English translation — תצוה ב

Sicha on <pg>165</pg>

A.

"And I will meet there with the children of Israel"<sup>1</sup>,

And Rashi explains "And I will meet there — I will meet with them in speech,

like a king who appoints a meeting place to speak with his servants there".

And it is necessary to understand: the content of this matter was already stated in the verse before it²,

"where I will meet with you there to speak to you there",

and Rashi explains "when I set an appointed time to speak to you,

there I will set it to come",

and similarly it is stated above in Parshat Terumah³

"and I will meet with you there and I will speak with you etc." and Rashi explains "when I set an appointed time for you to speak with you,

that place I will set as an appointed time that I will come there to speak to you" — and what is Rashi's intention in this additional parable of "a king who sets a place of appointment to speak with his servants there" and also why does he bring it only here in the verse "and I will meet there with the children of Israel"?

The Ra'am explains,

that it was difficult for Rashi why it is not mentioned here

(after "and I will meet there")

the matter of "speech"

(as in Parshat Terumah and also here in the previous verse,

where it is explicit "and I will speak with you",

to speak to you")

— therefore "he was compelled to explain 'and I will meet' with them in speech, meaning that it is as if it said 'and I will meet there and I will speak'",

and "because it is difficult..

to say that it is an abbreviated verse and the speech is missing from it, he was compelled to explain like a king who sets etc., meaning that because the custom of the king is to set a place for speech, it said 'and I will meet' in place of 'and I will speak'".

And superficially this is a forced interpretation,

because

(in addition to this that we find many times in Rashi⁴

that the verse is "a truncated verse",

behold in our case)

since in the previous verse it is explicit "where I will meet etc. to speak to you",

there is no need to repeat this again in the adjacent verse⁵.

And also the content of the interpretation is forced,

because it is difficult to say that the verse does not need to specify that the "and I will meet" of the Holy One blessed be He is for the sake of "speech",

because such is the custom of a king of flesh and blood,

that "he establishes a designated place to speak with his servants there" — for behold on the contrary it is common in Chazal that they explain regarding the Holy One blessed be He "just as a king of flesh and blood" or the like.

In Gur Aryeh he wrote,

that the reason Rashi brings the parable,

is "because it is difficult why it wrote plainly 'and I will meet there with the children of Israel' and did not write 'and I will meet to speak there with you,'

and furthermore it already says 'which I will meet with you there',"

and about this "he answered like a king who fixes a place etc., that is to say that the verse came only to say that this place will be a fixed place to speak with them, like a king who fixes a place for servants to speak with them; therefore it wrote further 'and I will meet with the children of Israel,' meaning that this place is the fixed place to speak with them, and it did not need to also explain why He is meeting with them, for it already mentioned this..

And this verse came only to say that this place was fixed as a permanent meeting place, for this matter the verse did not mention that the speech would be there permanently."

And his words require examination,

for this that "this place will be a fixed place to speak with them" is already explicit in the verse

(and Rashi)

before this

("there I will establish it to come")

and likewise above in Parshat Terumah

("that place I will establish..

to speak to you"),

as above.

<pg>166</pg>

And perhaps his intention

(as is implied from the conclusion of his words),

that the novelty in this verse is

(not the fixing of the place of the speech,

but)

"that the speech should be in a fixed manner"

(and not merely temporarily).

But it is difficult to explain Rashi's language this way,

"like a king who fixes a set place to speak with his servants",

and according to his explanation,

the emphasis is not on the fixing of the place,

but on the fixing of the time,

that the king speaks with his servants in a fixed manner.

2.

At first glance, it is possible to explain Rashi's intention simply:

The main difficulty in the verse that Rashi comes to resolve is that which is written "And I will meet there with the children of Israel"⁶,

from which it is proven that the intention is to a matter that pertains

(not only to Moshe alone,

but)

to all of Israel.

And based on this it must be said,

at first glance,

that the intention of "I will meet" here is not "I will meet with them through speech"

(which is only for Moses),

but it is in the content of "they will meet you"<sup>7</sup>,

to assemble and gather together<sup>8</sup>,

which refers to the indwelling of the Divine Presence in the Tabernacle<sup>9</sup>,

which is for all Israel

(and as it says later<sup>10</sup>

"And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel..

for My dwelling in their midst").

[In contrast, in Parshat Terumah where it is explicit "And I will meet with you",

it must be said that this is a matter that pertains only to Moses,

and therefore Rashi explains "when I will appoint a meeting for you to speak with you"; and also in our parshah where it is said "where I will meet with you there

(to speak to you there)

",

nevertheless Rashi explains

(as above)

"when I will appoint a meeting to speak to you there etc.'"

(and he did not explain that "I will meet with you" is a matter in itself,

and refers to the indwelling of the Divine Presence in the Tabernacle for the children of Israel)

— the reason is understood,

since it is said "to speak to you"

(and not "and I will speak to you"),

which implies,

that this is the purpose of the "I will meet with you"].

And this is what Rashi negates in his commentary and writes "I will meet with them in speech",

that here too the intention is the establishment of a place for speech¹¹

(and not the indwelling of the Shechinah in the Mishkan,

which was

(not at an appointed time,

but)

continuously).

And to resolve how it is possible to say that "And I will meet there with the children of Israel" means "I will meet with them in speech",

when we never find that the Holy One, blessed be He, spoke to the children of Israel from this place — about this Rashi brings a parable "like a king who establishes a place of meeting to speak with his servants there":

Just as a king who wants to convey something to his servants,

it is not necessary that the king himself speak to them every time,

but the king himself speaks to his ministers and servants,

and they convey the king's words — so it is in the analogy,

that the interpretation of "And I will meet there with the children of Israel" is,

that the Holy One, blessed be He, establishes a place to speak with the children of Israel like a king who speaks with his servants,

that the speech reaches them

(sometimes)

through a minister etc.,

and likewise the speech of God reaches the children of Israel through Moses our teacher.

And it can be said,

that so it was simply,

that when God wanted to convey a command to the children of Israel,

they assembled<pg>167</pg>

Bnei Yisrael at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and Moshe heard the words of Hashem inside the Tent and transmitted them to Bnei Yisrael¹².

[And based on this will also be understood the continuation in the following verses¹³

— "And I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting etc. and Aharon etc. I will sanctify to minister to Me.

And I will dwell in the midst of Bnei Yisrael and I will be to them for a God": At the beginning the verse explains regarding Moshe,

that even though the words of Hashem are only to Moshe,

nevertheless,

this is like a king who speaks with his servants,

that the words are directed to all of Yisrael,

and consequently applies to this what is said "And I will meet there with Bnei Yisrael",

and continuing to this it says,

that so it is regarding the entirety of the Mishkan,

that even though the service in the Mishkan belongs to the sons of Aharon the kohanim who serve in the Mishkan,

nevertheless,

the indwelling of the Shechinah in the Mishkan is

(not only for Aharon and his sons,

but rather)

"in the midst of Bnei Yisrael"].

3.

But this explanation does not fit in the language of Rashi,

because:

a)

If the intention of Rashi here is to explain the language "

(And I will meet there)

to the children of Israel",

he should have copied these words in the heading?

b)

If the main innovation of Rashi is,

that the intention of "and I will meet" is for speech,

even though it says "to the children of Israel" — it would have been appropriate for Rashi to shorten at the beginning of his commentary and write "and I will meet there — in speech",

and why does he preface "I will meet with them",

which seemingly is nothing but a repetition of the language of the verse itself?

c)

Why does Rashi write "in speech" and not "to speak"

(as the language of the verse "to speak to you")?

4)

And the main point: this question already arises in the previous verse,

"where I will meet with you..

to speak to you",

from which it is proven that the speech to Moses

(to you)

is called "I will meet with you"

(to the children of Israel),

and it must be said that this is because the speeches to Moses are for<sup>14</sup>

Israel.

And if so, Rashi should have brought the analogy there<sup>15</sup>.

4.

And therefore it seems to explain Rashi's words in a different manner,

and with an introduction:

The verses "which I will meet [you] etc. and I will meet [them] etc." come in continuation to what is said "a continual burnt offering for your generations at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord — which I will meet [you] etc.",

And simply,

this is the explanation of "Tent of Meeting"¹⁶,

that it is called so because there "I will meet with you etc. to speak to you etc. and I will meet there with the children of Israel".

And based on this, it can be said,

that the two verses —

(a)

"which I will meet with you etc. to speak to you",

(b)

"and I will meet there with the children of Israel" — are two different matters in the "Tent of Meeting".

And the explanation of this is:

Later in Parshat Tisa it is explained¹⁷,

that after the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses took his tent outside the camp "and called it Tent of Meeting, and it was that whoever sought God would go out to the Tent of Meeting etc.",

And in Rashi there: "And he called it,

he would call it Tent of Meeting; it was a house of gathering for those who seek Torah",

and afterwards it is stated¹⁸

"And it was when Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the entrance of the tent, and He spoke with Moses",

namely,

that the tent of Moses

(which he called "Tent of Mee­<pg>168</pg>

until")

was the place where He spoke with him, the Name,

and it is found,

that in Moses' tent there were two matters:

(a)

"a house of gathering for seekers of Torah",

(b)

the place where the Lord spoke to Moses.

And behold, this order in Moses' tent was practiced only until the Mishkan was erected,

as Rashi explains there¹⁹

"And this matter Moses practiced from the Day of Atonement until the Mishkan was erected and no more..

once it was erected He no longer spoke with him except from the Tent of Meeting",

i.

e.

that after the erection of the Mishkan these two matters in Moses' tent passed to the Mishkan.

And as we find,

that in addition to this that the Mishkan was the place where G‑d spoke to Moshe,

the Mishkan was a "house of assembly" for Yisrael,

a place of the congregation of Yisrael,

as explicit in the verse²⁰

"for the assembly of the congregation etc. and you shall assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting",

and so we find regarding the daughters of Tzelafchad that they stood "before Moshe etc. and all the congregation at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting"²¹

(and in Rashi there "in the study hall they were etc."²²).

5.

And it may be said,

that this is the intent of Rashi here in what he said "ונועדתי שמה — I will meet with them":

The meaning of the word "ואועד" in the previous verse "אשר אועד לכם גו' לדבר אליך" is a fixed place,

as Rashi's language "when I fix a meeting etc. there I will fix it to come"

(and likewise "ונועדתי" above in Parshat Terumah,

that Rashi explains "when I fix a meeting etc. that place I will fix for a meeting")²³,

and according to Targum Onkelos which is language of appointment,

and that is that it is designated and set apart²⁴

for a specific matter;

But in our verse the intention is regarding a second matter: "ונועדתי" language of "אתועד עמם" from the language of "בית ועד"²⁵

(and in the language of the above verse "ונועדו אליך כל העדה")²⁶.

And it is understood simply the reason that it is said "לבני ישראל",

because the intention is for the place of the assembly of the congregation.

[And it is found,

that in "Ohel Moed" — two interpretations:

(a)

"Where I will meet etc. to speak to you" — a fixed and designated place for the speech of G-d to Moses.

(b)

"And I will meet there with Bnei Yisrael" — "a meeting place" of Bnei Yisrael].

And the reason that Rashi adds "

(I will meet with them)

in speech" — because in the verse it says "And I will meet there",

meaning that this is not only a "meeting place" of Yisrael among themselves&lt;sup&gt;27&lt;/sup&gt;,

but the place where the Holy One, blessed be He, "meets" with Yisrael&lt;sup&gt;28&lt;/sup&gt;,

therefore,

Rashi needs to explain in what is the "connection" between the Holy One, blessed be He, and Yisrael in this place,

and therefore he says "in speech".

And with this is also resolved the precise wording of Rashi "in speech"

(And he did not use the language of the preceding verse "to speak")

: This "gathering" between the Holy One, blessed be He, and Israel in speech,

is not only in this&lt;pg&gt;169&lt;/pg&gt;

That in this place the Holy One, blessed be He, speaks to Israel

(Through Moses,

as above),

but also the opposite,

that when the children of Israel need to request some matter from the Holy One, blessed be He,

they gather in this "house of assembly" to pray&lt;sup&gt;29&lt;/sup&gt;

to Him, may He be blessed.

[And it is precise in Rashi's language in the parable "the king who establishes a fixed place to speak with his servants there" — for ostensibly it should have said "to his servants"

(in the manner of the language of the preceding verse "to speak to you"

(not "with you" or "unto you"),

even though there it refers to Moses)

— but Rashi's intention in this is to be precise,

that the emphasis is not that this is the place where the king speaks to his servants,

but that this is the fixed place where the king "converses" with&lt;sup&gt;30&lt;/sup&gt;

his servants

(including also,

that the servants speak there with the king)].

And one should not ask,

where do we find

(in the plain sense of Scripture)

that the Children of Israel prayed at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting — for this is something understood by itself

(and Rashi does not need to explain it)

that when there is a need to pray they do this in the place of the assembly

(like the synagogue),

and in the desert this was by the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,

the place of "the meeting of the congregation".

And in particular, we find this explicitly regarding the Holy Temple,

that it is called³¹

"My house a house of prayer,"

that in addition to this that the Holy Temple is the place of the resting of the Divine Presence and there they offered sacrifices³²,

it is also a place where Israel gathered to pray to God,

"and they will pray and supplicate to You in this house"³³

[And it can be said that this is also understood from Rashi above on the verse³⁴

"And this is the gate of heaven" — "a place of prayer for their prayers to ascend heavenward"],

And since the Tabernacle is also called "Sanctuary,"

"And they shall make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst"³⁵,

it is understood,

that before the building of the Holy Temple, the Tabernacle was a "place of prayer"³⁶.

And may it be His will,

that so it will be for us,

that through the engagement in the "form of the House³⁷..

and its exits and its entrances",

we will merit the building of the Holy Temple

(the third)³⁸,

that then will also be revealed the Tabernacle

(and all its vessels)

that Moses made³⁹,

"And I will meet there with the children of Israel",

speedily in our days, literally.

(From the talk of Shabbos Parshas Tetzaveh 5740)