Pekudei

The book of Exodus can be divided into three parts. The first deals with Jews bondage and the Exodus. The second…deals with the revelation of Sinai. The third part deals with the building of the Tabernacle…the inclusion of (the golden calf amid) …instructions on the proper way to worship God in the Tabernacle is significant: The Torah is illustrating the wrong way to worship, namely, through a molten image. In other words, we must worship God the way He commands us, and not as we see fit based on contemporary fashions.

Menahem Ben Yashar (Contemporary)

The text wished to indicate the mutual interlocking character of Torah observance, by means of which the children of Israel brought reciprocal benefits on each other. The Torah was given to be collectively observed by Israel as a whole. Each individual would contribute his best to their mutual benefit…The Almighty gave us 613 precepts and it is impossible for one person to observe them all. There are, for example, Priests, Levites and Israelite men and women…(there are commandments that can only be fulfilled by each category alone)…the answer must be that the Torah can be observed collectively, by the people as a whole, each individual deriving benefit from the observance of his neighbor and each individual’s performance complimenting that of the other.

Or Hachayim

Bezalel was so called because of his wisdom…Moses went…and said to him: “Make an ark, furniture and a Tabernacle,” He replied: “Moses our teacher, it is usual for a person to build the house first and only afterwards to furnish it. Yet you say: Make for me an ark, furniture and a Tabernacle. Where will I put the furniture that I make? Perhaps what the Holy One Blessed be He said was “Make a Tabernacle and then the ark and furniture?” Moses replied: Perhaps you were the shadow of God (Bezalel) and you overheard?”

Midrash Rabbah

The Midrash, which pays scrupulous attention to the wording of the biblical narration, remarks that when summoned “for the good,” i.e., for the worship of God, for the work on the sanctuary, “every one of a generous heart” brought an offering: this is not a collective noun pertaining to the entire nation or community. On the other hand, when the people themselves decided to worship what they considered to be a god, namely the golden calf, the Torah states that “All the people broke off the golden earrings” for this purpose…The reason for this is that worshipping god does not come from a natural impulse within man; it requires of him a spiritual effort in order to overcome his nature and to accept upon himself the Yoke of Mitzvot in all its details…One does not need to make an effort to serve the golden calf, whereas serving God requires strength…

Yeshayahu Leibowitz (20^th Century)

As the building of the tabernacle is completed, we are presented with a lengthy report meticulously listing every detail of the multi-faceted production. In a way it seems repetitious, but it is not so. The long list of all that went into the building…serves a very serious purpose. It comes to instruct us that accountability is a must for handling public funds. Who could be more trustworthy than Moses?...Nevertheless, “these are the accounts of the tabernacle…so much gold came from in the contributions to the building campaign, so much silver, so much bronze.” Exact amounts and exactly where they were used in the process of the building…there must be a public accounting to shut out any pretest for slander…

Pinchas Peli (Contemporary)