Vayakhel - Pekudei: 5783 - "And the work was sufficient for all the work to do it, and there was extra." How do these two things fit together? Rabbi Shimon Zonnenfeld with a sharp insight…

00:01 Speaker 1 Yes, Arzon [unclear].

00:02 Speaker 2 In the weekly parsha, the Torah tells us that the skilled workers doing the sacred work came to Moshe and said, “The people are bringing more than enough for the work Hashem commanded to be done.” So Moshe gave an order, and an announcement was made throughout the camp: “No man or woman should do any more work for the sacred offering.” There was too much. They had brought money, gold, silver, and copper—more than enough. And the verse concludes: “The materials were sufficient for all the work to be done, and there was extra.” That raises a question: If they were sufficient, that means there was enough. But “there was extra” means there was too much. It seems contradictory. Either there was enough or there was extra, yet the same verse says both. How can it be both? The Or Hachaim Hakadosh offers a beautiful explanation. He explains that Jews came to donate gold, silver, and copper for the Beis Hamikdash and the Mishkan, and seemingly brought more than was needed. Now, because Hakadosh Boruch Hu cherishes the Jewish people, when a Jew brought a donation for the Beis Hamikdash, even though there was already enough—because everything was measured out precisely—there arose, as it were, a need for more in the Mishkan and its vessels. So each time another Jew came and brought more gold, silver, or copper, a need arose, as it were, in the work, so that what this Jew had brought could also become part of the Beis Hamikdash. That is how the Or Hachaim explains the verse. “The materials were sufficient”—there was enough—but “there was extra” as well, because in fact it was no longer needed. Only because Hakadosh Boruch Hu cherishes the Jewish people did a need arise, as it were. Each time a Jew brought more, a need arose so that his contribution, too, could become part of the Mishkan.