<b>A new vessel filled with old wine.</b> Another explanation of <i>The Tabernacle of the testimony</i> (Exod. 38:21). R. Simeon the son of Yohai said: There is no testimony other than the Torah, as it is said: <i>These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances</i> (Deut. 4:45). This may be compared to a king who has a daughter for whom he builds a palace. He sets it in the midst of seven other palaces and then decrees: “Anyone who approaches my daughter will be considered as though he were approaching me.” The Tabernacle was called by two names: <i>The Tabernacle of the testimony</i>, which is the Torah, and elsewhere: <i>A Tabernacle of the Lord</i> (Lev. 17:4). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Anyone who despises My daughter is considered as though he were despising Me. That is, if a man enters the synagogue and disparages My Torah, it is as though he arose and were disparaging My honor. You know this to be so from the fact that R. Simeon the son of Yohai said: When Hadrian entered the Temple he reviled and blasphemed against God. David said: Master of the world, it should be counted against them as though they had hewn cedars and built ladders in order to ascend into the firmament to wage war against You, as it is said: <i>It seemed as when men wield upwards axes in a thicket of trees</i> (Ps. 74:5). Since they are unable to accomplish this, they turned on You and attacked us, as it said: <i>O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance; they have defiled Thy holy temple</i> (Ps. 79:1). All of this transpired because the Temple was seized on account of our sins.
<i>These are the accounts of the Tabernacle</i> (Exod. 38:21). R. Hiyya said: To what may the heathens be compared? They may be compared to a man who hates the king and decides to rebel against him, but is unable to do so. What does he do? He goes to the king’s statue and tries to topple it. However, he becomes fearful that the king might kill him. What does he do then? He takes an iron digging tool and wedges it beneath the statue. He says to himself: “If I weaken the base of the statue, it will topple.” Similarly, when the heathens sought to do battle with the Holy One, blessed be He, they were not able to do so, and so they attacked Israel. David said: <i>The kings of the earth stand up</i> (Ps. 2:2); that is to say, One who is unable to smite the ass smites the saddle. That was the case with the idolatrous nations. When they were unable to ascend to attack God, they turned against Israel. When did that occur? When they had nothing to serve as a pledge (Temple). However, now the Tabernacle is their pledge, as it is said: <i>These are the accounts of the Tabernacle, even the Tabernacle of the testimony</i>.