Vayekhel
Exodus 35:1-38:20
I Kings 7:40-50
When the women were asked by their husbands to donate their jewelry to build the Golden Calf, they adamantly refused. Later, when they were called on once again to contribute their jewelry, this time for the construction of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), their husbands expected them to refuse again. The men were proven wrong. (Daat Zekeinim MiBaalei HaTosafot)
The women demonstrated clearly that it was not about their attachment to their gems, but rather how the jewels would be used. For this gracious strength, women were rewarded with a special connection to the minor festival of Rosh Chodesh (the new moon) on which women (but not men) traditionally refrain from work. (Orach Chaim 417:1)
The Sheman Tov (Rabbi Dov Weinberger of Brooklyn) offers one beautiful explanation for the specific relationship between the contribution of the women and the reward of Rosh Chodesh, based on a midrash. The Torah states (Exodus 38:8): “And he made the washing basin of copper and its stand of copper from the mirrors of the multitudes who thronged to the Tent of Meeting.”
The midrash Shir HaShirim explains that during the worst times of Jewish slavery, the men gave in to great despair. They separated from their wives, believing there was no point to bring another generation into this world since their lot would be endless misery in bondage.
The women, however, refused to give up. They had faith that their slavery would ultimately end, that redemption would ultimately come, that there would be a future of freedom and opportunity for any children born even in the darkest hour of slavery.
With this in mind, the women, using their copper mirrors, beautified themselves. They went out to the fields to meet their laboring husbands. Beautified and made up and determined, they drew the men back to them, convincing them that it was right to have more children.
The mirrors became a symbol of their survival. Therefore, when Moses was reluctant to use them for the Mishkan,
G-d instructed him, “These mirrors are more precious to Me than anything else. Use them to make the washing stand of the Mishkan.” (Rashi, Ex 38:8)
Ibn Ezra points out that the Torah doesn’t give a specific size for the washing basin because every single mirror had to go into it no matter how big it would become — so sacred were these mirrors.
When the men were totally demoralized, the women were strong, the steady anchor of the people who kept the faith strong and insisted, “We must go on.”
When the Mishkan was constructed, the men were again overcome by depression. This time, because they understood that before the Golden Calf incident, there was no need for a Mishkan. G-d’s presence (the Shechinah) would have dwelt among all the people. The whole Jewish camp would have been Its home.
But the nation fell from grace when it sinned. From that time, the encampment would be divided into the camp in which the Shechinah was secluded behind the Mishkan’s walls and the camp of the Israelites. The sin caused everlasting damage. The men didn’t want to contribute to the Mishkan because they felt they would be putting the nails into their own coffins.
But the women again saved the situation. They declared, “What’s done is done. Now is the time to look to the future to embrace the Mishkan enthusiastically, to bring about the renaissance of the Jewish people.”
In Egypt, the faith and hope of the women saved our people physically. At the Mishkan construction, their faith and hope saved us spiritually. For this they were rewarded with the special status regarding Rosh Chodesh.
According to our sages, Rosh Chodesh, the festival of the new moon, celebrates the concepts of birth and renewal. Even in its darkest phase, we know that the moon will once again recover its full illumination. It is a symbol of hope for the Jewish people, who themselves go through cycles of darkness and light. It is the Jewish women who have shown themselves most sensitive to the ideas of faith and renewal who are most closely connected to Rosh Chodesh.
Shabbat shalom.
Rabbi Pinchas Lipner is dean of the Hebrew Academy in San Francisco.