“Moses assembled the entire community of the Children of Israel and said to them: “these are the things that HaShem commanded.” (Shmos 35,1)
If you take a good look at the order of these things you will find that the construction of the Tabernacle and all its appurtenances have been mentioned many times over. G’d mentioned it to Moses on two separate occasions. The first time it has been mentioned in detail occurred in Exodus 25,2 where the Torah commanded that Moses should accept a contribution from the people, listing the various materials needed for its construction. The second time this commandment is phrased more generally in Ki Tissa (31,2). The third time it is mentioned by Moses at this point in a general way when he commanded them that every wise-hearted person amongst them should get involved and not only donate materials but participate in the conversion of these materials for the construction. The fourth time the Torah reports that the instructions had been carried out (36,8). The Torah mentions the word ויעש, “he constructed” in connection with every stage of the building of the Tabernacle and its components. The fifth time the Torah mentions the Tabernacle and all its components is in Exodus 39,33-42 where separate mention is made of all the components handed over to Moses after they had been completed. The reason the Torah troubles itself to mention all this on five separate occasions is to demonstrate how beloved the Tabernacle and its construction was to G‘d. In Numbers 8,19 where the name בני ישראל occurs five times in the same verse in which the Torah warns that the Israelites must avoid becoming victims of G’d’s retribution, the reason for using the name בני ישראל five times in a row when pronouns would have sufficed is also in order to demonstrate how beloved the people were in the eyes of G’d at that time.
Our sages (Vayikra Rabbah 2,5) comment by illustrating the matter with a parable. A father who had an only son of whom he was extremely fond sent him off to school. When the son would come back, the father would ask him: “did you eat my son, did you drink my son, do you want to go to sleep my son?” We find a similar demonstration of how G’d reports matters which He liked when looking at the conversations conducted by Eliezer, servant of Avraham when he went to secure a wife for Yitzchak. Eliezer’s words are repeated by the Torah in great detail (Genesis, chapter 24). This prompted the sages in Bereshis Rabbah 60,8 to say that the mundane conversations of an Eliezer were more pleasing to G‘d than even the Torah-inspired discourses of later Torah scholars.” The truth of this is best illustrated when we reflect on the fact that the Torah devoted only a single word, or even letter, in order to inform us of some of its commandments. This is so in spite of the fact that the principal function of the Torah is to teach us the commandments.
A Midrashic approach to ויקהל משה: The commandment for Moses to assemble all the people at this point was to compensate for the time Aaron had assembled all the people at the time of the golden calf. This new assembly was to atone for the previous assembly which had such tragic results. Similarly, the words Moses spoke at this time were intended to diffuse the impression Aaron’s words had left behind when he addressed the people at that ill-fated assembly (32,1). The wording אלה הדברים, “these are the words,” were meant to counteract the words אלה אלוהיך ישראל, “these are your gods O Israel,” spoken at the time when Aaron assembled the people. The gold donated for the construction of the Tabernacle was to atone for the gold donated for making the golden calf.
ויבאו האנשים על הנשים (שמות לה,כ)
The women were the first to respond; this is why the Torah records (verse 22) “the men came following the women, etc.” When the men arrived with their gifts they found that their women had already preceded them. It is a remarkable tribute to the Jewish women who had not been willing to give their men their jewelry to help in the making of the golden calf but who now volunteered their most precious possessions with alacrity (compare Exodus 32, 2 and 3, and Tanchuma on Ki Tissa 19).
Now that the donations requested were for the building of the Tabernacle, were intended to provide a home for the Shechinah, the women were the first to respond enthusiastically to the call for contributions. The Torah enumerates that the women even contributed jewelry worn on intimate parts of their bodies. They overcame their habitual reluctance to part with such intimate jewelry.
We find other examples in the Bible where the word על used here by the Torah means “in addition to.” An example of such a use of the word על is found in Isaiah 7,2: “Aram has joined Ephrayim (the Northern Kingdom) to gang up against you “ (the Kingdom of Yehudah). In that instance, Ephrayim were the first to ready themselves for war against Achaz, King of Yehudah.
