Parshat Vayakhel

2003

Making Things Holy

As this week's Torah portion begins, Moses, having come down from the Mount Sinai with a set of intact tablets, gathers (vayakhel) the Children of Israel and begins relating the commandments to them. He starts with the commandment of rest on Shabbat and continues with the subject that will dominate the rest of the parsha, that of the donation of raw materials to and the building of the mishkan, the tabernacle, and the vessels and garments associated with it.

As the parsha unfolds, men and women alike come forward to contribute many of the items needed for construction - gold, silver, and copper, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, semi-precious stones, animal hides, acacia wood, oils, and spices. They bring so much in fact that - in Exodus 36:6 - Moses asks them to stop their donations, their gifts having been more than sufficient for the tasks at hand.

In general, we are not told which individuals donated which objects. We read that "all whose hearts moved them" made offerings. Additionally we learn that people gave both according to what they owned (everyone who had in his possession acacia wood for any work of the service brought that), and to the trades they knew (all the women who excelled in that skill spun the goats' hair).

It is curious then, that in Exodus 38:8 we read the following: He (Bezalel) made the laver of copper and its stand of copper, from the mirrors of the women who performed the tasks at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

Here the text not only tells us who made the gift but also the purpose of the material before and after its donation. We learn from the Midrash that Moses did not want to accept these gifts – signs of vanity – for use in a place of holiness, but that God implored him to do so.

Rashi teaches that, while in Egypt, women used these mirrors – in a playful game of "who's the fairest of them all" - to entice their husbands who might have otherwise been too physically and mentally beaten down to participate in the creation of future generations. To the women, the mirrors were not a symbol of vanity but rather a precious possession which symbolized their faith in the future.

Rashi, Exodus 38:8
From the mirrors – The Israelite women had in their possession mirrors that they would look in when they put on their jewelry. Even these mirrors they did not withhold from the donations to the Tabernacle, and Moses was disgusted with them because the mirrors were made for the evil inclination. God said to [Moses], "Accept the mirrors, for they are more precious to Me than anything else, since with the mirrors the women brought many hosts of children into being." When their husbands were oppressed with slave labor, the women would go and bring them food and drinks, and feed them. They would bring the mirrors with them and each one of the women would look at herself in the mirror with her husband and entice him with worlds, saying "I am more beautiful than you." From this they would make their husbands desirous and have sex, and the women became pregnant there (in the fields), as it says: "Under the apple tree I roused you" (Song of Songs 8:5). And this is why [the Hebrew for the word mirror in our verse is] "marot tzovot" which can be read as "mirrors of hosts." The laver was made from these mirrors because its purpose was to bring peace between husband and wife in the Sotah ceremony (see Numbers 5).

Your Rashi Navigator
1. Why was Moses disgusted by the women bringing these mirrors? Do you think he was correct?
2. Why does God treasure the mirrors more than anything else that was offered for the construction of the Tabernacle?
3. What does this Rashi teach about making holy that which on the surface appears not to be?
4. Can you think of other things that seem to be intended for the evil inclination that we make holy? What?

A Word
The Hasidic rabbis taught that before entering the Mishkan, the priests would first wash their hands and feet in the laver, or basin and, as they did this, would see their own reflections in the mirrors. The mirrors reminded them that they had to be pure of heart when they went into the Mishkan as they did not serve on their own behalf but on behalf of all of the people – the people who donated to the creation of the Mishkan because their "hearts moved them". Here as well, mirrors are not a symbol of vanity but rather objects through which the communal leaders were reminded of their priorities and their role.

I recently heard the story of a Jewish communal leader who attached a sticker, on which the sh'ma was written, to his bathroom mirror. He said that as he shaved in the morning and brushed his teeth in the evening he was reminded of his place in the world, and was thankful.

In Jewish life, there are very few things which are inherently holy, but many things that can be imbued with holiness. What will you make holy today?

Prepared by Rabbi Toby Manewith, Senior Director of Jewish Education, George Washington University.

Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Vayakhel at MyJewishLearning.com.