"Ve'asisa Shulchan Atzei Shitim". What purpose did the Shulchan serve?
Ramban (in Pasuk 24) and R. Bachye #1: It was the source of Parnasah ? When the Kohanim ate a little of the Lechem ha'Panim from the Shulchan, Hashem sent His Blessing (Shole'ach Birchaso) 1 and they were satiated, and that blessing spread out on to the entire world. 2 3
R. Bachye #2: "Shitim" is the acronym of 'Shalom, Tovah, Yeshu'ah Mechilah'.
R. Bachye #3: The Shulchan is a Mizbe'ach Kaparah for a person's sins, and the bread on it a Korban ? if he is generous-hearted and feeds the poor on it. In fact, nowadays, when there is no Mizbe'ach, it replaces the Mizbe'ach as the source of atonement. 4
R. Bachye #4 (in Pasuk 24, according to Kabalah): The Shulchan with its golden crown hints at the Midas ha'Din shel Ma'alah, 5 which explains a. why it was placed on the north side 6 and b. why it had two covers, one of Tola'as Shani ? which represents the Midas ha'Din shel Ma'alah, and one of Techeiles - which represents the Midas ha'Din shel Matah, 7 8 and it is from the Midas ha'Din shel Ma'alah that Parnasah comes to the entire universe. 9
R. Bachye #5 (citing R. Chananel): Refer to 25:18:2.1:8.
R. Bachye: Which explains why it is called 'Shulchan'
Because, from the time of the Creation, blessing can only come from something that already exists. Seee R. Bachye.
See R. Chavel's footnotes on R. Bachye.
See R. Bachye citing B'rachos 55a.
R. Bachye: As the Pasuk writes in Iyov 37:22 "mi'Tzafon Zahav Ya'asah".
Which represents 'Gevurah'. See R. Bachye.
See R. Bachye.
R. Bachye: The Midas ha'Din shel Ma'alah (Binah) ? known as 'David Melech Yisrael Chai ve'Kayam' feeds the Midas ha'Din shel Matah (Malchus) - Malchus Beis David,
See R. Bachye end of Dibur.
Why does the Torah discuss the Shulchan before the Menorah?
Rashbam: Seeing as the main purpose of the Menorah was to illuminate the Shulchan, 1 it stands to reason that the Torah discusses the Shulchan first.
Ba'al ha'Turim (in 38:1): On account of the Pasuk "Zeh ha'Shulchan asher Lifnei Hashem" - Yechezkel 41:22.
Oznayim la'Torah (in Pasuk 31): Bearing in mind the Midrash Tanchuma, which compares the Mishnah to the creation, the Torah begins with the Aron - since the Torah preceded the world, then the Shulchan, corresponding to the trees and vegetables, that Hashem created on the third day to sustain the world, and then the Menorah, corresponding to the sun and moon and luminaries, which He placed in the sky on the fourth day.
If the Shulchan represented Parnasah and the Menorah, Torah she'be'Al Peh (seeing as it had six lamps facing the center lamp), then the Shulchan had to come first because 'Im Ein Kemach, Ein Torah'. 2
Why was the Shulchan twice the size of the Mizbe'ach ha'Zahav that was next to it? And what is the reason for the specifications of the other Keilim?
Oznayim la'Torah: Only one 'row' of Ketores was place on the Shulchan, but two rows of Lechem ha'Panim on the Shulchan - each row taking up one Amah (the width of the loaves). The height of the Shulchan was one and a half Amos - the same as the Aron, but half an Amah less than the Mizbe'ach ha'Zahav (two Amos tall) - because, whereas the Kohanim only had to deal with the coals of the Ketores, the Shulchan contained two sets of six loaves piled one on top of the other, so it was for their convenience that the Shulchan was a little lower than the Mizbe'ach ha'Zahav. 1
As for the Aron - two and half by one and a half by one and a half height, it was just the right size to contain the two Luchos and the Seifer-Torah as the Gemara explains in Bava Basra. Moreover, with the lid, the Aron was ten Tefachim tall - just the right height for the Shechinah - which never descended below ten Tefachim - to rest on it and communicate with Moshe from there - as the Gemara explains in Sukah, 5a.
