"And you shall plate it with pure gold" (Exodus 25:11). The Talmud (Sukkah 45b) reads the verse about the Tabernacle's acacia wood—"standing up" (Exodus 26:15)—to mean that the wood "supports its plating." Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk transforms this carpentry note into a statement about the power of righteous desire.
The tzaddik (a righteous person) is called a "tree" (etz, the same word as wood). The tzaddik can support anything they anticipate (metzapim, related to tzipitah, plating). When the righteous desire mercy and bounty for the world, that desire itself sustains reality. "Their hope is not lost"—the very anticipation of the tzaddik holds the world in place.
"You shall plate it" (tzipitah) means that the righteous person's anticipation must be so clear and translucent that it brings "gold"—sustenance that is "pure," permissible, and holy. And the method? "Cover it inside and out"—the tzaddik's interior must match their exterior. Spirit and body must both be directed toward blessing.
Then Rebbe Elimelech pivots to the verse "They will make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them" (Exodus 25:8). He connects it to Rabbi Yishmael's thirteen rules of Torah interpretation—but reads midot not as "rules" but as "character traits." The Torah is truly "explained" when a person embodies the thirteen divine attributes: "Just as God is compassionate, so too you be compassionate" (Shabbat 133b). The word mikdash (sanctuary) has the same gematria as middat (character trait). A person who masters their character traits becomes the sanctuary. God's Presence dwells not in a building, but in a human being who has made themselves worthy.
"And you shall plate (tzipitah) it with pure gold" (Exodus 25:11): It is is found in the Gemara (Sukkah 45b:3), "'Of acacia wood, standing up' (Exodus 26:15), [meaning] that they supported their plating." We can say that the understanding is like this: That the righteous one is called a tree (the same word is used for wood), as mentioned above; and they can support anything that they anticipate (metzapim) and desire to have bounty and mercy come upon the world. They [hence] support their existence. As it indeed exists according to their words and their desires. [The Gemara continues:] "Lest you say, 'Their hope is lost and their prospect is abolished." Its explanation is lest you say that this is so, God forbid, that their hope and prospect is abolished. "[Hence] we learn to say, 'of acacia wood, standing.'" And that is [the meaning of], "And you shall plate (tzipitah)." It means that the righteous one who anticipates bringing down the flow to the world, his anticipation will be so translucent and clear that he will bring "gold" to sustenance; [sustenance that is] "pure," that will be permissible and with great purity. And how shall he do [this]? "You shall cover it inside and out" (Exodus 25:11), meaning that his inside should match his outside, that he should anticipate bringing blessing to the world with his spirit and body. And make the planks for the Tabernacle of acacia wood, upright (Ex. 26:15) - we should point out that it is written "and they will make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them" (Ex. 25:8). And it seems to me that it is connected to the baraita of Rabbi Yishmael "in 13 midot (speech rules / character traits) the Torah is explained" (Sifra, Braita d'Rabbi Yishmael 2). And this means that the essence of the Torah is explained when a person seizes the thirteen midot (attributes), "just as God is compassionate, so too you, be compassionate" (Shabbat 133b) and so on with all of them. And then a person's Torah, the one that is learned, is explained in all the worlds. And the word "sanctuary" מקדש (mikdash) in the Gematria is מדת middat (character trait of/attribute of) and middah is an expression for vessel, meaning, when a person seizes oneself on their good attributes, and keeps oneself far from all bad attributes, then one is a chariot for the Divine presence. And this is the explanation for כביכול, "as it were" - meaning: kav as if כ"ב could be written with קו"ף like ק"ב, as it is known that kaf and kuf change places in the system גיכ"ק. And קב is a measure/middah/attribute as it is known, as we find in "my son Hanina for whom a kav of carobs is enough" (Berakhot 17b). And so the word כביכול can be explained as כב "through the middot" יכול "one is able", that is, through the good attributes that one strengthens oneself, and through distancing oneself from the bad traits, the Holy One of Blessing is able to dwell in this world, that is, because a person becomes the chariot for the Divine presence. And this is "And they will make Me a sanctuary" - meaning, that you should fix yourselves in the attributes/traits so that I will dwell among/in you. And the most prominent of all bad traits is the trait of lying, since all the bad traits are opposite of the trait of truth, and when one strengthens oneself in the trait of truth, and breaks oneself off completely the trait of lying, then automatically one strengthens oneself in the good traits, and breaks off from the bad traits. And this is "and make planks for the Tabernacle" (Ex. 26:15), meaning: the letters for plank קרש are the same for lie שקר, and this is that you should break off completely from the attribute of lying, and to strengthen yourself on the opposite attribute, just as a the plank is the opposite in letters of lie, until you make yourself a plank for the tabernacle, meaning, that you should be a chariot for the Shechinah, as explained above. "Ten cubits, the length אורך of the plank" (Ex. 26:16) - meaning, anything that is long ארוך, even if it has no end, one can call it with the expression "length". But the word רוחב width, implies something that is finite, and one needs to say how wide it is. And this is the explanation for "ten cubits אמות, the length of the plank" meaning, a thing that has no end, and anything that is spiritual has no end, and is called "long", make sure to serve with complete measures (amot אמות), in all the worlds. "And a cubit, and half a cubit, the width of the plank" - meaning, in the physical things, which are finite, and are called with the expression "width" in relation to the spiritual things, see that you do them with half measures, so that you will eat and have some left over (see Ruth 2:14) or that the rest of your material desires, see that you don't try to satisfy them completely. "Two tenons (hands) to each plank" (Ex. 26:17) as it is found in the Gemara: "happy is the one that comes here and their learning is in their hand" (Pesachim 50a). And it appears to me that it is also written in the Gemara "greater is study, for it brings to action" (Kiddushin 40b). And in this world, when we see a person learning, we cannot understand if their Torah is good enough to bring about that person to action, and the essence of most deeds is done with one's hand, and this is "happy is the one that comes here and their learning is in their hand" - that is, their study brought them to action. And according to this we explain "two hands for each plank" (Ex. 26:17): behold, the human being was created with two hands, right and left, so as to make explicit for the human being the choice of going to the right or to left, to serve with the two impulses, and to put the left under the right. And this is what is written "two hands for each plank", meaning one trait that you want to strengthen in yourself or that you want to cut off from yourself, see that you strengthen that also with your left hand, and to serve with both impulses. "Connected, a woman to her sister" this is to be understood through what is said in the Text "even one's enemies will make peace" and there will be peace, just as a "woman and her sister". "And make planks etc twenty planks for the south, south side" (Ex. 26:18) - the explanation is that when a person does a mitzvah, they need to do it in two aspects which are one: to do it as established and according to the Jewish Law and two: to make sure that they will do it well and not sin, that is, there should be no emptiness and no sin, God forbid. The [category] mizvah is called by the expression "ten", as explained before, and so "twenty planks you shall make" meaning, that the mitzvah should be done in two times ten, that is "to the side of the south, south", meaning, Negev is the expression for neged, meaning, that you should guard yourself from the side of Negev Teimanah, that is from what is the opposition of Teiman, as Teiman is a hint to wisdom, and you should guard yourself from all emptiness that is an opposition to the mitzvah and make sure that you are doing it in its absolute completeness. And this is easy to understand.
