12. "These are the accounts of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as they were counted, according to the commandment of Moses" (shemot 38:21). Rabbi Shimon opened the discussion with the verse: "In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and the earth" (Beresheet 1:1). This was already explained and expounded upon in different manners, yet the Holy One, blessed be He created it resembling the higher one, so this world will be shaped like the higher world, WHICH IS MALCHUT. And all the supernal hues of above were installed below IN THIS WORLD, to join and connect world to world, THIS WORLD TO MALCHUT.

13. And when the Holy One, blessed be He wanted to create the world, He looked at the Torah and then created it. And He looked upon the Holy Name, YUD HEI VAV HEI, which comprises the Torah, and gave existence to the world. The world was created by three sides - Chochmah, Tevunah, and Da'at. By Chochmah, as it is written - "Hashem by Wisdom founded the earth" (Mishlei 3:19); by Tevunah, as it is written - "by understanding (Heb. Tevunah) He established the heavens" (Ibid.); and by Da'at, as it is written - "by His knowledge (Heb. Da'at) the depths were broken up" (Ibid. 20). So all contribute to the existence of the world, and by these three, the Tabernacle was built, as it is written, "and I have filled him with the spirit of Elohim, in Wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge" (Shemot 31:3).

14. All these three, CHOCHMAH, TEVUNAH AND DA'AT, were alluded to in this verse. "In the beginning" corresponds to "in Wisdom," FOR CHOCHMAH IS CALLED 'BEGINNING' AS IT IS WRITTEN, "THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM" (TEHILIM 111:10); "Elohim created" corresponds to Tevunah, FOR TEVUNAH IS CALLED 'ELOHIM'. "The heaven" is as written - "and in knowledge." FOR ZEIR ANPIN IS CALLED 'HEAVEN' AND IS THE INNER MEANING OF DA'AT. And all are mentioned in the building of the Tabernacle. In this secret it is written, "And these are the accounts of the Tabernacle," for this is the secret of Chochmah, AS ACCOUNTS AND NUMBERS ARE DRAWN FROM CHOCHMAH. "The Tabernacle of the Testimony," is the secret of Tevunah, FOR THE ILLUMINATION OF CHOCHMAH, REVEALED IN YISRAEL - SABA AND TEVUNAH, IS CALLED 'TESTIMONY'. "According to the commandment of Moses," is the secret of Da'at, FOR MOSES IS THE SECRET OF DA'AT. All is done the one corresponding to the other, for everything the Holy One, blessed be He, created in this world, He created it as the reflection of above. All this is shown in the building of the Tabernacle.

15. Come and see: When the Holy One, blessed be He told Moses to construct the Tabernacle, Moses was dumbfounded, for he did not know what to do, until the Holy One, blessed be He showed him how it looked, as it is written, "And look that you make them after their pattern, which was shown to you in the mountain" (Shemot 25:9). The meaning of "after their pattern" is as we learned, that the Holy One, blessed be He showed Moses the supernal form of each thing, THE SPIRITUAL FORM, and each one OF THE SPIRITUAL HIGHER FORMS shaped itself to RESEMBLE the IMAGINED form made on earth. IN THIS WAY MOSES KNEW.

16. HE ASKS, It should have been written, 'which you see' instead of "which was shown to you," AND ANSWERS, We learned that the mirror which does not shine, WHICH IS MALCHUT, showed him within it all the wheels and shapes made below, like a mirror reflecting within itself every image.

17. This is the meaning of the verse, "which was shown to you." "You" is the secret of the mirror which does not shine, MALCHUT, which reflected all those forms for Moses to see. And he saw each thing correctly, as if looking through a glass lamp, and within a mirror reflecting all the shapes. And when Moses beheld them, he found it difficult. FOR INSIDE MALCHUT THE SPIRITUAL SHAPE OF EVERY OBJECT STOOD OUT, ONLY EACH SHAPE RESEMBLED THE IMAGINARY SHAPE PERTAINING TO THIS WORLD IN THE TABERNACLE, SO THERE WERE TWO SHAPES TO EACH OBJECT: THE SPIRITUAL AND THE IMAGINARY SHAPE. THEREFORE, MOSES FOUND IT DIFFICULT, FOR HE KNEW NOT WHICH ONE TO GRASP. So the Holy One, blessed be He said to him, 'you follow your signs and I follow Mine,' THAT MOSES SHOULD GRASP THE IMAGINARY SIGNS OF EVERY OBJECT, AND THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE WOULD GRASP THE SPIRITUAL SIGNS OF EVERY OBJECT. AND THEN THE SPIRITUAL SHAPE WOULD DWELL ON THE IMAGINARY SHAPE. Moses was then clear-minded as to the construction OF THE TABERNACLE.

18. And when all the work was completed, Moses had to count everything, so Yisrael would not say that some gold and silver was left, and that he was planning to take it. Therefore, he counted before Yisrael, as it is written, "and be guiltless before Hashem and before Yisrael" (Bemidbar 32:22).

19. The reason the verse states, "These are the accounts of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Testimony," is that the Holy Spirit, WHICH IS MALCHUT, CALLED 'TABERNACLE', was a mirror which reflected to everyone the amount of all the gold and silver offered by Yisrael. And the Holy Spirit would say, "And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was a hundred talents..." (Shemot 38:25), and "all the gold that was applied for the work..." (Ibid. 24), for the Holy One, blessed be He was pleased with all the craftsmen, and wanted to display their trustworthiness before all.

20. "These are the accounts of the Tabernacle." Come and see: At the time when the construction of the Tabernacle took place, the Other Side roamed about, to bring accusations. He found no flaw in the faithfulness of the craftsmen, so the Holy One, blessed be He caused him to yield before Moses. And he, the Other Side, had to check their worthiness in spite of himself and to acknowledge it before all. This is the mystery of the verse, "These are the accounts of the Tabernacle." And we explained that "These" is the same as in "even these may forget" (Yeshayah 49:15), REFERRING TO THE OTHER SIDE, FOR BOTH CASES ALLUDE TO THE OTHER SIDE. It is also written, "as they were counted according to the commandment of Moses." For there, ACCORDING TO MOSES, all was counted and numbered, until the accounting of the Tabernacle was complete before Moses and all of Yisrael.

21. "These are the accounts of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Testimony." HE ASKS: What is "Testimony"? HE ANSWERS THAT the word 'Tabernacle' is written twice, "THE TABERNACLE, THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY." One above, IN BINAH, THE TABERNACLE OF THE TESTIMONY, and one below, IN MALCHUT, THE TABERNACLE. And the Tabernacle is called "the Tabernacle of the Testimony." What is "the Testimony"? It is as in the verse, "the tribes of Yah (Heb. Yud-Hei), a testimony to Yisrael" (Tehilim 122:4), this name, YUD-HEI, WHICH IS CHOCHMAH AND BINAH, is a testimony to Yisrael.