Prettifications Purified
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.