Thirteen Gifts of the Tabernacle Repaid From Egypt

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 363:10

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And this is the offering which you shall take, gold and silver, and blue and purple" (Exodus 25:3-4). Rabbi Yehudah bar Rabbi Simon said: Do not think that you are repaying Me with thirteen things corresponding to the thirteen things I did for you in Egypt. And these are they: "And I clothed you with embroidered cloth, and shod you with fine leather, and wrapped you in fine linen, and covered you with silk. And I adorned you with ornaments, and put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain upon your neck. And I put a ring upon your nose, and earrings in your ears, and a crown of glory upon your head... And the bread which I gave you, fine flour and oil and honey I fed you" (Ezekiel 16:10-19). Behold, thirteen things that you set apart for Me corresponding to the thirteen things I did for you in Egypt. In the time to come, I will repay you corresponding to these thirteen things. As it is written, "And the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its assemblies... and there shall be a booth for shade by day" (Isaiah 4:5-6).

Themes

Temple VesselsRedemptionIsrael

Continue Reading

Yalkut Shimoni on TorahWhy God Who Owns Everything Asks Israel for an OfferingA paradox sits at the heart of the command. The God who owns the earth and everything in it, to whom the sea belongs because He made it, to whom the very heavenMekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben YochaiOn the Strength of That Very Day Israel Left Egypt in Battle ArrayThe verse marks the moment of the going-out with a strange word. On the etzem of that day, it says, a term that elsewhere means a bone. The sages read it as theMekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben YochaiEvery Israelite Worthy of Miracles for His Own SakeThe duty to tell the story returns, and again the rabbis insist there is no escaping it. Whether a man has a son or sits alone, whether he is in company or by hMekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben YochaiWho Plunged First Into the Sea and Won the RewardWho dared to enter the sea before it had fully parted? The sages preserve two answers and refuse to flatten them. In Rabbi Meir's telling, the whole tribe of BeMekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben YochaiHad Israel Sung The Lord Reigns No Nation Would RuleA single tense becomes the hinge of history. At the sea Israel proclaimed, "The LORD will reign forever and ever," pointing the verb forward, to a kingship yet Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon Ben YochaiThe LORD Is My Banner and God's Share in Israel's FortunesAfter the battle with Amalek, Moses built an altar and gave it a name that reads like a war cry: the LORD is my banner. But whose banner, and whose victory? Two