ספר שמות

Exodus 25,9.“in accordance with all the pattern I show ‎you; the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its ‎furnishings so you shall make it.” Rashi (Sanhedrin ‎‎16) comments on this verse that these instructions, i.e. that just ‎as the building of the Temple was to be approved by Moses who ‎represented all the judges of the High Court, the building of ‎future Temples would also have to be approved and supervised by ‎the judges of the High Court.‎‎Tossaphot on that folio already raises questions ‎concerning this interpretation; they point out that the ‎measurements of the altar of the Tabernacle did not correspond ‎to the measurements of the altar in Solomon’s Temple (Kings I ‎chapters 6-7) Nachmanides also found difficulty with ‎‎Rashi’s commentary in Sanhedrin.When you consider our explanation above (at the end of ‎‎Mishpatim) that the words: ‎וכן תעשו ומראה כבוד ה'‏‎, refer to ‎how a person can be certain that his manner of serving the Lord ‎pleases his Creator, then the words: ‎וכן תעשו‎, do not refer to the ‎measurements of the Tabernacle or the Temple at all. There was ‎no need for the Torah to repeat its instructions on these points as ‎all the details had already been spelled out. Moses had received ‎visual instructions from G’d, instructions that could hardly be ‎‎“confirmed” by a human Court which had not been “shown” the ‎dimensions G’d had shown to Moses. The entire Tabernacle must ‎be viewed as the tangible symbol of holy thoughts expressed by ‎the righteous when they worship the Creator, which, as we ‎explained, need a ‎כלי‎, visible, tangible instrument, in the form of a ‎commandment to be performed by the worshipper, in order to ‎give concrete expression to the ‎נדבת לבו‎, the generosity of the ‎heart, of which Exodus 25,2 speaks. The completed Tabernacle is ‎the expression of the collective service of the Jewish people, or ‎the ‎לבוש‎, the “garment” behind which the holy nature of the ‎collective soul of Jewish people resides.‎The Talmud in Sanhedrin 89 already explains that no ‎two prophets convey the same message from G’d to the people ‎using the same wording. There is an element of individuality ‎which permits each prophet to “dress up” the message in a style ‎that he considers appropriate to his listeners. He also receives the ‎vision from G’d in a manner that allows for his individuality, one ‎that G’d is thoroughly familiar with, of course. It follows that ‎Moses and his generation received G’d’s instructions concerning ‎the Tabernacle in a manner that was appropriate for them, ‎whereas Solomon and his generation received the instructions in ‎a manner appropriate for the level of their respective generation. ‎The tangible expression of the difference between the spiritual ‎level of these two generations, one a people wandering in the ‎desert, the other a people that had lived in a sovereign Jewish ‎homeland for over 400 years already was reflected in the size and ‎appurtenances of their respective “Temples.”When ‎‎Rashi explained the word ‎לדורות‎, to describe the meaning of ‎וכן תעשו‎, he meant that the same yardsticks that applied in the ‎desert when the Tabernacle was being built were also to be ‎applied in future generations when a Temple will again be built. ‎The tangible version of the people’s service of G’d is to conform ‎to the manner in which the subject would be communicated to ‎the prophet or High Court that is the highest spiritual authority ‎of the people at the time.Nachmanides’ critique of ‎‎Rashi that the altars in the two Temples were of completely ‎different sizes is completely out of place, as Solomon constructed ‎the altar in accordance with specific instructions given to him, ‎emphasizing further that what was appropriate in the desert was ‎not appropriate in his time. G’d’s appearing to Solomon when he ‎had completed the Temple (Kings I 6,11-12) is proof that ‎although the measurements of that Temple were quite different ‎‎(though proportionate), he had not deviated from the ‎instructions given by G’d to Moses in our portion. ‎