PRETTIFICATION
PURIFIED: PARSHAT VAYAKHEL
Shira Smiles shiur –
2019/5779
Adapted by Channie
Koplowitz Stein
As soon as Hashem commanded Bnei Yisroel to build a Mishkan/Tabernacle
so that Hashem could dwell among us, a building fund was created. No one needed
to be assessed a tax, for Bnei Yisroel had such a generous spirit that they
brought their donations with a full heart until Moshe Rabenu had to tell them
to stop, for they had quickly accumulated everything that was needed for the Mishkan’s
construction.
In Parshat Vayakhel the Torah tells us of the women coming to donate all
their jewelry and ornaments, accompanied by the men. The Torah lists the
various ornaments, bracelets, nose rings, rings and body ornaments. Why these
details? Could these items not have been included in the general donations of
gold and silver? Further, the language here is somewhat unusual: “Vayavou
hoanashim al hanashim…/The men came with the women...” But the word usually
used for “with” is “im”, not “al”. “Al” usually means “on”
or “above”. What is the significance of this strange usage?
The Mishkan was to be built after the nation sinned by creating and
worshiping the golden calf. If we look back at the incident of the golden
calf, we will note that the men brought their golden earring to Aharon to
fashion the idol. The people sinned with golden ornaments, notes the Midrash
and they will be forgiven through golden ornaments. [I found it interesting
that, while several kinds of jewelry are listed here, including nose rings and
ordinary rings, earrings are not mentioned here. It was specifically their
wives’ earrings that Aharon instructed the men to bring for the idols the
people requested, CKS] Perhaps this is the deeper significance of itemizing the
jewelry, for that which has been previously dedicated to the worship of foreign
gods cannot then be re-purposed to Hashem’s service. As the Ner Uziel
notes quoting the Meshech Chochmah, since this jewelry was still being
worn by the women, al hanashim,it had never been dedicated or used for
other purposes.
But why was it important for the husbands to accompany their wives? The Talmud
stipulates that what a woman owns belongs to her husband. Except for relatively
small, discretionary amounts, she needed her husband’s permission to donate
large amounts of money. Therefore, explains Seforno, since the men had
authority over (al) the women in these matters, the men came to validate
the women’s desire to make these donations. In addition to the financial
consideration, there was also a matter of shalom bayis/ serenity in the
household. When a husband brings his wife jewelry, it creates happiness between
them, writes Vayovinu Bamikra. Moshe Rabenu was therefore reluctant to
take the jewelry without the husbands’ consent.
Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l quoting Onkelos, offers an interesting
reading of this phrase; al/on refers to the jewelry still being on the
women. These were not ornaments tucked away and never worn. These were beloved
pieces that the women actually wore. Nevertheless, they were happy to be able
to donate them to the construction of the Mishkan. The opportunity to do
a mitzvah was more precious to these women (as it should be to us) than the
pleasure of wearing this jewelry. And the women were so eager to donate these
items that they didn’t even wait to remove them from their persons, writes
Rabbi Grossbard z”l.
The Tiferes Shimshon, Rabbi Pincus z”l, notes that money is the source
of the greatest percentage of marital conflict. Yet here, the husbands and
wives came to donate this gold to the Mishkan, for there is no greater
joy in a household than having the Shechinah/God’s presence hovering
over them as it did in the Mishkan.
Since jewelry is generally found with the women, writes Ramban, they eagerly
ran to donate their jewelry, not even taking time to take them off. The men
then followed (al/on the women’s heels), bringing with them any
additional jewelry. But the women were obviously more zealous in bringing their
donations, and therefore the women were rewarded with an additional holiday,
Rosh Chodesh.
Why was the Rosh Chodesh holiday an appropriate reward to the women? Rabbi
Mordechai Miller analyzes this question beautifully in his Shabbath Shiurim.
First, he quotes the Tur, that Hashem gave us the three Pilgrim
Festivals in the merit of our three patriarchs. The yearly twelve New Moon
Festivals were meant to be in the merit of the twelve tribes. However, when the
men sinned with the golden calf, breaking off their own earrings to donate,
they lost that merit, for the new moon is a symbol of God’s renewed presence
among His people. The women who had not sinned along with the men then earned
this holiday instead of the men.
However, there must be a specific connection between Rosh Chodesh and the women
beyond that the women inherited this holiday by default. Citing the Baal
Tosfos, Rabbi Miller z”l explains that the Sanctuary was permanently
completed and dedicated on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, and therefore Rosh Chodesh
constituted an appropriate gift to the women who had so enthusiastically
contributed to its construction. Rabbi Miller z”l deepens his discussion.
Citing the Maharal on a mishneh in Pirkei Avoth, Rabbi Miller z”l notes
that there are four types of temperaments in a person that form his
relationship between the emotions of anger and appeasement. There is the
extreme of easily angered and appeased with difficulty, and at the other
extreme one who is both easily angered and easily appeased. But one who is difficult
to anger and is easily appeased is one who has worked on his emotions to
control them.
Transferring this concept to the trait of generosity, Rabbi Miller z”l notes
that one who is by nature generous will contribute to every cause. These
were the men who contributed both to the golden calf and to the Mishkan. Those
who are by nature stingy will have difficulty contributing to any cause. The
women, however, demonstrated their dedication to Hashem with their generosity
to the Mishkan while proving their abhorrence of idol worship by refusing to
donate toward the golden calf, even at their husbands’ urgings. Both these
responses took effort.
Could we not then say that perhaps the women’s generosity was a spur of the
moment urge to be part of the movement? Perhaps they would later regret their
donation. Rabbi Miller z”l continues by pointing out that the women had ample
time to voice regret over their generosity. Prior to the permanent dedication
of the Mishkan, it had been erected and then dismantled every day for
seven days. Each day, the women could have hoped the Mishkan would
collapse completely, and they would get their jewelry back. Yet they rejoiced
at their participation in this project. So, when the Mishkan was finally
dedicated on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, and the women rejoiced, Hashem rewarded them
with Rosh Chodesh as their special holiday, in recognition of their devotion to
Hashem that culminated in the dedication on Rosh
Chodesh.
The Biyaler Rebbe tells us that Rachel Imenu is associated with Rosh Chodesh,
as is alluded to in our Rosh Chodesh Mussaf Prayer. The letters of the
first three words, Rosh Chodesh le’amcha..
form an anagram for Rachel, as she initiated celebrating Rosh Chodesh. (Further
treatment of this connection must be reserved for another time.) From this
idea, Rav Eliyahu KKitov brings a completely different perspective to our
discussion, specifically associating Rochel Imenu with the women and the Mishkan.
Rabbi KiTov reminds us that for seven years Yaakov Avinu worked to earn Rachel
Imenu as his wife. During that time, he occasionally sent a gift of jewelry
through Lavan for Rochel Imenu. But Lavan was already planning the deception to
substitute Leah Imenu for Rochel Imenu, so he gave the gifts to Leah Imenu.
Rachel, understanding what would transpire, kept silent, even knowing that
Yaakov would be marrying Leah Imenu instead of her. Rachel Imenu gave Leah
Imenu the signs, and in other ways helped to foster shalom bayis/family
peace and tranquility between Yaakov and Leah Imenu. The women in the desert
also gave up their jewelry for shalom bayis, for the Mishkan’s
purpose was to foster shalom bayis in addition to bringing us closer to
Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Since the women acted selflessly for the same reasons as
our ancestress Rachel Imenu, they were rewarded with the holiday of Rosh
Chodesh, the holiday she initiated.
Chidushei Harim lead
us in a completely different direction. They understand our verse to mean that
although the men came later, they rose above/al the women. Using the
same circumstances, that only the men and not the women contributed gold for
the idol, they maintain that by bringing gold now for the Mishkan, the
men were atoning for their sin. Therefore, they believe in the precept that,
“Where a baal teshuvah/repentant one stands, a completely righteous
person cannot stand.”
Rabbi Tauber then continues to explain that, like a Rebbe, Hashem will bring a
newcomer close to him to make him feel more welcome and belonging. The longtime
chassidim, although a bit further away from the Rebbe than this welcomed
newcomer, will certainly understand the Rebbe’s lessons more clearly than the
newcomer would. The baal teshuvah is not greater than than tzadik;
he just stands in a different place.
When one “does teshuvah”, one is not “atoning”, but returning to his initial
place, and now channeling those desires and resources that brought him to sin
in a new direction, to serve Hashem, explains the Imrei Chemed of Gur.
Tzadikim have never strayed, and therefore do not need to return. But this
experience gives the baal teshuvah greater clarity into his relationship
with Hashem. One can begin clarifying this idea by first exploring Moshe
Rabenu’s dialogue with Hashem after that sin. Instead of trying to minimize the
sin, Moshe Rabenu seems to emphasize how great the sin was. Moshe Rabenu knew
that only by acknowledging the enormity of the sin could Bnei Yisroel do proper
teshuvah. (By extension we, when we sin, our first step toward redemption must
also be full acknowledgment of what we have done.) A former sinner understands
how much he needs the help and guidance of Hakodosh Boruch Hu to stay on the right
path; a completely righteous person who has never strayed has difficulty
internalizing the need for Hashem’s constant help in remaining on the right
path. This gift of teshuvah that the men brought was in addition to the
material gifts that both the men and the women brought.
Rabbi Goldwicht z”l observes that Aharon told Bnei Yisroel, “These are your
gods who have brought you up from Egypt...” Based on this terminology, Rabbi
Goldwicht z”l posits that many idols were produced in addition to the central
one.
From this simple reading, Rabbi Goldwicht z”l discusses the nature of sin and
contrasts it to the nature of mitzvoth. He posits that although several people
may join together for a particular sinful act, each one has a personal goal and
agenda, based on his own unique personality and character, that this action
will help accomplish. Although Korach and his company of men all challenged
Moshe Rabenu’s authority, each wanted to further his own stature rather than
achieve a common goal. Contrast this with Bnei Yisroel’s acceptance of the
Torah where they camped in the singular, with one purpose and one heart.
Similarly, all Bnei Yisroel were uniting to build the Mishkan for the
singular purpose of bringing Hashem’s presence into our midst.
Each of the men had taken his gold to form his own idols, to achieve his own
desires. Now the men had a deep desire to do teshuvah. They understood that to
achieve true repentance, they would have to take those same materials and
re-channel them to the new, sacred, and common purpose. The women, who
generally express individuality and style more through accessories and jewelry
than through the clothes themselves, never used the individuality of their
jewelry for sinful purposes. Because the men had to work harder than the women,
backtracking first and then moving forward, the women could not stand in the
same place as the men.
From Rabbi Goldwicht z”l’s analysis, each of us should try to recognize our own
individual “style”, our gifts and talents, and learn to channel them toward
mitzvah observance and community good. We should recognize the opportunities
Hashem sends us to do mitzvoth, a shaliach at the door, a donation
request in the mail, a call for volunteers for a chesed – so many
opportunities. We should take these personalized enhancements with which Hashem
has gifted us, and joyously and zealously use them for the common good and
mitzvoth, just as the women in the desert rushed to bring their personal gifts
for the construction of the Mishkan.