אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה Drash for Traditional Egalitarian Minyan Adas Israel, Adar 5780

The Gemara asks: If so, let the Torah write first that which occurred in the first month and then let it write that which occurred in the second month, as the portion of the Paschal lamb preceded the beginning of the book of Numbers chronologically. Rav Menashiya bar Taḥlifa said in the name of Rav: That is to say that there is no earlier and later, i.e., there is no absolute chronological order, in the Torah, as events that occurred later in time can appear earlier in the Torah.

Take Aaron: ... According to the straightforward approach, Moshe was commanded about the work of the Tabernacle before the story of the [golden] calf. And once the Holy One of Blessing was appeased, and promised that the Shechina would dwell among them, [Moshe] knew on his own that the commandments of the Tabernacles were [reinstated]. So he commanded Israel about it, as I explained in Parshat Vayakhel (on Exodus 35:1)...

(1) And Moshe gathered...: ... And behold, Moses - after he commanded all that God said to him at Mount Sinai after the breaking of the tablets to Aaron and the princes and all of the Children of Israel, and he placed a veil on his face - proceeded to command and gather them together to him, all of the congregation, the men, the women and the infants. And it is likely that this was on the day after he came down. And he told all of them the matter of the tabernacle that he was commanded at first before he broke the tablets. Once the Holy One of Blessing had been appeased to them and gave them the second tablets and made a new covenant with them that God would go among them, they surely went back to their previous state and their nuptial love, and it was [hence] known that the Divine Presence would be among them, like the matter that He commanded at first - as He had stated (Exodus 25:8), "And make Me a sanctuary, so I will dwell among you." And so Moses commanded them now, according to everything he was commanded at first.

(19) The LORD said to Moses: Thus shall you say to the Israelites: You yourselves saw that I spoke to you from the very heavens: (20) With Me, therefore, you shall not make any gods of silver, nor shall you make for yourselves any gods of gold. (21) Make for Me an altar of earth and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your sacrifices of well-being, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be mentioned I will come to you and bless you.

ויתן אל משה ככלותו, after the Torah described all the spiritual accomplishments which should have resulted from the many days Moses had spent on the mountain with G’d, the Torah now has to explain why all these spiritual accomplishments G’d had envisaged did not in fact materialise so that it became necessary to build a Tabernacle, etc., in order to achieve these spiritual accomplishments via a different route. The Torah explains that the cause of this detour in the spiritual ascent of the people was the abuse they had made of the freedom of choice. They, who had been about to receive the set of Tablets made and written by G’d Himself at the end of Moses’ stay on Mount Sinai for forty days, who were all to personify the ideal of being priests, and a holy nation, rebelled, corrupted themselves, as testified in Exodus 33,6 when they divested themselves of the signs of the covenant G’d had made with them, removing the garments emblazoned with the blood of that covenant.

שני לוחות העדות, the ones of which we heard in Exodus 24,12 where G’d had told Moses prior to his ascending the mountain: “I will give you there the Tablets of stone, etc.” Before G’d had a chance to give the people the written Torah they already began with the golden calf episode so that G’d had to tell Moses to precipitously descend from the mountain warning him that his people had become corrupt. (32,7)

While planning their plot, one of them said to the other: But my post and your post are not identical. How then can one of us leave our position to succeed in our plot to poison the king? The other one said to him: I will guard both my post and your post. And this is as it is written with regard to the king’s verifying Mordecai’s revelation of the plan to kill the king: “And when inquiry was made of the matter, it was found to be so” (Esther 2:23); it was discovered that they were not both found at their posts. The verse describes when the rest of the events of the Megilla occurred: “After these events did King Ahasuerus promote Haman” (Esther 3:1). The Gemara asks: After what particular events? Rava said: Only after the Holy One, Blessed be He, created a remedy for the blow and set in place the chain of events that would lead to the miraculous salvation was Haman appointed, setting the stage for the decree against the Jews to be issued. Rava explains: As Reish Lakish said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, does not strike at the Jewish people unless He has already created a remedy for them beforehand, as it is stated: “When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was uncovered” (Hosea 7:1). But this is not so with regard to the nations of the world. With them, God first strikes them and only afterward does He create a remedy, as it is stated: “And the Lord shall smite Egypt, smiting and healing” (Isaiah 19:22).

(1) First I would heal Israel, before the guilt of Ephraim reveals itself And the wickedness of Samaria. For they have acted treacherously, With thieves breaking in And bands raiding outside.

If the salvation, i.e. פקד is mentioned prior to the enslavement, i.e. צרה, or וימררו, then this confirms that G–d arranges for the רפואה, cure, already before inflicting the מכה, affliction. It proves that when the afflictions do occur, they must not be viewed as caused by an enemy, but as something designed to refine our character so that we will emerge as if at the beginning of creation, clothed in garments of light and the light that was hidden away at the creation. Then G–d's whole name can be revealed, the one that has been desecrated amongst mankind due to our sins. When that day arrives, ha-Shem and ha-Shem's name will be one, i.e. ברוך השם לעולם אמן ואמן.

Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: Had the Jewish people properly observed the first Shabbat that was commanded them, no nation or tongue would have ever ruled them, as it is stated: “And it happened on the seventh day, some people went out from the nation to collect and they did not find” (Exodus 16:27). And it is written after they went out to collect manna: “And Amalek came and fought with Israel in Refidim” (Exodus 17:8). Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: If only the Jewish people would keep two Shabbatot in accordance with their halakhot, they would be immediately redeemed, as it is stated: “So said God to the eunuchs who will keep My Shabbatot” (Isaiah 56:4), and it is written after that: “And I will bring them to My holy mountain and will let them rejoice in My house of prayer” (Isaiah 56:7).

שמן למאור, “Oil for illumination;” fine olive oil for lighting the eternal flame.” בשמים לשמן המשחה ולקטורת הסמים, “spices for the oil of anointment and the aromatic incense.” The meaning of the words is that in order for the incense to be offered up they were to bring gifts consisting of a variety of spices. There is a difference between spices, בשמים, and סמים, an inedible kind of fragrance. בשמים are a kind of food which are distinguished by their rich fragrance. סמים are medicinal herbs which are quite unsuitable as food or as additives to food. Frankincense is one of such ingredients known as סמים. The reason that gold is mentioned as the very first material that was to be contributed was to indicate that at the time the materials for the Tabernacle were collected, the sin of the golden calf had already been forgiven. This is why it was appropriate that the very material which had served as the instrument to commit such a grievous sin should now be donated freely to demonstrate the about-face of the Jewish people who were now ready to donate their most precious material to serve the Lord (Tanchuma Terumah 8). This is also the reason that when the Torah legislates which animals make fit sacrifices, the calf heads the list. compare Leviticus 22,27. G’d wanted to emphasize that the sin of the golden calf had been forgiven. This entire commandment to contribute materials for the construction of the Tabernacle was commanded on the day following Yom Kippur, the day when the sin of the golden calf had been forgiven, finally (compare Rashi). Even though that sin had been committed prior to the building of the Tabernacle, seeing it had been committed in the month of Tammuz and the building of the Tabernacle had been commanded only after the Day of Atonement, so that the Torah quite clearly does not report things in chronological sequence here, the Torah, whose paths are all designed to promote peace and harmony decided to write things in this order. G’d is normally at pains to provide (make available) the cure before the onset of the disease (Megillah 13). It was important to G’d to show that before we read about the sin of the golden calf that the means to make the people’s repentance effective had been outlined already. We have a verse in Hoseah 7,1 which spells out this concept that G’d prepares the cure before He inflicts the disease, i.e. “When I would heal Israel the guilt of Ephrayim reveals itself.”

Rabbi Tarfon says: Even God does not cause God's Presence to dwell upon Israel until they do the labor [of building the Mishkan], as it says, 'Build me a holy place and [then] I will dwell amongst them.'...

He commanded that each individual should build him a sanctuary in the recesses of his heart, that he should prepare himself to be a dwelling place for the Lord and a stronghold for the excellency of His Presence, as well as an altar on which to offer up every portion of his soul to the Lord, until he gives himself for His glory at all times....