NOTES for Exo 35:1-35
It is not hard to notice in this text a clear boundary between what is required and what is desirable. There is what forms the foundation of relationship with God: love for Him, love for neighbor, the commandments engraved on the stone tablets. And there are things that each person decides for himself, as the heart commands, as the spirit feels. How many rings and earrings to give, what fabric to spin, whether to bring wood for the construction: each person decides all this for himself. Here the quantity is not important; here the person decides whether to give or not.