[Index of all Weekly Divrei Torah pages]
This week’s Torah portion (Vayakhel) reviews many of the same details that are found in a previous parsha – Terumah. There, Moshe received the commandment to tax the Jewish people with three different taxes and with the money, to build the mishkan, or tabernacle. The same commandment is re-issued in our parsha, albeit with differences in the language. Our parsha states, “Collect from among yourselves a donation for G-d; every person whose heart inspires him should bring a contribution for G-d.” (Ex. 35:5). To begin with, there seems to be a contradiction within the verse itself. First, it commands the Jews to bring a contribution (“Collect from among yourselves..”), and then it follows up by implying that the contribution is voluntary (“every person whose heart inspires himŔ). The Kli Yakar (a famous commentary written by R’ Ephraim of Blunget) asks this question and answers that there are two commands within the verse. The beginning of the verse commands us to bring a certain monetary donation that was incumbent upon every Jew. The end of the verse contained a second command – for every Jew to bring yet another donation, of whatever amount he wanted.
However, there’s a catch that makes this resolution untenable. The same commandments were first issued in parshat Terumah – and there the verse does not mention a voluntary contribution. There, the Torah says, “Speak to the Jews, and take from them a contribution for me, from each and every man whose heart inspires him take my donation. And this is the donation that you should takeŔ (Ex. 25:2-3). Even though this verse mentions “inspiration of the heart,” clearly the emphasis is upon what Moshe needed to “take” from the Jews, rather than upon what they would give voluntarily. That being the case, it is difficult to explain that the end of our verse (in Vayakhel) applies to a voluntary donation, since the original commandment didn’t seem to include such a commandment.
Another possible explanation is that the verse in Terumah was said to Moshe, with the intention that Moshe should instruct the treasurers – those who collected the funds from the Jews. However, in our parsha (Vayakhel), we see Moshe gathering the entire Jewish people together to convey G-d’s commandments. It is logical that when speaking with the treasurers (as in Terumah), Moshe would emphasize that they must “take” from the Jews, while when speaking to the Jews, he would emphasize that they must give, of their own volition. However, here again the explanation doesn’t work. We don’t find any commandments in the Torah that Moshe initiated. He never said more than he was commanded by G-d. On those occasions when he did seem to add details, they were details that he received from G-d, even though they were not written in the Torah. But in our case, the commandment to build the tabernacle was written in great detail in the Torah, covering the entire process of construction. Yet, we do not find anywhere amongst all the details that the Jews had to bring a voluntary donation. So, it is difficult to suggest that in our verse, Moshe tells the Jews to bring a donation of their own volition.
The most likely explanation is the following. The purpose of the tabernacle was to provide atonement for the sin of worshipping the golden calf. This was an extremely serious transgression, coming as it did while Moshe was on Mt. Sinai receiving the Torah. However, Moshe asked G-d to forgive the Jews, and He did so. The proof of forgiveness was that G-d revealed Himself to the Jews in the tabernacle. But, how do we know that the Jews did tshuva, regretted the sin, and sought G-d’s presence? This was demonstrated by the donations that the Jews brought in order to build the Tabernacle. Their regret for the sin was demonstrated in that instead of bringing gold to build the calf, they now brought it to build the tabernacle. And among the donations, the one that most demonstrated their wish to cleave to G-d and the Torah was the voluntary donation. The required donations could have come for other reasons – because they were obligatory, for example. However, the only reason to bring a voluntary donation is as the Torah says; because one desires to bring it. We see that the Jews put a lot of effort and energy into the building of the tabernacle – so much so that the materials they brought were dai vehotar – more than enough. We can assume that it was the voluntary donations of the Jews that attained forgiveness for them, more-so than the other contributions to the building of the tabernacle. That is why in the first verse commanding the donations (in Terumah), the emphasis is upon “taking” (lekicha) the donation from the Jews. The treasurers were commanded to “take” the donation that the Jews brought of their own volition, because it was not so necessary to issue a command for the Jews to “bring” (that the Jews should bring of their own volition is emphasized in the verse in our parsha – Vayakhel). Something that the Jews wanted to do of their own initiative did not require a command, so the emphasis in this verse is upon “taking” the offering from the Jews, and not that the Jews should bring.
This emphasis comes to expression not only in the building of the tabernacle, but also in the manner in which G-d’s presence came to dwell and to be revealed in the Tabernacle. The question is asked, how could the Jews have fallen into such a terrible mistake? How could they entertain the thought of building and worshipping an idol at the very time that Moshe was bringing down the Torah, which is founded upon one G-d, indivisible and all-powerful? And especially, how could they have made such a mistake after months and years of observing and hearing Moshe’s admonitions and teachings? The answer lies in the nature of matan Torah – the giving of the Torah. It was an act from Above to below. It didn’t take into account the nature of the lower world. G-d appeared to Moshe on Mt. Sinai, and while He gave the initial commandments, the physical universe received them. But, the minute the giving was finished, and G-d’s presence departed from the mountain, it returned to its previous state. The same was true regarding the Jews. They had received much revelation of G-dliness. They had seen many signs and wonders. But, they had not worked on and transformed themselves. They were not appropriate receptacles for all the revealed G-dliness. That is why they sinned – because even though the Torah was given from Above, the Jews had not done enough to prepare themselves from below. That changed with the giving of the voluntary offerings in order to build the tabernacle. The fact that the Jews gave, of their own volition and initiative, demonstrated the kind of readiness from below that made the Jews proper receptacles for the Torah. In response, G-d rested His presence in the mishkan – the holy tabernacle.
Armed with this comprehension, we can understand a subtle difference of language between the two commandments in Terumah and Vayakhel. The verse in Terumah states, “from every man whose heart is inspiredŔ which seems to apply to men alone. However, in our parsha, the verse states, “every person whose heart is inspiredŔ apparently applying to both men and women. Moreover, we know that when Moshe gathered the congregation (in our parsha), it included the women, and women played an active role in contributing to the building of the mishkan. So, why were women not included in the initial commandment in parshat Terumah?
The answer lies in the difference between men and women according to the Torah. On a spiritual level, the genders correspond to mashpia (mentor, or giver) and mekabel (receiver). The man plays the role of mashpia (giver), while the woman plays the role of mekabel (receiver). (Of course, this does not mean that all men are givers, or that all women are receivers. It means that the male role emphasizes giving and the female role emphasizes receiving. This may or may not apply to any given people, male or female.) A good demonstration is afforded by the way the Torah itself describes the written Torah and the oral Torah. The written Torah is called Torat avicha (“Torah of your father”) while the oral Torah is called Torat imecha (“Torah of your mother”). The reason is because the written Torah is given from above; it is a revelation coming from the mashpia (giver). However, the revelation of the Torah (in which the real meaning of the Torah becomes manifest in action) comes from below, from the Jews, who labor to interpret and explain the Torah. The oral Torah corresponds to the receiver, represented by the female who exerts effort from below to reveal the depth of the Torah.
And that is why in our parsha, the commandment to contribute to the mishkan includes women as well as men, while in parshat Terumah, it mentions only the men. The distinction applies only to the voluntary contribution, about which the Torah says, “he whose heart inspires him.” Regarding the other donations, there is a specific amount that everyone is required to give. However, there is no specific requirement for the voluntary donations – everyone gives whatever he is capable of and whatever he wants. When the Torah wants to describe a situation in which the Jews invest their own talents, abilities and initiative, it uses the feminine gender, because it is the woman who gives of herself, of her own volition. When the Torah wants to describe a situation in which there is a command that must be obeyed, regardless of circumstances, it uses the masculine gender. That is why parshat Terumah, where the emphasis is on the command from Above to below (from G-d to us), is not the place to mention women (even though they are included in the mitzvah). It is specifically in our parsha – Vayakhel – wherein the emphasis is on below to Above (regarding the Jews’ desire to atone for the golden calf and therefore bring donations of their own volition), that women are mentioned. And the emphasis expresses itself not only in the quantity of gifts, but also the quality. Not only did the women bring their most expensive items, but they used their talents and abilities to create more items; they used special methods to weave in a beautiful fashion (see Ex. 35:25-26) and they also donated the special mirrors that they used in Egypt for use as the sink and its stand in the tabernacle (Ex. 38:8).
In summary, parshat Vayakhel repeats the commandments of parshat Terumah, but from a different perspective. Vayakhel speaks to us from below to Above, and that is why it addresses women as well as men. The perspective that demands the involvement of the Jews, as the recipients of a tradition within which they must labor to produce results, is considered by the Torah to be a feminine perspective.
The Zohar on parshat Vayakhel says, “Rebi Abba said, ‘Gather the nation; the men, the women and the childrenŒ – just as elsewhere the Torah means the entire nation, so here [in Vayakhel] the Torah means the entire nation. And who were they? The six-hundred thousand.” This strange statement is not understood; the Zohar wants to compare the Jews as they were gathered to hear Moshe to the Jews as they stood in front of the king many generations later – and yet we know that the later mitzvah (called hakhel) included not only the six-hundred thousand male Jews over the age of twenty, but also all the women and children.
In other places as well, the Torah refers to the Jews as six-hundred thousand when in reality there were far more Jews present, including women and children. The number “six-hundred thousand” is mentioned by the exodus from Egypt and by the giving of the Torah, for example, where we know that there were six-hundred thousand men, but also many hundreds of thousands of women and children. So, why does the Torah neglect to count the women and children? But, the answer is as above; in all the above situations, G-d’s presence was making an “appearance,” so to speak, from Above to below. In such situations, the Torah didn’t include the women and children, since they are automatically included in the commandments to the men. Since they are adjunct to the performance of the men’s mitzvoth, the women and children were not counted. Only in a perspective emphasizing effort and labor from below are the women counted. About our situation, in which the Jews gather to hear Moshe command them to bring donations for the mishkan, the Zohar goes on to explain how it was different from the giving of the Torah. At matan Torah, the women were completely subsumed in the perspective from Above to below. However, Vayakhel emphasizes how within the commandments of the men (to bring the donations), the women also played a distinct role. Since in our parsha, the emphasis is upon the voluntary donations given by the Jews (associated with the mekabel, or receiver), there is also emphasis on the role played by women. As we see in their physical roles as well, the women went out of their way to contribute to the building of the tabernacle.
In all of this, there is a lesson in how to relate to other Jews, as well. We might think that in order to educate and bring another Jewish family closer to Torah and mitzvoth, it is sufficient to speak with the man of the family. We might assume that by maintaining contact with the man of the house, we will automatically have an effect on the wife and children as well. The lesson from our parsha is that it is not sufficient to deal with the man of the house alone. It is necessary to deal directly with the women (in a proper Torah context, of course) and to find ways of educating the children as well. In that way, we will see the most success in persuading the Jewish people to come close to their heritage in Torah and mitzvoth, and bring the meshiach (Jewish messiah) as soon as possible.
From Likutei Sichot of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, ztz’l, vol. 26, pp. 262-271
Rabbi David Sterne, Jerusalem Connection in the old city of Jerusalem