"And 'you/Ata' shall command the Children of Israel...", (Ex. 27:20), "And 'you/Ata' shall take to you, Aaron your brother..." (Ex. 28:1) Rabbi Hiya said: Why is this, as well as all the other places different [in that the word "you" is explicit in each of these verses, as also in the following:] as it is written: "And you take to you"; "And you shall speak to all that are wise hearted"; (Ibid. 28:3) "And you shall command the children of Israel"; "Take you also to you the best spices, of pure myrrh"? (Ex. 30:23) But everything is done with a supernal secret, in order to include the Shechinah with Him. [The Shechinah is called "Ata" - You, the secret of the revealed world; G‑d said to Moses: the Shechinah will be included with you, to command and say all these things to the Children of Israel.]

Rabbi Yitzchak [disagreed and] said: supernal light [Zeir Anpin, the Giving force of tiferet] and lower light [malchut, the lowest of the ten sefirot] included together are called "V'ata" [the vav represents tiferet and "ata" – you, represents the Shechinah], as it says: "and You give life to them all" (Nehemiah 9:6) and therefore it doesn't say: "and bring near to yourself Aaron your brother " [without the explicit "you" – Ed.], "And command the children of Israel", "And speak to all that are wise hearted", because at that time [of erecting the Tabernacle], the sun [tiferet] rested with the moon [malchut] and all [sefirot] participated together to rest on their workmanship [of the Mishkan] that they had made.

Rabbi Elazar said [it is true that the Shechinah/malchut and tiferet rested on the work of the Mishkan, but we learn this] from the verse: "those in whom G‑d [Zeir Anpin] had imbued wisdom and insight". (Ex. 36:1)

Rabbi Shimon said [from that source we can understand the participation of tiferet but not of Shechinah/malchut, but we learn] from here: "And you shall speak to all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled it with the spirit of wisdom". (Ex. 28:3) 'Whom I have filled them' should have been written [in the plural form, so why is it written in the singular]? But [it should be interpreted:]"that which I have filled it" - that heart [i.e. the Shechinah, which is called heart] "I have filled it [with] a spirit of wisdom," as it says [referring to King Moshiach, who embodies malchut], "And a spirit of G‑d [i.e. illumination of Zeir Anpin, which is called] a spirit of wisdom, shall rest upon him..." (Isaiah 11:2) Therefore it was necessary [to write:] "that which I have filled it [with]a spirit of wisdom," [to teach] that the sun [tiferet] rests in the moon [malchut] in completeness [of unification] of all [the supernal sefirot]. Therefore, they are all recorded [thus, with an explicit "you"] throughout the texts [referring to the work of the Tabernacle]. Rabbi Elazar said to him: If so, how are all these instances of "and you," explained in the [previously mentioned] passages?

Rabbi Shimon said to him: They are all satisfactorily explained: "And you take to you," to bring "you" [malchut] to you [Zeir Anpin, that Moses - netzach - was its chariot], to properly unite with him [Aaron - hod] and take to him the secret of the Holy Name" [and so we can explain:] "And you shall speak to all that are wise hearted." For they all came to do the work of the Tabernacle only after the Divine Presence spoke to them and secretly whispered to them [by prophesy that came to their hearts all the requirements of the sanctuary according to the truth, the law, and the mystic reason].

BeRahamim LeHayyim: Why did the Ari and Chida include this section? What do they want us to learn?

We learn an important lesson about a subtlety found in the Torah whenever "And you" is found. For the letter Vav in front of V'atah stands for tiferet, the Giving force of tiferet. And "Atah" relates to the Malchut, the place of speech. So too, "And you" would include you, for the Torah is in you, revealed to you in the womb of your mother by the Angel standing over your head with the lamp that showed you all universes. Asking yourself the question 'What does this mean to you?" is key, which is why it is included in all these messages.

What does this mean to you?

Bracketed annotations from Metok Midevash and Sulam commentaries
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