With this we arrive at the beginning of Rav Shlomo Kluger's teaching. In the Torah, in Parshat Ki Tisa, the people dancing around the calf said: מֵאֶרֶ ץ מִ צְרָ יִם יִשְׂ רָ אֵל אֲשׁ ֶר הֶעֱלוּך אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיך – These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from Egypt. Those are their words. Now open Sefer Nechemiah (9:18): מִמִּצְרַיִם אֲשׁ ֶר הֶעֱלֶיך ֹאמְרוּ זֶה אֱלֹהֶיך אַף כִּי עָשׂוּ לָהֶם עֵגֶל מַסֵּכָה וַי וַעֲשׂוּ נְאָצוֹת גְּדֹלוֹת : They even made themselves a molten calf and said: this is your god who brought you up from Egypt, and they committed great provocations.
So, what did they actually say? יִ שְׂ רָ אֵ ל זֶה אֱ ל ֹהֶ יך — not אֵ לֶּה but זֶה. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai asks in the Yerushalmi: in the Torah it says אֵ לֶּה; in Nechemiah it says זֶה. What is going on? Rashbi answers: Bnei Yisrael made thirteen (golden) calves in the wilderness. Not one, not two, but thirteen! Why thirteen? One large central calf and twelve smaller ones; one for each tribe. Levi was exempt; Menashe and Ephraim each counted. A total of twelve tribal calves. The large central calf prompted the cry of אֵ לֶּה, in plural, while each individual small calf prompted the cry of זֶה, in singular. And the gematria of זֶה is twelve, corresponding to the twelve smaller calves.
With this we arrive at the teaching of Rabbi Eliyahu HaKohen M’izmir in his Midrash Talpiyot (Anaf Bigdei Kehunah), and what he writes there is truly remarkable. Open Rashi on the opening of Parshat Terumah: וְזֹאת הַתְּרוּמָה אֲשׁ ֶר תִּקְחוּ מֵאִתָּם זָהָב וָכֶסֶף וּנְחֹשׁ ֶת׃ ו ּתְ כֵ לֶ ת וְ אַ רְ גָּ מָ ן ו ְ ת ו ֹ ל ַ ע ַ ת שׁ ָ נ ִ י ו ְ שׁ ֵ שׁ וְ ע ִ ז ּ ִ י ם ׃ וְעֹרֹת אֵילִם מְאׇדָּמִים וְעֹרֹת תְּחָשִׁים וַעֲצֵי שׁ ִ טּ ִ י ם: שׁ ֶמֶן לַמָּאֹר בְּשָׂמִים לְשׁ ֶמֶן הַמִּשְׁחָה וְלִקְטֹרֶת הַסַּמִּים׃ אַ בְ נֵי־שׁ ֹהַם וְאַבְנֵי מִ לֻּאִ ים לָאֵפֹד וְלַחֹשׁ ֶן׃
How many items does Rashi count? He says the number is שׁ ְ ל ֹ שׁ ָ ה ע ָ ש ׂ ָ ר כ ּ ְ שׁ ֶ תּ ְ דַ קְ ד ּ ֵ ק ב ּ ָ ה ֶ ם – thirteen, when you count precisely.
What does he mean by that? And if you don’t count precisely? You end up with fifteen. So why the need to be precise and end up with only thirteen? Rashi explains that the gifts were for the construction of the Mishkan and for the priestly garments – it was for the Mishkan's service. But שׁ ֶ מ ֶ ן ל ַ מּ ָ א ֹ ר – oil for illumination, was not needed for either. Similarly, the spices for the anointing oil. Remove those two, and the materials needed for constructing the Mishkan itself number precisely thirteen. In that case, why not add sheep, and ox, and other Korbanot? No, they are left out and number is precisely thirteen.
Why thirteen, asks Rav Eliyahu HaKohen of Izmir. Why not fifteen – the numerical value of ה -י, representing the union of This World and the World to Come? Why only thirteen? His answer is: because Bnei Yisrael made thirteen calves in the wilderness – not one. One central calf and twelve smaller ones, one for each tribe.
Rav Eliyahu HaKohen continues in Midrash Talpiyot. When Haman advised Achashverosh to bring out the vessels of the Beith Hamikdash and use them to induce Bnei Yisrael to sin, how many items did Achashverosh use to adorn his feast? The Midrash lists them from the Megillah: חוּר ַ רְ פּ ַ ס וּתְ כֵ לֶ ת אָחוּז בְּחַבְלֵי־ בוּץ וְאַ רְ גָּמָ ן עַל־גְּלִילֵי כֶסֶף וְ עַ מּ וּדֵ י שׁ ֵ שׁ מִ טּ ו ֹת זָהָ ב וָכֶ סֶ ף עַל רִצְפַת בַּהַט־וָשֵׁשׁ וְדַר וְסֹחָרֶת ׃ ו הַ שׁ ְ ק ו ֹ ת בִּכְלֵי זָהָב ֵלִים שׁ וֹנִים וְכֵלִים מִכֵּלִים שׁ וֹנִים. He says the number is thirteen. Why? Because Haman wanted to re-awaken the sin of Cheit HaEigel – thirteen calves for thirteen items.
