And the entire work of the Mishkan, the tent of meeting, was finished, and the Children of Israel did like all that Hashem commanded Moshe, so they did.
The Ohr Hachaim notices that the Torah does not say that the wide of heart did as Moshe was commanded, merely that it was done. The Torah talks in a passive state.
The Ohr Hachaim explains that they were not done yet. They were willing to continue serving Hashem by building a greater house for his name. The job finished on its own, as Hashem did not command them to continue. They did not finish.
Another explanation offered by the Ohr Hachaim is, that there were some jobs for the Mishkan that were not done by Bezalel, Ahaliav, or the wise of heart. The possuk could never have written that Bezalel finished the job, because there were parts of the job that he did not do. The job was finished, but not all of it was finished by Bezalel.
Another explanation offered by the Ohr Hachaim is in a homiletic fashion. The possuk says נִכְׂסְׂפָה וְׂגַּם כָלְׂתָה נַּפְׂשִ י לְׂחַּצְׂרוֹת ה' - My soul yearns, yes, even pines for the courts of Hashem. The word וַּתֵּכֶּלcomes from the same root as כָלְׂתָה – pines. They did the entire job with pining and yearning for Hashem, with no personal involvement.
Klal Yisroel as One Nation
The rest of the Possuk is a basic lesson in Yiddishkeit. The Torah tells us that Klal Yisroel did like all that Moshe commanded us. Even though it was Bezalel and the wise of heart were the ones who did the work, a person’s emissary is like himself. He can appoint an agent to do the work for him. Klal Yisroel were represented by Bezalel, Ahaliav, and the wise of heart.
This is true even though Klal Yisroel were not the ones who actually appointed Bezalel and the wise of heart. Hashem was the one who appointed them. But they agreed and that is sufficient.
The Ohr Hachaim adds another important lesson from this possuk. Keeping Torah requires an entire nation uniting as one. Each person does his best, and at the end the entire Torah is fulfilled. When Bezalel and the wise of heart made the Mishkan, utilizing their talents for Hashem’s sake, the entire Klal Yisroel are considered equal partners.
This is what the Torah means when it commands us וְאָהַבְתָ לְרֵעֲךָ כָמוֹךָ - you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The love for your neighbor is because he is כָמוֹךָ – like you. His benefit is your benefit, his Mitzvos are your Mitzvos. He is not ‘another’ he is you.
This explains other things, too. Hashem commanded all of us with 613 Mitzvos, yet nobody can fulfill all of them by himself. Some Mitzvos are only for Cohanim, others are only for Leviim or Yisraelim. Some are not for women, some are only for women. How can an individual repair his 248 limbs and his 365 sinews and make them into a place for the Shechina to rest?
The answer is that everyone does the Mitzvos together, and with the combination of everyone’s Mitzvos as one, all 613 are fulfilled. This is the meaning of our possuk. Klal Yisroel did according to all that Hashem had commanded Moshe, because they all did it together. Some brought donations, others did the work, and between all of them, the job was done.
This possuk is juxtaposed to the pessukim about the clothing the Cohanim wore, because the spinning and weaving was done by individual experts. Yet Klal Yisroel did it, because Klal Yisroel were all in it together. They still brought the donations, and they were the partners in the Mishkan.
Repairing the Sin of the Golden Calf
According to all that Hashem commanded Moshe, so did the Children of Israel do all the work.
The Torah repeats this point, even after we were told already before that they did like Hashem told them. The next possuk repeats the point again, all that they did was just like Hashem commanded Moshe.
The reason, says the Ohr Hachaim, is because Klal Yisroel sinned with the Golden Calf in three categories. With thought, speech, and action, they served the Golden Calf, and they needed to repair their actions with all three categories.
The donations that Klal Yisroel made for the Mishkan was the equivalent of the action of serving the Egel, the work done was called מעשה חשב, the equivalent of the thought, called מחשבה in Hebrew. The equivalent of the speech is that which they said at each step of the way that they are doing this work for the sake of the Mitzvah Hashem commanded them to make a Mishkan.
All three of these were done exactly as they were commanded, they did not invent any of their own ideas or additions. This achieved a full forgiveness for their aveira, and was the purpose of the Mishkan.
