The Day the Tabernacle Banished the Demons from the World

Another interpretation of (Numbers 7:1): "So it came to pass on the day that Moses finished setting up the Tabernacle." Rabbi Yochanan said: What is the meaning of "on the day Moses finished" (kalot)? It is a term of annihilation (kiluy). On the day the Tabernacle was erected, the destructive demons (mazikin) were annihilated from the world. For until the Tabernacle was erected, the destructive demons were prevalent in the world. When Moses ascended the mountain, he would recite this psalm: "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High" (Psalms 91:1) — for he dwelt in the secret place of the Holy One, blessed be He. "He abides in the shadow of the Almighty" (ibid.) — for he lodged there one hundred and twenty days. "I say of the Lord, my refuge" (Psalms 91:2) — He is my refuge, and they made me as a wall. "My God, in whom I trust" (ibid.) — the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: You have trusted in Me; [by your life,] I will stand up for you. "For He will save you from the snare of the fowler" (Psalms 91:3) — [what is "from the snare of the fowler"?] From the trap of the hunter. "He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will take refuge; His truth is a shield and buckler" (Psalms 91:4). Resh Lakish said: I become a shield (tzinah) to anyone who engages in (socher) the Torah. "You shall not fear the terror of the night" (Psalms 91:5) — [from here] we learn that they were afraid. "Nor the arrow that flies by day." Rabbi Berekhyah the Priest [Berabbi] said: There is a destructive demon that flies like a bird and shoots like an arrow. "Nor the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor the destruction that lays waste at noon" (Psalms 91:6) — this is Ketev Meriri, for anyone who sees it has no life [in the world], whether man, beast, or wild animal. How is it formed? Its head resembles a calf, and one horn comes out from the middle of its forehead, and it has dominion from the seventeenth of Tammuz until the ninth of Av. Therefore it is written, "the destruction that lays waste at noon." "No evil shall befall you, nor any plague come near your tent" (Psalms 91:10) — up to "your tent." Thus, until the day the Tabernacle was erected, the destructive demons were prevalent, and on the day the Tabernacle was erected they were annihilated. Said Resh Lakish: What need have I to learn this from the book of Psalms? Let us learn it from its own place (Numbers 6:24): "The Lord bless you" — from the destructive demons — "and keep you" — from all evil. When? On the day the Tabernacle was erected: "So it came to pass on the day that Moses finished."