QA Parshat Pekudei

Questions

1. Why is the word Mishkan stated twice in verse 38:21?
2. Why is the Mishkan called the "Mishkan of Testimony"?
3. Who was appointed to carry the vessels of the Mishkan in the midbar?
4. Who was the officer in charge of the levi'im?
5. What is the meaning of the name Bezalel?
6. How many people contributed a half-shekel to the Mishkan? Who contributed?
7. Which material used in the bigdei kehuna was not used in the coverings of the sacred vessels?
8. How were the gold threads made?
9. What was inscribed on the stones on the shoulders of the ephod?
10. What was on the hem of the me'il?
11. What did the Kohen Gadol wear between the mitznefet and the tzitz?
12. What role did Moshe play in the construction of the Mishkan?
13. Which date was the first time that the Mishkan was erected and not dismantled?
14. What was the "tent" which Moshe spread over the Mishkan (40:19)?
15. What "testimony" did Moshe place in the aron?
16. What function did the parochet serve?
17. Where was the shulchan placed in the Mishkan?
18. Where was the menorah placed in the Mishkan?
19. Who offered the communal sacrifices during the eight days of the dedication of the Mishkan?
20. On which day did both Moshe and Aharon serve as kohanim?

Answers

1. 38:21 - To allude to the Beit Hamikdash that would twice be taken as a "mashkon" (pledge) for the sins of the Jewish People until the nation repents.
2. 38:21 - It was testimony for the Jewish People that G-d forgave them for the golden calf and allowed His Shechina to dwell among them.
3. 38:21 - The levi'im.
4. 38:21 - Itamar ben Aharon.
5. 38:22 - "In the shadow of G-d."
6. 38:26 - 603,550. Every man age twenty and over (except the levi'im).
7. 39:1 - Linen (See Rashi 31:10).
8. 39:3 - The gold was beaten into thin plates from which threads were cut. (See Rashi 28:6).
9. 39:6, 39:7 - The names of the tribes.
10. 39:24,25 - Woven pomegranates and golden bells.
11. 39:31 - Tefillin.
12. 39:33 - He stood it up.
13. 40:17 - Rosh Chodesh Nissan of the second year in the desert. For seven days before this, during the consecration of Aharon and his sons, Moshe erected and dismantled the Mishkan. (Rashi 39:29)
14. 40:19 - The curtain of goatskin.
15. 40:20 - The Luchot Habrit.
16. 40:21 - It served as a partition for the aron.
17. 40:22 - On the northern side of the Ohel Mo'ed, outside the parochet.
18. 40:24 - On the southern side of the Ohel Mo'ed opposite the shulchan.
19. 40:29 - Moshe.
20. 40:31 - On the eighth day of the consecration of the Mishkan.

All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise stated.