Concerning the commandment of Hashem to bring donations for the building of the Mishkan, that the Torah tells us in פרשת תרומה, we find that Hashem wanted the Yidden to bring things from all three categories of domem, tzomeach, and chai. We know that the whole world is divided into four categories: domem, unmovable objects; tzomeach is the plant life; chai is animal life; and medaber is the human race. Now, in the nedavos of the Mishkan, there were things that belonged to the category of domem, things that belonged to the category of tzomeach, things that grew like the wood, and things which were in the category of chai, like the skin of the animals, etc. Now, which things were in the category of domem? So we find in the Chumash that they were זהב, כסף, ונחושת: gold, silver, and copper. Because in the Mishkan they used gold, they also used silver, and they also used copper, and therefore, they were asked to donate זהב, כסף, ונחושת. But the question that could be asked is, why was the Mishkan made also of כסף ונחושת, of silver and copper? Why wasn't everything made of gold? Just like we find concerning the Beis HaMikdash, because we know that משכן איקרי מקדש, the Mishkan is called Mikdash, and the Mikdash is called Mishkan, as the Gemara says in the beginning of Eruvin. So it would come out that whatever we find concerning the Beis HaMikdash should also apply to the Mishkan. And concerning the Beis HaMikdash, we know the din is that it had to be made the most wealthiest way possible, if only possible, as the Rambam says in Hilchos Beis HaBechirah, פרק א׳ הלכה י״א and הלכה י״ט. And this went as far as the Gemara tells us in Tamid, Mishnah in תמיד פרק ג׳, that הישקו את התמיד בכוס של זהב, that when they would water the animal that they would have to שחט for the קרבן תמיד, they would give him to drink in a kos, from a vessel made of gold. And the Gemara there in דף כ״ט עמוד א׳ gives the reason, because אין עניות במקום עשירות. There is no such thing as poverty in the place of riches, and since the Beit Hamikdash is a place of riches, so there is no such thing as poverty. And the Gemara there says that this was not a guzmah, this was not an exaggeration, but it actually means that they used a golden vessel to give the animal to drink before they would shachat it. Which means that even though this was a vessel that was only used to give the behemah to drink before its shechitah as a korban, which was not a major thing in the avodah of the Beit Hamikdash. This vessel was not from the כלי המקדש, it wasn't one of the vessels of the Beit Hamikdash. This was just a kli that was used for an animal that later on they would be makriv it. And what was the use for? It wasn't for an avodah in itself, but it was in order later on, when they would have to skin the animal, it should be easier to take off. As the Gemara says in ביצה דף מ׳ עמוד א׳, משום סירכא דמשכא, which means that when you water the animal before you shachat it, then when you take it off, there will be no סירכות, or when you take it off, it'll be easier to skin, and for that reason they had to water it. So even though giving the water to drink to the animal is a very, very small, minute detail in the preparation of the korban, nevertheless, being that this was something of the בית המקדש, אין עניות במקום עשירות, there's no such thing as poverty when it comes to riches, and they made this vessel out of gold. So if such a small thing in the Beit Hamikdash, which was only used as a preparation to a korban, was made of gold, so certainly the more important things would have been made of gold. And since we know that משכן איקרי מקדש, the Mishkan and the Mikdash are the same, so the same thing would apply to the Mishkan. So wouldn't it make sense that the Mishkan would be made only of gold? That wherever they would have to use some kind of metal, it should be gold and not silver and copper. So why did they use silver and copper also? Concerning silver, we really could answer that since there is something special in silver over gold, as the Midrash in the beginning of this parshah, Midrash Rabbah tells us, so therefore, since there is a maalah in silver over gold to a certain detail, the Mishkan had to have that maalah also. Since the Mishkan had all the maalot, and there is a maalah in silver over gold, therefore the Mishkan had silver also. But this is only concerning silver. But what about copper? We don't find there should be a maalah in copper, so therefore, it should have been made of gold, maybe of silver also, but not of copper. So why was it that Hashem told them to make some things in the Mishkan of copper, and therefore, when they donated the donations, they had to give copper also? We cannot say that simply the Yidden at that time did not have enough gold, even with silver, to cover everything, and therefore they had to have copper too. because the Gemara says in פסחים דף קי\"ט עמוד א' that at that time the Yidden had כל כסף וזהב שבעולם, all the silver and gold of the world. Because it says that Yosef had collected in the time of the hunger all the כסף וזהב שבעולם, all the silver and gold of the world, and he hid them. When the Yidden went out of Mitzrayim, they took it along, so they had all the gold and silver of the world. And not only the Yidden as a whole had so much gold and silver, but each individual Yid had plenty of gold and silver. As the Gemara says in Bechoros דף ה' עמוד ב', and also in Tanchuma it says in Beshalach כ\"ה, Rashi also brings it in פרשת בא קפיטל י\"ג פסוק י\"ג, שאין לך אחד ואחד מישראל, there was not one single Jew, שלא היו עמו תשעים חמורים לובים, that he didn't have 90 loaded donkeys, טעונים מכספה וזהבה של מצרים, loaded with the silver and gold of Mitzrayim. Now if each person had at least 90 donkeys loaded with gold and silver of Mitzrayim, they definitely had enough gold and silver to cover everything with gold and silver. So why did they have to use נחושת, copper, in the Mishkan?

The answer to this will be understood based on what it says in sefarim that silver and gold and copper represent the three categories of Bnei Yisrael, which are tzadikim, baalei teshuvah, and reshaim. כסף, silver, represents tzadikim, as the Gemara says in Sanhedrin דף צ\"ו עמוד ב', ואין כסף אלא צדיקים, that כסף is tzadikim. זהב, it says, represents baalei teshuvah, and copper represents reshaim. We know that the word tzibbur, which means the community, the whole tzibbur of Klal Yisrael, is an abbreviation. According to one pshat, the abbreviation is tzadikim, beinonim, and reshaim, and according to another pshat, it is tzadikim, baalei teshuvah, and reshaim. So כסף, it says, represents tzadikim, זהב represents baalei teshuvah, and נחושת represents the reshaim. And this even fits to the way it is al pi kabbalah, that it says that זהב is sefirah of gevurah, כסף is chesed, all based on what it says in the Zohar in the first חלק דף ר\"נ עמוד א', and in the second חלק דף קמ\"ח עמוד א' ועמוד ב', and דף רכ\"ד עמוד ב', and many other places. The word כסף also comes from the word נכסוף נכספתי, which means desire, which is connected to ahavah, which is connected to chesed, and therefore it represents tzaddikim, because a tzaddik is a person who has a desire to Hashem, and therefore he is represented in כסף. זהב, which is the ענין of gevurah, the color of זהב is similar to the color of fire, which goes up, which is like a baal teshuvah who is running away from his past and going up, getting closer to Hashem. And נחושת, that represents reshaim. And that is why the word נחושת is connected to the word נחש, which means a snake, which reminds us of the נחש הקדמוני, of the first snake, who brought Chavah and Adam HaRishon to do the aveirah with the עץ הדעת, which is the source of all aveirot. And therefore, נחושת represents the ענין of reshaim. And this is the reason why they had to have כסף and זהב and נחושת in the building of the Mishkan, because the Mishkan was supposed to be a Mishkan for the whole of Klal Yisrael. So just like we said before that the word tzibbur is made up of tzaddikim, beinonim, and reshaim, or tzaddikim, baalei teshuvah, and reshaim, because even reshaim are also part of Klal Yisrael. As the Gemara says in Sanhedrin that ישראל אף על פי שחטא ישראל הוא, that a Yid, even if he sins, he's still a Yisrael, still a Yid, and he's still a part of Klal Yisrael. And when the Eibershter told him to build a Mishkan, it was supposed to be for every single person of Klal Yisrael, including for the resha'im. Just like we find a din that when you have a תענית ציבור, it says you have to have חלבנה, you also have to have an ingredient in the ketoret which didn't have such a good smell, to show that we include everybody in the tefilah. So too, when Hashem told him to build a Mishkan, it was supposed to help everybody. When He told Moshe Rabbeinu to build the Mishkan, He said, ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם, you shall make for Me a Mikdash, and I will dwell amongst them, and we know the famous saying from Chazal brought down in different sefarim: בתוכו לא נאמר אלא בתוכם, it doesn't say that He will dwell in it, in the Mishkan, but בתוכם, in them, which means every single Yid has the השראת השכינה, has Hashem dwelling within him, everyone is like a Mishkan to Hashem, including the resha'im. Therefore, when they built the Mishkan, it had to be made of kesef, zahav, and נחושת to represent all categories of Klal Yisrael. Now the purpose is so that the rasha, too, should have the Shechinah within him, and it'll bring bring him to do teshuvah and he will become a baal teshuvah. But nevertheless, even before he becomes a baal teshuvah, he still has the Shechinah within him, being that he is a Yid. And this Shechinah itself will bring him later to become a baal teshuvah. But the Shechinah is within him even before. And this is why the Mishkan was made of kesef, which represented tzaddikim, zahav, which is even more expensive than kesef, represented baalei teshuvah, just like the din is that במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדים צדיקים גמורים אינם יכולים לעמוד, that in the place where baalei teshuvah stand, even a complete tzadik cannot stand there, so they are greater than tzadikim, therefore they are represented in zahav, and also nechoshes, which represents the reshaim.

We find something else in the Mishkan, which also shows us that the Mishkan is connected to all three categories of tzadikim, baalei teshuvah, and reshaim. Because generally we find three opinions concerning the commandment of Hashem to build the Mishkan and the building of the Mishkan itself. One opinion we find in the Zohar, in the second חלק, דף רכ״ד עמוד א׳, that not only the commandment, but also the making of the Mishkan, all took place before the חטא העגל. And the Zohar explains that that is the reason why it says by the חטא העגל, ויתפרקו כל העם את נזמי הזהב אשר באזניהם, that they took off the golden jewelry from their ears. Lichorah, if they took along so much gold and silver from Mitzrayim, so why did they have to take off the gold from their ears, their earrings, to give for the eigel? And the Zohar says this is because they already gave away a lot of their gold and silver to the Mishkan. So this is one opinion, that the commandment for the Mishkan and then the actual giving of the donations for the Mishkan took place before the חטא העגל yet. A second opinion is just opposite, that not only did the actual giving and donations for the Mishkan take place after the eigel, but the commandment of Hashem to משה רבינו, ועשו לי מקדש ושכנתי בתוכם, was also said after the חטא העגל, on Yom Kippur, and the reason was כדי שידעו כל האומות שנתכפר להם מעשה העגל, that all the nations should know that Hashem forgave them for the מעשה העגל. This is the way it says in Tanchuma, in פרשת תרומה, and Rashi in פרשת כי תשא, קפיטל ל״א, פסוק י״ח and קפיטל ל״ג, פסוק י״א says the same thing. Then there is a third opinion, and this is also in the Zohar, but in a different place in the Zohar, in the Zohar in the second חלק, דף קצ״ה עמוד א׳, and this is also the opinion of the Ramban in the beginning of Parashat Vayakhel, that the commandment of השם, ועשו לי מקדש, was said before the חטא העגל, but the Yidden heard about it and they brought their donations to the Mishkan after Yom Kippur, which was after the חטא העגל. Now we know that אלו ואלו דברי אלקים חיים, which means whenever we have differences of opinion in Torah, they are all true, they are all the words of Hashem. Which means that even though physically it happened only according to one of the opinions, but nevertheless, spiritually, every opinion is right, which means in ruchniyut every opinion is right. And therefore all three opinions are true concerning the Mishkan, which means really that the Mishkan represents all three things. Now what is the difference between these three opinions? The difference is as follows: After מתן תורה, before the חטא העגל, all the Yidden were in the level of tzadikim. Because even though we know it says in Midrash that הללו עובדי עבודה זרה והללו עובדי עבודה זרה, that even the people in, the Yidden in Mitzrayim, also worshipped עבודה זרה, and they did other aveirot. Nevertheless, when they went out of Mitzrayim and they came to מתן תורה, they were converts, it says. They were nisgayer at that time, as the Gemara says in Yevamot דף מ״ו עמוד ב׳. And we know that גר שנתגייר כקטן שנולד דמי, that a ger when he converts, he's like a child that's born, as the Gemara says in Yevamot דף כ״ב עמוד א׳. Mimela, whatever he had and whatever he did before doesn't count. Mimela, all the evil that the Yidden did in Mitzrayim didn't count because they became like new people. And not only that, the Gemara tells us in Shabbat דף קמ״ו עמוד א׳, and also in the Zohar חלק ג׳ דף נ״ב עמוד ב׳, that the tumah, the evil, the impurity that came into the human race at the time of the חטא עץ הדעת, when the Yidden stood by מתן תורה, that also went away. פסקה זוהמתן, the זוהמא and the tumah went away. Mimela, after Matan Torah the Yidden became like tzaddikim because the past didn't count at all. But then they did a terrible aveirah, the חטא העגל, which was the source of all aveirot. Because we said before, really the חטא עץ הדעת was the source of all aveirot. But by Matan Torah the tumah of the חטא עץ הדעת left us. When they did the עגל, the tumah came back. So the עגל is similar to the חטא עץ הדעת, which is the source of all aveirot. And that's why Hashem says whenever He punishes for any aveirah, He will punish a little bit for the חטא העגל because that brought the possibility of other aveirot, as the Gemara says in Sanhedrin דף ק״ב עמוד א׳, also brought down in Rashi in Parshas Ki Sisa. So at that time, they became came reshaim. Then after Yom Kippur, when Hashem forgave them for the aveirah, and He said סלחתי כדברך, then they are like ba'alei teshuvah. They're not like gerim, that the past doesn't count at all, they are like ba'alei teshuvah. And this is the difference between the three opinions in the Mishkan. According to the opinion that even the giving of the donations for the Mishkan took place before the עגל, so it comes out that the Mishkan generally has a connection to tzaddikim, because at that time the Yidden were on the level of tzaddikim. According to the opinion that said that even the commandment to make the Mishkan of Hashem took place after Yom Kippur, to notify the world that Hashem forgave them for the חטא העגל, it comes out that the Mishkan has a connection to ba'alei teshuvah. According to the opinion that the commandment was given before the חטא העגל, and later on they gave the donations after the חטא העגל, and during the time in between the commandment still was valid, so it comes out that the Mishkan has a connection even to the resha'im, because the commandment was given before they did the aveirah, when they did the aveirah, the commandment was still there, Hashem didn't take it back, so it comes out that the Mishkan has a connection to the resha'im also. And this fits to what we said before, that they had to have כסף, זהב, and נחושת in the Mishkan to show that the Mishkan is connected, the hashra'at haShechinah is there, to tzaddikim, to baalei teshuvah, and to the resha'im, so too, these three opinions tell us the same thing. They tell us that the Mishkan is connected to tzaddikim and to baalei teshuvah and also to the resha'im. Being that אלו ואלו דברי אלקים חיים, it means that all three opinions are right, so they all tell us one major thing: that the Mishkan is connected to the whole tzibbur, to tzaddikim, baalei teshuvah, and even to the resha'im. And this is the lesson that this teaches us: that we have to remember that not only within tzaddikim is hashra'at haShechinah, and not only within baalei teshuvah is hashra'at haShechinah, or in beinonim is hashra'at haShechinah, but even in resha'im. The only difference is that the tzaddikim and the beinonim and the baalei teshuvah, they reveal the Shechinah that's with inside them, but the resha'im, they don't reveal it. And therefore, we have a job to reveal within the resha'im the Shechinah that's within them, in order to change them from being resha'im to turn into baalei teshuvah. And when they turn into baalei teshuvah, they will even have a greater revelation of Shechinah than if they would have been tzaddikim, because במקום שבעלי תשובה עומדים, אפילו צדיקים גמורים אינם יכולים לעמוד.