–b; Sukkah 3a–b. Land of Israel, circa 400 CE. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 7, 22. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2008–2010.
- Genesis RabbaGenesis RabbaGenesis Rabba is a religious text from Judaism's classical period. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis ....
h 3:9; 5:7; 8:1; 16:2; 17:6; 66:2; 80:6; 91:9; 94:4. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Genesis. Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon, 1:26, 38, 54, 125, 137; 2:601, 739, 845, 871. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2. - Babylonian TalmudTalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
: Berakhot 30a; Shabbat 28a, 48a, 91a, 92a, 98b, 133b; Eruvin 2a–b, 4a–b, 23b, 58a; Pesachim 76b; Yoma 3b, 33b, 38a, 51b, 52b, 71b, 72b; Sukkah 4b–5b, 7b, 45b, 49a, 50b; Rosh Hashanah 31a; Chagigah 26b; Yevamot 81b; Ketubot 62b, 106a; Nedarim 38a; Bava Kamma 110b; Bava Batra 12b, 67a, 99a; Sanhedrin 7a, 16b, 22a, 29a, 39a; Makkot 15a, 22a; Shevuot 15a, 16b; Avodah Zarah 9b, 23b–24b; Zevachim 53a, 59b, 62a–b, 82b, 85b, 96a, 119b; Menachot 27b–29a, 88b, 96a, 97a, 98a–b, 99b; Chullin 133b; Bekhorot 44a; Temurah 31b; Niddah 26b. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Medieval
- Exodus RabbahExodus RabbahExodus Rabbah is the midrash to Exodus, containing in the printed editions 52 parashiyyot. It is not uniform in its composition.- Structure :In parashiyyot i.-xiv...
33:1–35:6. 10th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Exodus. Translated by S. M. Lehrman, vol. 3: 414–35. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2. - Solomon ibn GabirolSolomon ibn GabirolSolomon ibn Gabirol, also Solomon ben Judah , was an Andalucian Hebrew poet and Jewish philosopher with a Neoplatonic bent. He was born in Málaga about 1021; died about 1058 in Valencia.-Biography:...
. A Crown for the King, 31:378. Spain, 11th Century. Translated by David R. Slavitt, 50–51. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-511962-2. - RashiRashiShlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
. Commentary. Exodus 25–27. TroyesTroyesTroyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, vol. 2, 319–73. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-89906-027-7. - Judah HaleviYehuda HaleviJudah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in Palestine in 1141...
. KuzariKuzariThe Kitab al Khazari, commonly called the Kuzari, is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, completed around 1140. Its title is an Arabic phrase meaning Book of the Khazars...
. 3:23. ToledoToledo, SpainToledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 162. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4. - ZoharZoharThe Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
1:31a, 74a, 130a, 217a, 224a; 2:14b, 55a, 63a, 76a, 89b, 126a–43a, 154b, 157b, 159a, 162b, 169a, 171a, 176a, 195a, 221a, 233b, 235b, 241a; 3:4b, 126a, 192a. Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Zohar. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.
Modern
- Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
. LeviathanLeviathan (book)Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil — commonly called simply Leviathan — is a book written by Thomas Hobbes and published in 1651. Its name derives from the biblical Leviathan...
, 3:40; 4:45. England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. MacphersonC. B. MacphersonCrawford Brough Macpherson O.C. M.Sc. D. Sc. was an influential Canadian political scientist who taught political theory at the University of Toronto.-Life:...
, 503–04, 675–76. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0-14-043195-0. - Edward TaylorEdward TaylorEdward Taylor was a colonial American poet, pastor and physician.-Early life:...
. “18. Meditation. Heb. 13.10. Wee Have an Altar.” In Preliminary Meditations: First Series. Cambridge, Mass.: Early 18th Century. In Harold BloomHarold BloomHarold Bloom is an American writer and literary critic, and is Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. He is known for his defense of 19th-century Romantic poets, his unique and controversial theories of poetic influence, and his prodigious literary output, particularly for a literary...
. American Religious Poems, 21–22. New York: Library of America, 2006. ISBN 978-1-931082-74-7. - Richard Elliott FriedmanRichard Elliott FriedmanRichard Elliott Friedman is a biblical scholar and the Ann and Jay Davis Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia. He joined the faculty of the UGA Religion Department in 2006. Prior to his appointment there, he was the Katzin Professor of Jewish Civilization: Hebrew Bible; Near...
. “A Brilliant Mistake” and “The Sacred Tent.” In Who Wrote the Bible?Who Wrote the Bible?Who Wrote the Bible? is a book by biblical scholar Richard Elliott Friedman. The book is a general audience explanation of the Documentary Hypothesis of the composition of the Old Testament...
, 161–87. New York: Summit Books, 1987. ISBN 0-671-63191-6. - Gabriel JosipoviciGabriel JosipoviciGabriel David Josipovici FBA, FRSL is a British novelist, short story writer, critic, literary theorist, and playwright.-Biography:...
. “Building the Tabernacle.” In The Book of God: A Response to the Bible, 90–107. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-04320-1. - Jon D. LevensonJon D. LevensonJon D. Levenson is the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at the Harvard Divinity School.-Education:*Ph.D. Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, 1975,*M.A...
. “Cosmos and Microcosm.” In Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence, 78–99. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988. ISBN 0-06-254845-X. - Craig R. Koester. Dwelling of God: The Tabernacle in the Old Testament, Intertestamental Jewish Literature, and the New Testament. Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1989. ISBN 0-915170-21-3.
- Marc A. Gellman. “A Tent of Dolphin Skins.” In Gates to the New City: A Treasury of Modern Jewish Tales. Edited by Howard Schwartz, 173–74. New York: Avon, 1983. ISBN 0-380-81091-3. Reissue ed. Jason Aronson, 1991. ISBN 0-87668-849-0.
- Alan Lew. This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation, 53–55. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 2003. ISBN 0-316-73908-1.
- Suzanne A. Brody. “Tabernacle Kit #40.” In Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems, 81. Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007. ISBN 1-60047-112-9.
- The Mishkan: The Tabernacle: Its Structure, Its Vessels, and the Kohen’s Vestments. Brooklyn: Artscroll, 2008. (multimedia representation).http://www.artscroll.com/Books/mishd.html
- Avrohom Biderman. The Mishkan: The Tabernacle: Its Structure and its Sacred Vessels. Brooklyn: Artscroll, 2011. ISBN 1422610748. http://www.artscroll.com/Books/mishh.html
- Art SpiegelmanArt SpiegelmanArt Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
. MausMausMaus: A Survivor's Tale, by Art Spiegelman, is a biography of the author's father, Vladek Spiegelman, a Polish Jew and Holocaust survivor. It alternates between descriptions of Vladek's life in Poland before and during the Second World War and Vladek's later life in the Rego Park neighborhood of...
, Book 1. (Mentioned prophetically in a dream of Vladek Spiegelman.)
Texts
Commentaries
- Academy for Jewish Religion, California
- Academy for Jewish Religion, New York
- Aish.com
- American Jewish University
- Anshe Emes Synagogue, Los Angeles
- Bar-Ilan University
- Chabad.org
- eparsha.com
- G-dcast
- Jewish Agency for Israel
- Jewish Theological Seminary
- Miriam Aflalo
- MyJewishLearning.com
- Ohr Sameach
- Orthodox Union
- OzTorah, Torah from Australia
- Pardes from Jerusalem
- Parsha Parts
- Rabbi Eli Mallon
- RabbiShimon.com
- Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
- Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
- Reconstructionist Judaism
- Sephardic Institute
- 613.org Jewish Torah Audio
- Tanach Study Center
- Teach613.org, Torah Education at Cherry Hill
- Torah from Dixie
- Torah.org
- Union for Reform Judaism
- United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
- United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
- What’s Bothering Rashi?