Parshas Ki Sisa 5777

Single Things in the Tabernacle that Had Doubles

There were several things related to the Tabernacle and the Temple that seemingly there is only one of but may have additional doubles:

1. Urim veTumim - as explained last week, the mentions the existence of at least one other Ephod that has the same power as the Urim veTumim because the way it was created was known by Moses and passed down through the generations.
2. The Outside Altar - when the Tabernacle was not housed in a permanent structure and before the Temple was built, certain sacrifices were allowed to be brought on additional altars called "Bamos" that were outside the Tabernacle. Additionally, during the inaguration of the Temple, King Solomon temporarily consecrates the floor of the courtyard itself as an Altar (see Kings I, 9:64).
3. The High Priest - in addition to the High Priest, there was also a second Priest that was anointed for war. The Talmud (Makkos 11a) cites opinions that in the context of the law of the exiled murdered, the death for the Priest anointed for war counts to release the murderer from exile. The same goes for a High Priest that steps down from his position. The Talmud (Sotah 42a) also discusses a deputy High Priest who steps in when the High Priest becomes disqualified.
4. The Menorah - while the Torah describes only one Menorah, we do find additional ones mentioned in some places. For example, King Solomon made 10 additional Menorahs in addition to the original one from Moses (see Kings I 7:59 and Malbim there). There is also discussion in the context of Hanukkah about a temporary Menorah made by the Hasmoneans. There is also a visual disagreement between the Menorah depicted on the Arch of Titus (with curved branches) and the opinion of the Rambam (straight lines). This disagreement is explained by some as referring to two different Menorahs.
5. The Keruvim - the Torahs describes these as being attached to the lid of the Ark and looking like two angels with faces of children. However, King Solomon had a second set made that stood attached to the floor over the Ark (see Kings I, chapter 6). This explains how they were able to overlook the Ark when it was brought in (see Kings I, 7:6-7). Additionally, this also explains what the Talmud writes (Yoma 54b) regarding the conquerors of Jerusalem parading the cherubim around at the time of the destruction of the First Temple. Since the Talmud (Yoma 52b) states that the Ark was hidden long before that by King Josiah, it must be that the cherubim that were being paraded around later on were the extra ones made by King Solomon.
6. The Ark - as discussed last year, two arks existed - one used for war and one used in the Tabernacle (see Deuteronomy 10:1).
7. The Tent of Meeting - as discussed earlier, the original Tent of Meeting was setup by Moses after the Sin of the Golden Calf outside the camp (see Exodus 33:7-11). It was later replaced by the Tabernacle.

Some additional things that had doubles:

1. Mordechai and Esther -  both of them had two sets of names - Mordechai also had the name Pesachia, and Esther was also called Hadasah. It seems that one was their legal Persian name and the other was their personal Hebrew name. This would also explain why their names were similar to the names of Persian deities - it was a common custom among the Babylonians and later rulers of their empire to give foreign people names based on deities (see Daniel).
2. The Golden Calf - as discussed earlier, some opinions mention multiple calves being made.