“On the day Moshe completed erecting the Mishkan …” (Numbers 7:1).
Once upon a time there was a king who had a feisty queen, who often, often, gave him a hard time. One day the king asked her to make him a royal cloak. She began her work.
As long as she was involved in the project she didn’t fight with the king. She finished the cloak and presented it to the king. The king was quite pleased with it. He said, “Oy vey, oy vey.”
The queen asked, “Pardon me, your highness. I worked diligently to do as you requested. Why are you so upset?”
The king responded, “I think the work is beautiful. It’s just that, as long as you were busy sewing the cloak you didn’t get angry, and you didn’t fight with me. Now that you’re finished and have nothing to do, I’m worried that you’ll provoke me!”
God says the same thing. “As long as My children were busy building the Mishkan, they had no complaints. Now they’re going to start!”
(Midrash Tanchuma, Naso #12)
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