Parashat Vayakhel: “And Betzalel Made the Ark”

 

 

 

Tanchuma-Buber is an early version of the Midrash Tanchuma from Eretz Israel, as opposed to the printed Tanchuma which contains many additions, including citations from the Babylonian Talmud.

 

A comparison of the content of the two works on Parashat Vayakhel indicates that the printed Tanchuma preserves the opening and closing framework of Tanchuma-Buber, while changing the derashot in the middle:

 

Let us see the texts side-by-side.

 

 

 

 

The following table presents the first part of the second section of the printed Tanchuma and its sources:

 

 

 

 

Let us now examine the words of Tanchuma-Buber about how Betzalel makes the Ark.

 

 

 

I.

"And Betzalel made the ark" (Shemot 37:1).

 

This is what is stated in the verse: "The opening of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple" (Tehillim 119:130).

 

Rabbi Shimon ben Yehotzadak asked Rabbi Shemuel bar Nachman:

 

You who are an aggadic master, tell me how the Holy One, blessed be He, created the world.

 

He said to him: When the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to create the world, He wrapped Himself in light, and created His world.

 

As it is stated: "Who covers Yourself with light as with a garment" (Tehillim 104:2).

 

And afterwards: “Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain].”

 

Therefore: "The opening of Your words gives light; [it gives understanding to the simple]."

 

Rabbi Yehuda said: To what may this be likened? To a king who wished to build himself a palace and the place was dark.

 

What did he do? He lit lamps, and afterwards built the palace.

 

So too when the Holy One, blessed be He, built the world, it was all darkness.

 

What did He do? He wrapped Himself in light, and created it. This is: "The opening of Your words gives light; [it gives understanding to the simple]."

 

The righteous learned from the Holy One, blessed be He, to start with light.

 

When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "And they shall make for Me a temple" (Shemot 25:8),

 

Moshe said to Betzalel that he should make the Tabernacle.

 

What did he do first? The work of the Ark, "And Betzalel made the ark."

(Tanchuma-Buber Vayakhel 7)

 

The derasha that opens the matter of "And Betzalel made the ark" is a threefold petichta on the verse: "The opening of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple" (Tehillim 119:130). This verse is expounded twice regarding the creation of light, and once regarding the building of the Ark. The third derasha, which closes the petichta, exploits the closeness in sound between the words or, light, and Aron, the Ark. In addition, it draws a parallel between the building of the Tabernacle and the creation of the world, and between Betzalel and his Creator. Thus, the mention of Betzalel's name in connection with the work of the Ark reflects the full conformity of his name to his essence, acting in the shadow of God.

 

The first two derashot brought in Tanchuma-Buber originate in the Midrash of Eretz Israel, in Bereishit Rabba 1, 3:

 

"And God said: Let there be light" (Bereishit 1:3).

 

Rabbi Yitzchak opened: "The opening of Your words gives light; [it gives understanding to the simple]" (Tehillim 119:130).

 

Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Nechemya [disagreed].

 

Rabbi Yehuda said: The light was created first.

 

[This may be likened] to a king who wished to build a palace, and that place was dark.

 

What did he do? He lit lamps to know how to set the foundation stone.

So too the light was created first.

 

Rabbi Nechemya said: The world was created first…

 

"And God said: Let there be light."

 

Rabbi Shimon bar Rabbi Yehotzadak asked Rabbi Shemuel bar Nachman.

 

He said to him: Since I have heard about you that you are an aggadic master, from where was the light created?

 

He said: The Holy One, blessed be He, wrapped Himself in it as a garment, and shined the splendor of His majesty from one end of the world to the other.

 

He said to him: In a whisper.

 

He said to him: It is an explicit verse: “Who covers Yourself with light as with a garment.”

 

The author of Tanchuma-Buber reverses the order of the derashot, putting the derasha of Rabbi Shimon bar Rabbi Yehotzadak before the derasha about the lighting of the lamps. So too in both of them he expounds the verse, "The opening of Your words gives light," whereas in the original, this verse is expounded only in connection with the parable of Rabbi Yehuda.[1] The derashot appear in Bereishit Rabba as two independent derashot which express two different ideas: The lighting of the lamps is an outward-directed action undertaken for the sake of carrying out the work, as opposed to God's wrapping Himself in light which expresses the created world as a veiled expression of the Divine.[2] It seems that the difference between the two derashot is blurred in Midrash Tanchuma-Buber, as is attested to by the phrase: "He wrapped Himself in light and created it," appearing at the end of Rabbi Yehuda's statement.[3]                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

 

 

 

II.

"And Betzalel made the Ark" (Shemot 37:1).

 

This is what is stated: "Give to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning" (Mishlei 9:9).

 

This refers to Noach when he built the Teiva.

 

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Of every clean beast you shall take to you seven and seven" (Bereishit 7:2).

 

When he went out, he sacrificed of the clean beasts. He said: The Holy One, blessed be He, ordered a larger number of clean beasts [be brought into the Teiva] only so that I should sacrifice of them. This is: "Give to a wise man" — this is Noach.

 

Another explanation: "Give to the wise man" — this is Moshe.

 

When the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him the Torah, he went and taught it to Israel, and he would improve His words.

 

Another explanation: “Give to the wise man” — t his is Betzalel. When Moshe said to Betzalel: Make the Tabernacle,

 

Betzalel said: For what end is the Tabernacle?

 

They said to him: To rest the Divine Presence in it, and to teach Torah to Israel.

 

Betzalel said: And where will the Torah be placed?

 

He said to him: When we make the Tabernacle, we will make an Ark.

 

But he started with the Ark, as it is stated: "And Betzalel made the ark."

 

(Midrash Tanchuma-Buber Vayakhel 8)

 

The second derasha is a petichta in which the verse "Give to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning" is expounded in three ways, the last of which relates to the work of the Tabernacle. The first section of the derasha is built on a derasha appearing in Bereishit Rabba 34, 9, where the word "vayiven" in the verse "And Noach built (vayiven) an altar to the Lord" is expounded in the sense of contemplation (hitbonenut).

 

It is written: “And he built” (Bereishit 8:20) — he contemplated. He said: What is the reason that the Holy One, blessed be He, ordered that more clean animals [be brought into the Teiva] than unclean animals? Is it not that He wants that I should sacrifice to Him of them? Immediately: “And he took of every clean beast.”

 

Based on this derasha, the author of Tanchuma-Buber creates a new petichta.

 

Similarly, Betzalel is presented in the Torah as possessing unique wisdom:

 

And Moshe said to the Israelites: See, the Lord has called by name Betzalel the son of Uri, the son of Chur, of the tribe of Yehuda.

 

And He has filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in contemplation, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship. (Shemot 35:30-31).

 

Betzalel contemplates what the heart of the Tabernacle should be, and in accordance with his conclusions, he plans how he will build it. The derasha relates not to the construction itself, but to the order of construction. The heart of the Tabernacle is the Torah, and therefore Betzalel begins with the Ark.

 

The Tabernacle is described in the derasha as an expanse for the resting of the Divine Presence and of Torah, both of which revolve around the Ark: the resting of the Divine Presence between the Cherubim on the Cover (Kapporet) on top of the Ark; inside the Ark sit the broken First Tablets, the complete Second Tablets and ultimately the first Torah scroll.

 

However, the darshan focuses on the Torah as the reason for building the Ark first, and not on the resting of the Divine Presence. This choice should be understood against the background of the educational objective of the Midrash Tanchuma, which relates to the life of the nation centuries after the destruction of the Temple.

 

Betzalel's decision to begin with the fashioning of the Ark stands in opposition to the words of the Babylonian Talmud:

 

Rabbi Shemuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: Betzalel was so called on account of his wisdom.

 

At that time, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe: Go and tell Betzalel to make Me a Tabernacle, an Ark and vessels.

 

However, Moshe went and reversed the order, saying: Make an Ark and vessels and a Tabernacle.

 

Betzalel said to him: Moshe, our Master, as a rule a man first builds a house and then brings vessels into it.

 

However, you say: Make Me an Ark and vessels and a Tabernacle.

 

Where shall I put the vessels that I am to make? Could it be that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to you: Make a Tabernacle, an Ark and vessels?

 

Moshe replied: Perhaps in the shadow of God (be-tzel E-l) you were, that you know! (BT Berakhot 55a)[4]

 

This opposition illustrates the fact the Tanchuma-Buber is a midrashic work that draws on the traditions of Eretz Israel.

 

 

 

III.

 

"And Betzalel made the ark of shittim wood" (Shemot 37:1).

 

Yirmeya said: "For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds" (30:17).

 

A king of flesh and blood wounds with a knife and heals with a plaster.

 

However, the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like that. With that which He wounds, He heals.

 

As it is stated: "And when they came to Mara, they could not drink of the waters of Mara, for they were bitter" (Shemot 15:23).

 

Rabbi Levi said: Why "for they were bitter"? The generation was bitter in its actions.

 

"And he cried to the Lord; and the Lord showed him a tree" (Shemot 15:25). The Holy One, blessed be He, gave him a bitter tree, and he put it into the bitter [water], "and the waters were made sweet.”

 

This is: "And I will heal you of your wounds."

 

So too Israel when they sinned in Shittim, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: By your lives, through that with which you sinned, you shall be healed.

 

(Tanchuma-Buber Vayakhel 9)

 

The third derasha in Tanchuma-Buber is also a petichta, which expounds the building of the Ark from shittim wood, by way of the verse "For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord; because they have called you an outcast: She is Zion, there is none that cares for her" (Yirmeyahu 30:17). The main idea, that the principle of "with that with which He wounds, He heals" characterizes God as opposed to man, is based on the Mekhilta, where we find the very same wording:

 

The Holy One, blessed be He, heals all people, as it is stated: "For I am the Lord that heals you" (Shemot 15:26); and it is stated: "Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved" (Yirmeyahu 17:14); and it is stated: "Return, you backsliding children, I will heal your backslidings" (ibid. 3:22).

 

Come and see that the healing of the Holy One, blessed be He, is unlike the healing of flesh and blood.

 

The healing of flesh and blood, with that with which he wounds, he does not heal, but rather he wounds with a knife and heals with a plaster.

 

However, the Holy One, blessed be He, is not like that, but rather with that with which He wounds, He heals.

 

(Mekhilta de-Rabbi Yishmael, Beshalach, Vayhi 5)

 

What lies behind the presentation of God's work in the world as "with that with which He wounds, He heals"? It seems that what arises from here is a neutral attitude toward all created things, as they lack the power to harm or benefit, and all are merely tools in God's hands as needed. In addition, we have here a unified view that sees the life of an individual or a people as a process, during which one falls and rises up again, and through which one progresses, refines one’s character his traits, and elevates oneself. Israel's sin at Shittim at the end of the fortieth year in the wilderness and the Ark in the Tabernacle seem to be very distant from each other, but the Torah's wording points to a connection between them. Those who are precise about the Torah's language will reveal God's work in the world.

 

The derasha also gives shared significance to the means by which God works: "The generation was bitter in its actions… The Holy One, blessed be He, gave him a bitter tree, and he put it into the bitter [water]."

 

The three petichtot in Tanchuma-Buber are "woven" around a Tannaitic or Amoraic statement that appears in Bereishit Rabba or in the Mekhilta.

 

 

 

IV.

 

What is written above? "And he made the Veil" (Shemot 36:35).

 

Our Rabbis said: The Veil was one handbreadth thick, woven on seventy-two strands, and on each strand were twenty-four threads; its length was forty cubits, and it width was twenty cubits, and it had no knots.

 

And they would make two every year, and three hundred priests would immerse it. How would they immerse it? All of the priests went up and immersed it, and they went up and spread it out in the Corridor (Cheil).

 

And after Moshe made the Veil that was placed before the Ark, he then told Betzalel to make the Ark.

 

You find that everything that was in the Tabernacle was made in order.

 

He first made the boards and connected them. Afterwards he made the curtains that were spread over them, as it is stated: "And you shall make curtains of goats' hair" (Shemot 26:7). And afterwards he made the Veil that was placed before the Ark. And after that he made the Ark. And after that he made the gold Cover on the Ark.

 

Rabbi Elazar bar Rabbi Yosei said: I saw it in Rome, and there were on it several drops of blood. I asked them: What is this blood on the Cover? They said: It is from the blood of Yom Kippur that the High Priest would go in and sprinkle.

 

Why is it called a Cover (Kapporet)? Because it would atone (mekhapper) for the sins of Israel.

 

And after that he made the Table, on which the showbread was placed. And after that he made the Candelabrum which would illuminate above the Table.

 

He made it like the order of a royal army. Therefore: "And Betzalel made."

 

(Midrash Tanchuma-Buber Vayakhel 10)

 

The fourth derasha opens with a description of the Veil found in the Mishna (Shekalim 8:4), but its main interest is in the statement: "You find that everything that was in the Tabernacle was made in order." According to the order described there, the Ark is not built first, in contrast to what is stated in the first two petichtot for Vayakhel.[5] This contrast reflects the different orders in which the Tabernacle and its vessels appear in the final third of the Book of Shemot. It may be suggested that the main message arising from this derasha in its context is that there is order in the work of the Tabernacle, even if it is difficult to determine what that order is.

 

 

 

V.

 

"And Betzalel made."

 

Did Betzalel make it himself, that each time it says: "And Betzalel made"?

 

Rather, it is because he devoted himself greatly to the work of the Tabernacle.

 

Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, did not withhold his reward, and He makes him known each time, "And Betzalel made."

 

Similarly you find: "Only Yonatan the son of Asa’el and Yachzeya the son of Tikva stood up against this matter; and Meshullam and Shabbetai the Levite helped them" (Ezra 10:15). The verse made this known because Yonatan devoted his life to it. So too here: "And Betzalel made."

 

The Holy One, blessed be He, said: You made for Me curtains of goats' hair on the Tabernacle. When you left Egypt, I brought a cloud and it protected you. Even though you are repaying me, I will repay you in the World to Come. As it is stated: "And the Lord will create over the whole habitation of Mount Zion, and over her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day" (Yeshayahu 4:5).

 

You made before Me a Cover (Kapporet). I will atone (mekhapper) for you for your sins, as it is stated: "When I have granted you atonement for all you have done" (Yechezkel 16:63).

 

You made an Ark before Me. By your lives, I will illuminate for you, as it is stated: "Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun" (Yeshayahu 30:26). And it is stated: "Light is sown for the righteous" (Tehillim 97:11).

 

(Midrash Tanchuma-Buber Vayakhel 11)

 

The last derasha in the cycle relates to Betzalel's dedication to the building of the Tabernacle. The phrase, "And Bezalel made," appears only once, in connection with the fashioning of the Ark. Therefore, the wording found here, which implies that this phrase appears many times, is difficult. The conclusion of the derasha returns to beginning of the cycle of derashot on "And Betzalel made the Ark" — to the motif of light. The end of the derasha (and of the entire cycle of derashot) relates to anticipation of the redemption that will come in reward for the building of the Tabernacle and its vessels.[6] If so, the content of this derasha is filled with typical markers of conclusion.

 

 

 

The study of these five derashot paints a picture of vibrant Midrashic creativity, deeply rooted in the Midrashic tradition up to its time, and adding to it. The entire unit is built on the format of the Amoraim of Eretz Israel: a series of petichtot appearing at the beginning, a central statement appearing after them, and a conclusion.

 

Does the author of Tanchuma-Buber want to make a comprehensive statement in this Midrashic unit? If so, how does the content of the third derasha (on shittim wood with which He wounds and heals) relate to the other derashot? We will conclude our study with these fascinating questions. You are invited to continue studying these derashot and also to share your insights with us. Shabbat shalom.

 

 

(Translated by David Strauss)