The Microcosm is the Macrocosm

And Moses assembled all he congregation of the Children of Israel and said to them: “these are the things which God has commanded to do them.”                                            Exodus 35:1

Three verses after this opening to the parasha, we read: “And Moses said to all the congregation of the Children of Israel, saying: this is the thing which God has commanded, saying” (verse 4)

Interestingly, the first verse, which uses the plural (these ... things), presents only a single law, the prohibition of kindling fire on Shabbat. On the other hand, the fourth verse, which uses the singular, presents a rather lengthy list of matters related to the construction of the Tabernacle its vessels and the priestly garments.

The lesson is this: in Torah, a divinely given system, the microcosm is the macrocosm. Any given mitzva reflects God’s overall program and can thus be seen as “these things”. Conversely, any group of mitzvot is “this thing” in conveying God’s plan.