Dear
Friends,
The Book of Exodus concludes
with the building of the
Tabernacle. In the courtyard
of the Tabernacle stood a
large copper utensil from
which the Kohanim
(ministers) washed their
hands and feet in order to
sanctify themselves for
their service in the
Tabernacle (Exodus 30:18,
19). In the following verse,
the Torah describes how the
artisan, Bezalel, made this
holy utensil:
“He made the utensil of
copper and its pedestal of
copper, with the mirrors of
the women who congregated at
the entrance of the Tent of
Meeting.” (Exodus 38:8)
The above verse reveals that
this holy vessel of
purification was made with
the mirrors of the women.
Why, however, were mirrors –
vessels associated with
personal vanity – used for
this sacred purpose? The
classical biblical
commentator, Rashi, cites
the following midrashic
explanation:
The women of Israel had in
their possession copper
mirrors which they would
look into when they would
beautify themselves. Even
those mirrors they did not
withhold from bringing for
the contribution towards the
Tabernacle. Moshe, however,
initially rejected these
items, because mirrors are
made for accomplishing the
ends of the selfish
inclination. Regarding the
mirrors, the Holy One,
Blessed is He, said to
Moshe:
“Accept them, because these
are the dearest to Me of
all, for by means of them,
the women established many
legions of offspring in
Egypt.”
Rashi then adds the
following information which
helps us to understand how
the mirrors enabled the
women to establish “many
legions of offspring”:
When their husbands would be
exhausted by the racking
labor imposed upon them by
the Egyptians, the women
would bring food and drink,
and feed them. Then they
would take the mirrors, and
each one would view herself
with her husband in the
mirror. And in a teasing and
enticing manner, each one
would say to her husband, “I
am better-looking than you.”
By these means, they would
bring their husbands to
desire, and have relations
with them. They would then
conceive and give birth, as
it is said, “Under the apple
tree I aroused you” (Song of
Songs 8:5).
In the spirit of the above
teaching, the Talmud states
in the name of Rabbi Avirah:
“Israel was redeemed from
Egypt in the merit of the
righteous women of that
generation” (Sotah 11b). Due
to their high spiritual
level, the women had a
strong faith in the future
of our people; thus, despite
the great suffering and
oppression, these righteous
women wanted to bring a new
generation of our people
into the world.
Our sages find another
example of their strong
faith in the following verse
which describes the
rejoicing of Miriam and the
women after the splitting of
the sea and the salvation of
our people from the pursuing
Egyptian army:
“Miriam, the Prophetess, the
sister of Aharon, took the
tambourine in her hand and
all the women went forth
after her with tambourines
and dances. Miriam called
out to them, ‘Sing to Hashem…”
(Exodus 15:20, 21)
The commentator, Rashi,
citing Midrash Mechilta,
offers the following
explanation as to why the
women had tambourines with
them:
“The righteous women of the
generation were certain that
the Holy One, Blessed is He,
would perform miracles for
them, so they took
tambourines out of Egypt.”
The women were certain that
future miracles would cause
great rejoicing, and they
therefore took the
tambourines with them in
order to celebrate!
The Torah previously stated
that Moshe and the men sang
after the salvation at the
sea (Exodus 15:1). Their
singing was an expression of
joy. The Torah reveals,
however, that the women not
only sang; they also danced
– an expression of
overflowing joy. I would
like to suggest the
following reason for their
overflowing joy: The
salvation at the sea
vindicated their previous
faith in the future of our
people, when they sought to
bring a new generation into
the world when we were still
slaves in Egypt.
During our long and
difficult exile among the
nations, we, as a people,
had faith in our future, for
we remembered all the Divine
promises regarding our
future redemption in the
messianic age. The faith in
our future helped to
preserve our identity as the
people of the Torah; thus,
our people still exist
today, despite the many
attempts during our exile to
“convert” us and despite the
pressures to totally
assimilate among the
nations. Our faith will be
vindicated in the messianic
age, when our people will
once again flourish in Zion,
and “Torah will go forth
from Zion” to all the
nations (Isaiah 2:3). We
will then experience the
overflowing joy which is
described in the following
Divine promise to our people
regarding our future renewal
in Zion:
“I shall yet rebuild you and
you shall be rebuilt, O
Maiden of Israel; you will
yet adorn yourself with
drums and go forth in the
dance of the joyful.”
(Jeremiah 31:3)
Have a Shabbat Shalom,
Chag Samayach – A Joyous
Festival,
Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen
(See below)
Related Teachings and
Comments:
1. When the Torah describes
the rejoicing of Miriam and
the women at the sea, the
Torah refers to Miriam as,
“Miriam, the Prophetess, the
sister of Aharon” (Exodus
15:20). Miriam, however, was
also the sister of Moshe, so
why does the verse only
refer to Miriam, the
Prophetess, as the sister of
Aharon? The following answer
is found in the commentary
of Rashi:
Miriam first became a
prophetess in her youth,
when she was only the sister
of Aharon, as Moshe had not
yet been born. It was then
that she prophesied that her
mother will give birth to a
son who will redeem Israel.
The source for Rashi’s
explanation is found in the
Talmud (Sota 12b, 13a).
2. The text of the Song at
the Sea is found in Exodus
15:1-18. According to some
commentators, verse 19 is
also part of the song.
As Rashi explains, Moshe led
the men in singing the Song
at the Sea; he would say a
phrase of the song, and they
would respond after him.
Miriam likewise led the
women in singing the words
of this song (commentary to
Exodus 15:21).
3. The Song at the Sea has
the following reference to
the ultimate destination of
the Passover journey:
“You will bring them and
implant them on the Mount of
Your heritage” (Exodus
15:17).
According to a teaching of
our sages, the above
statement is alluding to the
final “planting” of our
people in the Land of Zion
at the dawn of the messianic
age (Mechilta, B’Shlach 3).
As an example of this final
planting, the sages cite the
following Divine promise
regarding the messianic age:
“I will plant them upon
their land, and they will
never again be uprooted from
their land that I have given
them, said Hashem, your
God.” (Amos 9:15)
4. The Song at the Sea was
sung by the men and women of
Israel on the Seventh Day of
Passover. This song is
therefore the major part of
the annual Torah reading for
the Seventh Day of Passover,
which begins this year on
Sunday evening, April 14th.
5. At a later stage of our
series, I hope to discuss
examples of the strong
spiritual faith of the women
during our journey to the
Promised Land.