<b>These are the accounts of the tabernacle (Exod. 38:21).</b> Scripture states elsewhere: <i>Thou hast also delivered Me from the contentions of My people</i> (II Sam. 22:44), and it is written elsewhere: <i>Thou hast delivered me from the contentions of the people</i> (Ps. 18:44). <i>The contentions of the people</i> refers to the nations of the world, and <i>the contentions of My people</i> alludes to Israel. David said: Master of the Universe, the Israelites are a contentious lot; do You wish them to murmur against me amongst themselves? A proof of this is that after the Tabernacle was erected, though everything was done according to numbers and weights, as it is written: <i>The whole by number and by weight; and all the weight was written at that time</i> (Ezra 8:34), they became contentious, as is said: <i>And the people spoke against God, and against Moses</i> (Num. 21:15). Hence, it says: <i>Thou mayest deliver me from the contentions of My people</i> (II Sam. 22:44). This verse alludes to Moses. At the time he erected the Tabernacle, Moses said: I know that the Israelites are a troublesome lot. They speak against their brothers and their mothers, as it is said: <i>Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s sons</i> (Ps. 50:20). What is meant by <i>Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother</i>? R. Johanan said: You must not believe that one is permitted to speak against a brother born of one’s father, but not against a brother born of one’s mother, for if you should speak against your brother born of your father, you will eventually speak against your brother born of your mother, as it is said: <i>Thou sittest and speakest against thine own brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s sons</i>.
R. Joshua the son of Levi said: David has stated that if you should speak against Esau, who is your brother (by your father), you will ultimately speak against the son of your mother. This refers to Moses, the foremost of our prophets, against whom they spoke, as it is said: <i>And the people spoke against God, and against Moses</i> (Num. 21:15).
Moses declared: I am aware that Israel is contentious; therefore, I shall give them an accounting of the construction of the Tabernacle. He began to make the accounting with them: <i>These are the accounts of the Tabernacle</i>. He accounted for everything, the gold, the silver, and the brass: <i>And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred … and the hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the Sanctuary … and the brass of the offering was seventy talents</i> (Exod. 38:25–29). While he was doing the accounting and going over everything that had been made for inside the Sanctuary, he forgot, because they were not visible, the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels with which he had fashioned the hooks for the columns. He became distressed and said to himself: “Now the Israelites will grasp the opportunity to say that I have taken them.” He began to review every aspect of the work. The Holy One, blessed be He, thereupon opened his eyes and caused him to lift them upward, and he saw the hooks of the columns. He told them loudly that the one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels had been used for the hooks for the columns. Then the Israelites were satisfied.
What prompted him to sit down and give an accounting: <i>These are the accounts of the Tabernacle</i>? Why did he trouble to render an accounting, since the Holy One, blessed be He, trusted him, as it is said: <i>He is trusted in all My house</i> (Num. 12:7)? He gave them an accounting because he heard the scoffers of that generation whispering behind his back, as is said: <i>And it came to pass, when Moses entered into the tent … and they looked after Moses</i> (Exod. 33:8). What were they saying? R. Isaac explained: When one person would praise him, his companion would retort: “Fool, do you imagine that a man in charge of the work of building a Sanctuary, with weights of silver and gold that are not examined, nor weighed or accounted for, will not become wealthy!” When he heard that he said: “Be assured, when the work of the Tabernacle is completed, I will give them an accounting.” When it was completed he said to them: <i>These are the accounts of the Tabernacle</i>.