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Dr. Yitzhaq Hayut-Man. The name of the third Parashah in the Book of Exodus (Shemot, meaning “Names of…”) is Bo (בא)  – meaning “Come” in the imperative. We have already encountered in the Book of Genesis three Parashot whose name means a movement – Lekh-Lekhah (לך-לך; “Go {to} yourself”), vaYetse (ויצא; “he (would) exit”) and vaYigash (ויגש; “he (would) approach”).

 

In Lekh lekha , which is the third Parashah of Genesis, is movement is referred in the imperative, a command. There is the God who commands. But the movement in Bo is somewhat paradoxical, in that in order to leave and go their own way, people need first to come to the opponent in order to receive from him whatever is possible. Moshe was commanded to come to Par’oh in order to ask for leave, and in the sequence each woman of the Israelites had to come to her Egyptian neighbor’s house to persuade her to lend her silver and gold vessels to the Israelite woman.

 

The gold of Egypt

Egypt is associated in the Bible with riches. Already Abraham became rich in Egypt, as compensation for the abduction of his wife to the House of Par’oh: “When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful the woman was. Paroh’s couriers saw her and praised her to Par’oh, and the woman was taken into Paroh’s palace. And because of her, it went well with Abram; he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and female slaves, she-asses, and camels. But the Lord afflicted Par’oh and his household with mighty plagues on account of Sarai, the wife of Abram. Par’oh sent for Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me! Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Now, here is your wife; take her and be gone! And Par’oh put men in charge of him, and they sent him off with his wife and all that he possessed. From Egypt, Abram went up into the Negev, with his wife and all that he possessed, together with Lot. Now Abram was very rich in cattle, silver and gold” (Gen. 12:14-13:1)

A little later, at the covenant between the split sacrifices the acquisition of a great property is referred to as the goal of the sojourn and enslavement in Egypt: “And He said to Abram, Know well that your offspring shall be strangers in a land not theirs, and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will execute judgment on the nation they shall serve, and in the end they shall go free with great wealth” (15:13-14).

Moshe too was told from the outset of the plan to gain property through the acts of the Exodus: “I know that the King of Egypt will let you go only because of a greater might. So I will stretch My hand and smite Egypt with various wonders which will work ; after that he shall let you go. And I will dispose the Egyptians favorably toward this people, so that when you go, you will not go away empty-handed. Each woman shall borrow from her neighbor and the lodger in her house objects of silver and gold, and clothing, and you shall put these on your sons and daughters, thus exploiting/stripping (veNiẓaltem וניצלתם) the Egyptians” (Ex. 3:22). This comes to show that the taking of the gold of Egypt was not a momentary impulse but a major part of the purpose for the sojourn in Egypt and the exodus from there.

And indeed, at the very hour of their hasty exit from Egypt, even when there was no time to make provisions for the journey, yet “The Israelites had done Mosheh’s bidding and borrowed from the Egyptians objects of silver and gold, and clothing. And the Lord had disposed the Egyptians favorably toward the people, and they let them have their request; thus they stripped (vayenaẓlu וינצלו) the Egyptians” (12:35-36).

 

Israel’s Wealth, then And now.

The expression of Niẓul – exploiting, stripping – is given explicitly twice regarding the manner in which the gold, and the rest of the wealth, to the possession of the Israelites. Yet the request itself was made in another manner “(Please) speak now (daber na –דבר נא) in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow from his neighbor, and every woman from her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold” (Ex. 11:2). Borrowing of vessels and clothing is for a limited time, so there was here cheating and taking advantage.

The Talmud tried to soften the aim of the cheating:

“Daber na (please speak) is a language of request. The Lord told Moshe: please tell them to please borrow from the Egyptians vessels of silver and gold, so that (people) would say about this just man (Abraham) “and they shall be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years” (Gen. 15:12) he brought upon them, “but …  in the end they shall go free with great wealth” (15:14) He did not” (Talmud Berakhot 9a).

Rav Kuk, following expanded and justified further:

The main higher intention of exit with a great property was to lift up the spirit of the people who were in the low state of slavery for many years… Therefore it is proper to make their spirit used to think big, so that through this they will also come to aspire for much for the higher degrees of the soul and the supreme (divine) attributes. Therefore, to show that this is not the love of silver and gold is not the ultimate goal to aspire, this came not as a command but as a pleading… Their base spirit would rise up by their seeing themselves loaded with wealth, and yet they would know that this is not the ultimate search, as all the essential things were spoken to them in the form of commands and warnings, and this was spoken in the language of pleading and seeking excuse… And to impress upon many nations there is a need for spiritual largess along with also the desire to attain riches, because through such actions many nations get connected to each other and learn each from the ways of the other. Therefore the love of silver/money, from which comes property, when it is done in justice, to become rich lawfully, also serves the ultimate goal of raising the Light of the Lord in the world through Israel. And it would not occur if they retire in their low spirit state to be only shepherds and farmers, having nothing to do with other people, and other nations would not know them – how would the Light of YHWH spread in the world?” (ein Ayah for Berakhot 1a).

The Ultimate Purpose for the Gold of Egypt

Rav Kuk’s explanation does not address the special great emphasis upon gold. In our view (that sees the building of the Tabernacle as the main concern of the Book of Exodus), the ultimate purpose of borrowing (or stealing) the golden vessels of the Egyptians is to later form from them the vessels of the Tabernacle/Temple. Without this bit of detail the whole long story about the building of the Tabernacle and its vessels would not be credible, for how would there be great treasures of gold for tribes of wanderers in the desert? The Tabernacle was to be built on the basis of gifts given from all the families of the Israelites, namely their overcoming the urge for wealth – “Tell the Israelite people… and these are the gifts that you shall accept from them: gold, silver, and copper… ” (Ex. 25:2-4).

Gold was used for most of the Tabernacle components and utensils: to cover the Ark inside and out; to cover the poles of the Ark, the Ark’s cover (Kaporet) and its Cherubs; to cover the she-bread table and its poles; for the golden candelabra and its utensils; for the golden hooks that connected the strips of cloth that covered the Tabernacle; for covering all the wood planks that made the walls of the Tabernacle and the bars that held them, and their rings; and for covering the acacia pillars for the screen (Parokhet). Also the priest’s clothes required gold – for the breastplate and the bells on the cloak and the high priest’s turban. Later is also told about the cover of the Alter of Incense. In total: “All the gold that was used for the work, in all the works of the sanctuary – the elevation offering of gold – came to 29 talents  and 730 shekels  by the sanctuary weight” (Ex. 38:24).

The use of gold just increased in the First (Solomon’s) Temple, “And the space of the sanctuary (Devirדביר-)was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in its height, and he overlaid it with pure gold, and he covered the altar with cedar. So Shelomoh overlaid the house within with pure gold, and he drew chains of gold across before the sanctuary, and he overlaid it with gold. And the whole house he overlaid with gold, until he has finished all the house; also the whole altar that was by the sanctuary hehe overlaid with gold… and the floor of the house he overlaid with gold, for the inner and outer areas” (I Kings 6:20-23, 30), and likewise he did for the ornaments of the doors. This means that the entire sanctuary was a golden closed space. Likewise “and Shelomoh made all the vessels that belonged to the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, upon which the showbread was. And the candlesticks of pure gold, five on the right side and five on the left, before the sanctuary, with the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs of gold, and the bowls, and the snuffers, and the basins, and the spoons, and the firepans of pure gold; and the hinges of gold, both for the doors of the inner house, and the most holy place, and for the doors of the outer house , namely, the Temple” (idem. 7:48-50). The Kingdom of Shlomoh is known as the Israelite “Golden Age” “Now the weight of gold that came to Shelomoh in one year was six hundred and sixty six talents of gold”[1] (10:14), and even if the First Temple stories were an exaggeration of even a literary fantasy,[2] it is evident that there was much gold, and that gold was used for the Temple.

After the death of Shelomoh and the division of the kingdom, “Whereapon (Yarov’am) the King (of the Kingdom of Israel that ceded from Judea) took counsel and made two calves (Agalim) of gold, and said to them, It is too much for you to go to Yerushalayim , behold thy gold, O Yisra’el, who brought thee out of the land of Mitzrayim” (I Kings 12:28) – which again connects the gold with the exodus from Egypt and its purpose. Whereas all the plentiful gold of Jerusalem  disappeared when Par’oh Shishaq conquered Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) at the time of Rehav’am (and Yarov’am): “And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehav’am that Shishaq king of Mizrayim came up against Yerushalayim . And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house, he took away all; and he took away all the shields of gold which Shelomoh had made” (I Kings 14:25-26), and thus the gold went back to Egypt. Moreover, since then there is no mention of the Ark of the Covenant and the Cherubs upon it.

Apart from the Palestinian fanatics, no one seems to doubt the historical existence of the Second Temple. The Second Temple had great treasures of gold and silver that were brought by the numerous pilgrims from all the Diasporas of Israel, in the Mediterranean basin and the Middle East, who were charged by at least the half sheqel of silver per person. With regards to presents of gold, the sages tell that “there was a golden vine was situated by the gate of the Temple and held upon supporting poles. Anyone who donated a leaf, or a grape, or a bunch, brought and hanged it on that vine” (Mishna, Middot, 3:8).

More than fifteen hundred years later there was built upon the Temple Mount the shrine of the Dome of the Rock – which is known to most people these days as “The Golden Dome”. The Dome of the Rock Shrine was built under the command of the Umayyad Caliph Abed el-Malik, who regarded himself as a legitimate heir to King Suleiman (Solomon). The shrine was regarded by the Caliph and the artisans who built it as a restoration of the Temple of Suleiman.[3] It is interesting in this context that the Caliph dedicated for the construction of the shrine the entire taxation from Egypt for seven years (the time that the building of the original Temple of Solomon required). In our generation, the former King of Jordan, Husain, sold his house in London to finance the gold overlay of the Dome.

 

In Haste or Comfort?

It is evident that Rav Kuk had in mind the present Shivat Zion (Return to Zion). Modern Zionism was largely based upon the riches of Jews in the Diasporas and their donations for the restoration of Israel since the House of Rothschild and on. In this, there is a difference between the conditions of the hasty leave of Egypt and our times. The immigration of the Holocaust remnants in a certain sense resembled the Exodus[4] and brought the restoration of the State of Israel, but the immigrants came without any property.

The Exodus from Egypt, which was the birth of the Nation of Israel, was in haste – “… for thou camest forth out of the land of Mizrayim in haste” (Deut. 16:3). In the prophecies for the future (for which Rav Kuk meant namely our present) was said, “For you shall not go out with haste, nor go by fright…” (Isaiah 52:12). The return from the exiles and the ingathering from the diasporas of all the nations of the world is/will be conducted through the borrowing from the gentile of metaphorical golden vessels – treasures of good qualities and talents from all the nations, in order for them to be absorbed in the Israelite nation – so the nation would become a universal nation, a model nation for all humankind.

The prophet saw that in the future, the nations would bring contributions for the Temple – “And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations[5] for an offering to the Lord… to my holy mountain Yerushalayim, says the Lord, as the children of Yisra’el bring an offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord” (Isaiah 66:20).[6]