*1 I am aided in this series by the following Sefer
   ------------------------------------------------
   The MISHKAN and the Holy Garments
   ------------------------------------------------
   by Rabbi Steinberg, TORAS CHAIM, Jerusalem 5752

   We will therefore frequently cite many Rishonim/Acharonim
   and other opinions. ARE PRIMARY FOCUS will always be
   explanation of the Biblical text

   This book was loaned to me by the family of an elderly
   incapacitated person whom I lained for last year in his house

*10 There are a variety of other verses speaking about WHERE
    prophecy took place For example Ex25-21:22 states
    --------------------------------------------------------
    Place the ark cover on the Ark and in the ark place
    the 10 commandments AND I WILL DESIGNATE THAT PLACE FOR
    YOU AND I WILL SPEAK TO YOU THERE FROM ON THE KAPORETH
    BETWEEN THE KERUVIM ALL THAT I COMMAND THE JEWS
    ---------------------------------------------------------

    But as we just saw Ex28-42:43 suggests that God spoke
    to Moses from the Copper altar and this is justified
    by the SPECIFIC-GENERAL style.

    There are 2-3 resolutions of this
    ------------
    RESOLUTION 1
    ------------
    It is known that Moses grade of prophecy is special
    Therefore God spoke to Moses from between the Keruvim
    while God spoke to prophets in later generations, like
    Ezekiel, from the altar

    -------------
    RESOLUTION 2
    -------------
    More easily we can suppose that Moses received the
    Torah in prophecies between the Keruvim while other
    prophecies of Moses (eg those dealing with war) or
    of other prophets were from the altar.

    -----------------
    RESOLUTION 3
    -----------------
    Rashi suggests that some Talmudic sages think ALL
    prophecy was from the Keruvim while Ex28-42:43 when it
    says I WILL DESIGNATE THAT PLACE FOR PROPHECY, is referring
    not to the ALTAR but to the whole TEMPLE.

    However such an approach does NOT explain the
    SPECIFIC-GENERAL style above.

    --------
    SUMMARY
    --------
    The symbolic significance of why Prophecy happened from
    the Copper altar vs from the Kerubim is not clear.

    The reader should therefore take from here the method
    of INTERPRETING THE SPECIFIC-GENERAL style. In other
    words the main point from this rashi is that the pair of
    verses Ex28-42:43 first makes an incidental comment
    that prophecy happened at the place of the altar and
    then generalizes this and asserts that all meeting
    (God-man) happened there. Again
    http://www.RashiYomi.com/example7.htm
    contains many other examples of how the Bible uses this
    style.

*1 ALthough Ex20-21 requests construction of an EARTHERN altar
   for offering BURNT & PEACE OFFERINGS from SHEEP and CATTLE
   nevertheless, we are explicitly told in Ex27-02 and Ex40-29
   that the altar at the TEMPLE DOOR was made of wood and
   coated with copper and used for the daily burnt offerings
   and the peace offerings

   This is a standard Biblical technique which Rabbi Ishmael
   called the technique of INFERENCE FROM CONTRADICTORY VERSES
   For a complete discussion see the following url
   http://www.RashiYomi.com/ri-14.htm
   We outline there 5 methods of resolving contradiction.

   One of these 5 methods is the method OF 2 ASPECTS.

   In this case we assume that COPPER-WOOD-EARTH are 3 aspects
   of the altar construction

   -- the altar was made of WOOD
   -- it was COATED with COPPER
   -- it was FILLED with EARTH
   Hence the two verses: Make me a COPPER ALTAR and Make
   me an EARTHERN altar--the COPPER and EARTH are 2 ASPECTS

   This altar was placed at the TEMPLE COURTYARD DOOR.
   It is called the COPPER ALTAR and it is the main altar for
   the various procedures such as the DAILY OFFERING, the
   PEACE OFFERING, the MINCHAH LIBATIONS etc.

*2 According to these verses there was a wood-built altar
   COATED with Gold that was placed before the curtain to
   the holy of holies. This altar is called the GOLDEN ALTAR

   THe Bible is copiously explicit about what could and could
   not be done on this altar:

   ------------- 2 things were done on the altar ---------------
   Mandatory Ketoreth Perfume offerings were offered 2wice daily
   Certain Day of Atonement sacrificial blood was sprinkled
   -------------------------------------------------------------

   ---------------- 3 things could not be done on the altar ----
   No BURNT offerings could be offered on it
   No MINCHAH or LIBATION offerings could be offered on it
   No STRANGE KETORETH PERFUME OFFERINGS could be offered on it
   -------------------------------------------------------------

   Finally the phrase STRANGE KETORETH PERFUME OFFERINGS is
   interpreted by Rashi to mean VOLUNTARY KETORETH OFFERINGS
   (in contrast to MANDATORY KETORETH OFFERINGS). Rashi in my
   opinion infers this FROM THE EXPLICIT OTHER VERSE in
   Lv10-01 which calls the VOLUNTARY KETORETH OFFERING
   offered by Aarons sons as a STRANGE KETORETH OFFERING

*3 The STONE altar seems to be a special altar made only on
   entry to Israel. It was used to offer BURNT and PEACE
   offerings showing the Closeness of the Jews to God

*10 Here are the 9 Rashis and a brief synopsis of what they
    say. The overall tone however is that Rashi is making
    inferences from OTHER VERSES. For the general atmosphere
    of this approach see the list and footnotes above.

    Ex30-01a Rashi explains that the GOLDEN altar is for
             Ketoreth. He does this because the paragraph
             EXPLICITLY states this in verses Ex30-09:10

    Ex30-09a
    Ex30-09b Rashis Ex30-09a and Ex30-09b should be placed
             together as one Rashi. As indicated above
             Rashi translates STRANGE KETORETH as VOLUNTARY
             KETORETH. Rashi derives this meaning from the
             EXPLICIT story and language in Lv10-01

    Ex30-09c Rashi simply explains that BURNT offerings were
             offerings of animals while MINCHAH offerings
             were offerings of PLANTS. Thus Lv01 describes
             the  animal offerings while Lv02 describes the
             Minchah offerings

    Ex30-10a
    Ex30-10b
    Ex30-10c The verse states that Aaron will ATONE ON THE
             GOLDEN ALTAR ONCE A YEAR FROM THE BLOOD OF
             ATONEMENT

             This is a cryptic phrase. It is however made
             clear by the procedures in Lv16 (see Lv16-18)
             which describe
             --------------------------------------------
             mixing the blood of the day of ATONEMENT
             animal sacrifices and SPRINKLING IT BEFORE
             GOD
             ---------------------------------------------

             As in clear from the description of the PLACE
             of ALTARS in Ex40-26 vs Ex40-29 only the
             GOLD ALTAR was described as BEFORE GOD

             Thus Rashis main focus and derivation was
             from the other verses. (More specifically
             I think it a mistake to think that Rashi was
             deriving anything from internal grammatical
             principles--Rashis whole derivation comes from
             OTHER VERSES)