Done at the Command: Longing That Counts as Deed

1“According to all that Hashem had commanded Moshe, so did Bnei Yisrael do all the work. Moshe saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as Hashem had commanded, so had they done. And Moshe blessed them.”¹ Notice that these verses say “they did” three times: “so did Bnei Yisrael do,” “behold, they had done,” and “so had they done.” At first glance, all this repetition seems unnecessary.

2On “And Moshe blessed them,” Rashi explains that Moshe said to them, “May it be His will that the Shechinah rest upon the work of your hands …”² But why did Moshe not bless them right away, as soon as they began making the Mishkan? That is when they most needed a blessing to be privileged to do the work properly, more than afterward, when they had already finished it.

3The Midrash relates: “When the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moshe to make the Mishkan, at once ‘every man came …’ Within two mornings they had brought everything, and there was some left over, as it says, ‘The work was sufficient …’ Moshe went in to Betzalel and saw that some was left over from the Mishkan. He said before Hashem, ‘Master of the world, we have done the work of the Mishkan, and there is some left over. What shall we do with what remains?’ Hashem said to him, ‘Go and make with it a Mishkan for testimony.’ Moshe went and made with it … This is the meaning of ‘These are the accountings of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the Testimony.’”³ But the work of the Mishkan was already finished. What, then, did Hashem mean when He told Moshe to make a “Mishkan for testimony” from the surplus?

4aIt seems we can explain this by first citing a teaching of my holy father and teacher, zt"l, on the verse “So Avram went, as Hashem had spoken to him.”⁴ My holy father asked: the Torah has told us earlier that Hashem said to him, “Go for yourself from your land …,”⁵ so we know by now that Hashem had spoken to him. “So Avram went” would have been enough, with nothing more.

4bMy holy father explained it through a teaching in the sefer Toldos Adam,⁶ which its author quotes in the name of his father, the holy Rebbe of Lentshna, zt"l. It concerns the verse “Avraham circumcised Yitzchak his son at eight days old, as God had commanded him.”⁷ The Rebbe of Lentshna noticed the words “at eight days old”; it would seem the verse should have said “on the eighth day.” He explained that as soon as Avraham Avinu heard Hashem's command to circumcise his son Yitzchak, he was filled with a great longing and yearning to keep the Creator's mitzvah, and at every moment he wanted to keep it already. Because of his longing and his good will, it was counted for him as if he had been keeping the mitzvah throughout all eight days. That is why it says, “Avraham circumcised Yitzchak his son at eight days old”: it was counted for him as if he had been engaged in the mitzvah for all eight days. Those are his holy words. On this basis my holy father explained the verse “So Avram went.”⁸ When Hashem commanded Avraham Avinu to go to another land, Avraham wanted to keep Hashem's mitzvah at once, and so from that moment it was already counted for him as if he were keeping it. This is what the verse means by “So Avram went, as Hashem had spoken to him”: from the very moment Hashem spoke, it was already counted for him that he was keeping Hashem's mitzvah. Those are his holy words.

5aOn this basis we may say that the same was true here. As soon as holy Bnei Yisrael heard Hashem's command, His will to rest His Shechinah among them, their hearts filled with desire and longing to be privileged at once to reach this wondrous level. He Who dwells forever would come to rest His Shechinah among them, and His Name would be sanctified through it. This is in the spirit of what Chazal said: when the ministering angels asked, “Place Your glory upon the heavens,” Hashem answered them through Moshe Rabbeinu, “Is there a yetzer hara among you?”⁹ The point is that His Name is sanctified above all when His Shechinah rests among the beings of this lower world. Bnei Yisrael knew that setting up the Mishkan would sanctify Hashem's Name in this world, so they wanted to keep Hashem's command and set up the Mishkan at once. That is why we find “as Hashem had commanded” so many times in the account of the Mishkan: their whole intent in the work of the Mishkan was to do His will and to reveal the glory of His kingship in the world.

5bThis is the meaning of “Moshe saw all the work, and behold, they had done it as Hashem had commanded.” Here ka'asher tzivah Hashem, usually “as Hashem had commanded,” means “when Hashem commanded.” The very moment Hashem commanded them to make the Mishkan, it was already counted for them that “they had done it,” because they wanted and longed to do it. This also explains why these verses repeat themselves. First the verse tells us, “According to all that Hashem had commanded Moshe, so did Bnei Yisrael do all the work,” to teach that the work itself was done properly. Then it tells us that Moshe Rabbeinu saw their intense longing from the very beginning of the mitzvah, and that their fiery passion made it count as if they had already done it. That is “Moshe saw all the work, and behold, they had done it ka'asher tzivah Hashem,” already when Hashem commanded. Besides this, Moshe also saw the work they had actually done, and about that it says, “so had they done.”

6When Moshe saw the holy fire burning in them, “Moshe blessed them.” He blessed them that whenever they do mitzvos they should be privileged to feel the same longing and enthusiasm, and that this holy fire should stay with them always. That is what he meant by “May it be His will that the Shechinah rest upon the work of your hands.” The power of having made the Mishkan would leave an imprint of holiness on them forever, so that they would always do the mitzvos properly, and through this the revealed light of His Shechinah would rest upon the mitzvos they do. This settles our question of why Moshe blessed them only when the work of the Mishkan was finished. The blessing was meant to carry forward the imprint that making the Mishkan had left, and that belongs to the time after the work is finished.

7In the work of the Mishkan, the people brought far more than the work needed. This is because when people give willingly and eagerly, they give more and more, until more is left from the charity and the mitzvah than they were commanded to give. Such a surplus is a sign that the giving was done willingly. So when Moshe Rabbeinu asked the Holy One, blessed be He, “What shall we do with what remains?” Hashem answered that he should make of it a “Mishkan for testimony.” This surplus shows how mitzvos should be done, with holy fire and eagerness, and so it would itself be a “Mishkan for testimony”: it would testify to Israel how a dwelling for the Shechinah should be made, with longing and a blazing flame. From it an imprint of holiness would remain until the end of all generations, so that whenever we are privileged to engage in Torah and mitzvos, we will always be able to do them with yearning and holy fire.

8May Hashem grant that we practice what we teach, and so bring near the coming of the righteous Redeemer. Amen, may it be His will.