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Shalom everyone and welcome to our study of Parashat Vayakhil. In Parashat Vaya Khil, there is a very interesting opening to the Pansha. The word Vayakhel means and Moshe gathered. He gathered, he brought all of the Jewish people together, all Am Israel together, and he spoke to all of them the commandments and the sayings that Hashem told him. And to our surprise, Moshe repeats two mitzvot, two commandments that we already heard about him, heard about them, we were commended about them. The first one is Shabbat. So six days you should do your work, and on the seventh day you should rest. This is a holy day for Hashem. And then the second commandment is bring donations and contribution in order to build the tabernacle, to build the Mishkan. So all the Mephalshim, all the commentators are really asking themselves a few main questions. The first question is what is so unique here? What is so special here that Moshe felt that he needs to gather all Am Israel, all the Jewish people together? Most of the times Moshe will tell something to Aaron, Aaron will tell it to his children, his children will tell it to the elders, and everyone will hear it for Moshe, and then they will spread the word. Here, at this specific moment, Moshe asked the entire Jewish people to come. In addition, Moshe chose two main commandments to repeat. One is Shabbat, the first one is Shabbat, and the second one is the contribution for the Mishkan, the tabernacle, which we already learned in Parashat, Turuma, and Tetzaveh. So obviously, the chronological order of these commandments is a little bit shaky in terms of when exactly did Moshe ask the Jewish people to bring those contributions to the Mishkan. And the third question is why Dafka? Why specifically these two commandments? So the commentators have many different answers, many different suggestions and ideas, and we will try to highlight a few of them. First and foremost, in terms of the timeline, Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo Itzhaki, one of the most famous commentators from France in the 11th century, says the following. Says Rashi, Le Machorat Yom Hakipurin Kesheyarad Minahar. It was the day after Yom Kippur when he went down from the mountain from Mount Sinai. Now, let's pause here and let's try to create the story. If you remember, the Jewish people obviously transgressed something which was horrific. And then Moshe destroyed the golden calf and went to besiege God for mercy among the Jewish people. And then Hashem told Moshe, you need to go up and down. And basically Moshe went up and down Mount Sinai, and at the end of the day, on Yom Kippur, Hashem granted the forgiveness to the Jewish people. Which, as a side note, I will tell you that on Yom Kippur, when we ask for Mechilah, for Slicha, for forgiveness, for atonement, every Yom Kippur, we basically try to quote unquote reuse the atonement and the forgiveness that God gave to Moshe and to the Jewish people for their sin of the golden calf. Which means Yom Kippur was established as a day of slikah, of forgiveness, and mechilah and atonement on that specific moment when Hashem said to Moshe, Salahti, I forgave you and the Jewish people for the golden calf. So now, after Hashem said, I forgave you, and also in Yom Kippur, Moshe, after Yom Kippur, Moshe went down with the second tablets, the Luchotchnim. That was the moment when Hashem told Moshe, go ahead, gather the people, and tell them about these two specific commandments, Shabbat and the Mishkan, the tabernacle. So, just in terms of the time, we see that this is very auspicious and very unique time. It's a time after God granted his forgiveness to the Jewish people. This is the time that, in a way, this gap that was between the people and God as a result of the golden calf of Chetaegel, somehow this gap was bridged. And Hashem and the Jewish people came together, came closer, and this is the moment that Hashem told Moshe, go ahead, gather the people, bring them together. So they will hear from you these two commandments and they will start to build the Mishkan in order to bring my divine presence into their midst, into their hearts. So, according to Rashi, perhaps the reason for the kehila for gathering all the people together was to show the Jewish people that God is interested in again to renew, to rejuvenate the relationship between the people and Hashem after this horrific scene of the Golden Calf. The Ibn Ezra, Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra, had a different take on the idea of Vayakhel, that Moshe gathered the people together. And he says the following Tam Vayakhil, the reason for Vyakel for the gathering of the Jewish people is mehu a colmi pivaraha mishkan shaitanadvu. Moshe wanted that everyone, every Jew, wealthy, poor, men, women, everyone should hear in their own ears that Hashem is asking them to donate, to contribute, to build for the building of the Mishkan, for the building of the tabernacle. Now, if you take a step back and you look at this commentary, you look and you say, okay, there are many other mitzvot that perhaps they didn't hear it straight for Moshe, but they heard it through the elders, through Aaron. So why was that so important here and now that everyone will hear it? I would like to suggest that perhaps the Ibn Ezra is also trying to refer to this specific phenomena that Moshe gathered all the people as a result of the Golden Calf. In a way, after the Golden Calf, there was some kind of division among the Jewish people. The people who actively created the Golden Calf died. Then the other people who didn't really participate, they looked down upon the others who did. Aaron was embarrassed as well. Shevet Levi, the tribe of Levi, basically were the warriors in order to stop whatever ramifications and consequences of this golden calf. So everyone was on his own. And now, after God granted forgiveness, the Ibn Ezra suggested that perhaps that's the reason. Why you need to bring them all together? There was a turmoil, there was a chaos, but now we start again. So the idea is after this animosity, I would say, even from within the Jewish people, and obviously the tension between the Jewish people and God, this is the time to come beyahad, to come together as one. So that's one idea. The second idea, perhaps, talks about equality. And what do I mean by that? Sometimes there are projects, national projects, communal projects, that only few people hear about it, and they are the ones to give the leading gifts, and the rest of the people feel like left behind, and they don't really feel that their dollars, that their money, that their contributions and donations really mean anything. So therefore, when you come to build the tabernacle, a place for the divine presence to dwell, Hashem says to Moshe, I want everyone to hear it straight from you. I want everyone to have this equal opportunity to donate as much as they want. But I want everyone to have to be at the same starting line. They all start together. Now, how much each one of them will bring? Would everyone give? That depends on them. But no one can say, Oh, I didn't hear about it. So, in a way, Hashem through Moshe invites the entire Jewish people to start at the same starting point so they can build the tabernacle together. So that's the Ibn Esra. The Urachhaim. Now we move many, many centuries after. We don't find it, it's pretty obvious that it was done. So why is it that here in this specific moment and time Moshe had to gather the Jewish people? Venir e. So the Orachim suggests an idea. Let's pause here. And let's go back a little bit. In terms of the story, we need to go a little bit backwards. After the golden calf, and Moshe went up to Mount Sinai for the first time, when he came down, his face shined. And he had so much light, it radiates so much that people were basically taking aback that they couldn't be with Moshe. He was too spiritual for them. He was too shiny for them. And they they he basically, in order to talk to them, the narrative itself says that he put like a veil over his face in order to talk to them. It was too much. Now it's interesting. Before the Golden Calf, they spoke to Moshe without a veil. After the Golden Calf, the spiritual gap between Moshe, the spiritual leader, and the Jewish people was so large that they just could not comprehend, they could not stand with Moshe at the same time, on the same floor. Moshe had to put a veil, which basically means what? It means that there is an obstacle, there is a barrier, there is some kind of a gap between not only the Jewish people and Hashem as a result of the golden calf, but also between Moshe and his people. Just think about, just last week we read about the golden calf. I think each one of us that read the narrative felt Moses' disappointment from his people. He took them from Itzraim from Egypt. He helped them so much. He told them, I'm coming back. I'm just bringing the Torah, I'm coming back. And they couldn't wait. And they built this golden calf. Even his brother was involved with it. You can understand, we can all, I think, fail how Moshe was so disappointed, it's almost like a parent. He looks at his child and he did everything for his child not to fail. And then the child chooses to fail. And there is this, you want to help him out, but you feel this disappointment, somewhat even frustration. Moshe was sad. And then the gap that already exists between Moshe and the people, because definitely Moshe was elevated spiritually because it spoke with God on a daily basis, this gap became larger. And therefore, says the Orachim. When Moshe came down, the people looked at him and said, Okay, we are taking a step back. We can't be with him. He's too spiritual for us. This is why Moshe at this specific moment, after the golden calf, he had to call all the people and say, Come come, come closer. I will not bite you. I know I have this special light, but you will get used to it. And this is, I think, a beautiful idea of the Oachim. Basically, Moses says to the Jewish people, Ashem forgave you. I will do the same. And I would like to renew, to rejuvenate, to bring it back to this kind of relationship we had before. That you could come to me without me putting a veil on. Come, don't be afraid. You did something terrible. But we can open up a new page. We can open up a new chapter in our book. And that's what the narrative was so meticulous to say. He asked everyone, everyone to come. I don't care if you were an active sinner and you were a passive sinner, if you did care about the golden care, if you didn't, all of you come together. Which I think is such a beautiful idea of also leadership. Moshe was frustrated, Moshe was disappointed, Moshe was sad, but yet he never lost hope in the people themselves. And giving them a second chance. Giving them the opportunity to come closer and to do what? To accept the second tablets and to build a Mishkan, to build a tabernacle to Hashem himself. This idea of taking a sin, taking a hed, a transgression, and to try to channel it into an opportunity, I think can be found in one of the most strange, different vessel that was constructed in the Mishkan. The Torah says, so he made the kiyor, the sink, from kapur. And what was that material from? The material that they used for the kapel, for the sink in the tabernacle, was made from marot tsovot. What kind of a material is that? Marot, mara is a mirror. So what does it mean? The mirror that was encamped next to the tent of meeting, uh it makes this this verse, it's so ambiguous and it's so unclear that it's very hard to really even not only to translate, it's hard to understand. So let's see what the commentators have to say about it. The Ibn Ezra said something with tremendous meeting meeting meaning. What does it mean, tsovot? Says the Ibn Ezra Kimishpatkola Nashimli Tiapotliot Pneembehol Boker Bembarot Nehoshet Ozhuchit al-Rasheim.

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Okay.

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He says that the common practice among women, I guess today it's also among men, but back then among women, that they will look at the mirror every day to comb their hair, maybe to put some makeup, so and to see that they look nice. Haman is Karim Besefer Ishaya, and it's also mentioned in the book of Isaiah. That was a common practice not only among Jews, but among all other nations, that many women will wake up in the morning, look at the mirror, comb their hair, put some makeup, and use the mirror to see themselves. Okay. Among the Jewish people, there were some women that served God. And how did they serve God? Interesting. The Ibn Ezra suggested that some of these women they decided they are going to serve Hashem and they don't need to look at the mirror every day. Enough. This is vanity. And also it can lead to all kinds of things. So therefore, those women basically gave up their mirrors. They said, no more. I will wake up in the morning, I will daven, I will give, I will do chesed, I will do kindness, but I am not going to look at the mirror to look at myself. So therefore, they gave those mirrors to the Mishkan, to the tabernacle, and they used it for building the sink. And then, says the Ibn Ezra, says the Ibn Ezra, and I'm going back to the narrative. So the Ibn Ezra reads this verse in the following way. So they made the sink from copper. What kind of copper? They use the copper material of the mirrors, that basically, I guess there was some kind of glass on this copper. So they will take the copper, use it to build the sink, and Hatsovot asherzavu, meaning the women that gathered and encamped around the tent of meeting to learn the mitzvot and to davin. So if we think about it, so there are two things that I think we need to pay attention to. The first is that the basis, the source for the Sink that was made out of copper, it was made as a result of those women giving up something that belonged to them, something that was important for them, but no more. In a way, it signifies what? It signifies the idea of sacrifice, which means this specific group of women that according to the Ibn Ezra, there were many of them, they decided that they're going to remove themselves from the main path, from something that was very common, and they decided that beauty, makeup, coming your hair, look at yourself in the morning, it's vanity. And therefore, we're going to concentrate on divening and learning, which, by the way, not uh going to elaborate on it too much, but the idea of what we call Nezirot, of women who dedicate their lives to serving God, was somewhat of a common practice in Christianity around the 12th century and to some extent among the Jewish people. So the idea that the Ibn Ezra try to delineate, try to describe is what? Is that as a result of the Golden Caf, some of the women, that by the way, according to our chazal, our sages, the women did not participate in the golden calf, they made an extra effort to come closer to Hashem. They gave up something of beauty to the tabernacle, basically paving the way to the idea, if you want to come closer to God, you need to give up something. Perhaps. That was the idea that Moshe also wanted to convey to the people. In order to come closer to God, you need to sacrifice a bit. So that's the Ibn Israel. Have that in mind when we see now Rashi. Rashi said something which is really a midrash, it's based on what our sages say, but let's try to analyze it. So very similar to the Ibn Ezra. Those ladies had mirrors in their hands, so then when they put makeup, when they will beautify themselves, they will look at the mirror. So until now we are fine. It's the same thing like the Ibn Ezra. So where is the difference? Take a look. Moshe did not want to accept those donations. Why? Because he says, look, you look at the mirror, you make yourself more beautiful, more attractive. That can lead to some other people look at you, and that can lead to all different kinds of things that we don't appreciate and we definitely do not encourage. So Moshe looked at those mirrors and says, No, no, no, thank you. We take only cash, okay? We don't take mirrors, especially not those ones. And in a way, maybe Moshe is correct. Hashem says to Moshe, uh-uh, accept it. Because these mirrors, this donation from the women, this is the most precious gift ever. It's more precious than any other gifts that anyone would bring to the Mishkan. Why? Because by those mirrors, these women were able to have a lot of children in Egypt and to continue the link and the and the idea of family in Egypt. Meaning in Egypt, because of the enslavement, many of the men decided, you know what, why should we even bother? Why should we have children? They will be slaves. Which, by the way, Moses' parents did the same. They separated, they didn't want to have kids. For what? But those women were able to beautify themselves, we will read it in a minute, and to continue Jewish families to grow and to be. And then Rashi brings them it rash, so after their husbands would come after a long day of slavery, and they will try to give some food to their husbands, and they will take those mirrors, and they will beautify themselves, and they will be with their husbands, and therefore they will have children and they will continue to grow the family. So let's pause here for a second, and this is, I think, one of the most fundamental values of Judaism. This little Rashi. First and foremost, let's talk about the narrative itself. I'm going back, you look at the Pasuk. So he made the thing out of Kapr. What kind of Kapr? So the Ibn Ezra, the commentator that we mentioned first, he read the Pasuk, the verse, that the word tsovot means what? People who are tzovetsava, meaning they come close to the tent of meeting. Rashi says something totally different. He says the word tsovot is from the word tsvaot, which means many people. Many people. And therefore, says Rashi, this ma'ot, this mirrors, even though that yes, it might be that it can cause many negative things, but it also caused something powerful. It helped the Jewish people to continue to have families and to grow their families. So therefore, be marot atzovot a shirt. So now, this is how Rashi reads the narrative. But now let's try to understand the meaning behind it. Rashi brings this beautiful story that the women brought those mirrors, and Moshe did not want to accept them. Moshe looked at that object and he says to himself, that's not a good object for the Mishkan. The Mishkan, the tabernacle, is all about holiness. It's all about purity. I can't bring in an object that can be used for something that is not that pure, something that is not that righteous, something that is not that pious. So we should keep it aside. Hashem conveys a message to Moshe which we need to hear. Hashem says to Moshe, those objects, these mirrors, they are the most precious gift to the tabernacle. And you know why? Because the idea of Judaism is to take something that might lead to some kind of negative things, might even lead to something that it can be something that we are totally against, but it depends on the user of how he or she used this object. You can use it for something negative, but you can elevate it to something that is so powerful, to an incredible opportunity of growth, and the incredible opportunity of flourishing and doing something that was so important, especially in Egypt, to create continuity for the Jewish people. Perhaps. Yes, the Jewish people transgressed a horrific sin. They transgressed a horrific uh uh mitzvah, not to God forbid to create an idol. The Jewish people did it, they found themselves in a very, very spiritual low. But from a spiritual low, you can grow, you can elevate yourself. There is no such a thing of doom and gloom that you are done. Even if you did something wrong, there is always a way up, a way back, a return, a way of the shuvah, a way of repentance. Rashi in this beautiful midrash basically is telling us Moshe didn't even get it. Moshe thought that the basis for the tabernacle is only something that is pure, and Hashem says to him, No, thank you. I didn't create the world perfect. I knew exactly when I created the world that there are some people who are going to choose wrong, and there are some people who will not understand, and there are some people who will understand, and it's up to them to take their talent, to take it as a challenge, to channel it to something good. And this is the mar'ot atso'ot. Those mirrors that people will look at them and say, ah, vanity. Hashem says it's not vanity. If it's being used right, it creates families. It created the Jewish nation. Rabshimson Raphael Hirsch in Germany gave an interesting insight into the same idea of the sink made out of copper made out of those mirrors. Says Rapshim Raphael Hirsch. Tam amokda. He says there is a deep reason for the fact that the sink that basically was used for what? To wash your hands and your feet, meaning the coins, hands and feet, which he interpreted as the sanctification of morality, the action and the aspiration, it was done from ma'ot, it was made out of mirrors. When the Kohen came into the tabernacle to do his service, he had to first wash his hands and wash his feet. And he took it from the water from the sink. The sink was made out of what? Of a material that is being used to amplify and to magnify our physicality. You look at the mirror and you look if you look good and if not, and you try to correct your uh your appearance, which means the sink, the basis for the sink, the basis for what? For the beginning of the priestly serving in the tabernacle, washing their hands and their feet, starts from where? From a material that is seems to be mutually exclusive to the purpose of the sink. So then he says, Nimtenulemed, we learn from it. This is beautiful. He says physicality, beauty, aesthetics is not something that is excluded from our Avudata Shem, from us serving God. The main idea is that the Kohen goes into the tabernacle, the first thing he does is what? He's washing his hands and his feet, remembering what? That him being a person, being a man, being a human being, it's not a deficiency. Judaism does not educate, encourage, or preach for a separation between body and spirit. What Judaism is trying to convey always is the sanctification of the mundane, is the sanctification of our physicality and to bring it together. There is no separation between being a human being and created a family to any aspiration of holiness. In Judaism, how do we call marriage kidushin from the word holiness? Even though this is some kind of a connection between a man and a woman, between a husband and a wife, between two physical human beings, we call it kdusha. We call it holiness. And therefore, says Rhapshimson Raphael Hirsch, this is a beautiful idea. Rhapshimson Rafael Hirsch says that in his opinion, he would like to suggest that perhaps when this marot, when these mirrors were given to the Mishkan, we didn't melt them. We put them almost as is, as the cover and as the material for the sink itself, which means we are not asking people to demolish, to destroy their inclination for beauty, for aesthetics, even for physicality. But it must be attached to holiness, to the tabernacle. I think that's Rapshimson Rephaal Hirsch. It teaches us so much about modern lives today. We are surrounded with so many different things that we might think that are not exactly spiritual, holy, sanctified. But we need to know that almost in almost everything, almost, we can sanctify it. We can channel it to something much more powerful, something much more meaningful than just the physicality of it. We can bring it to higher heights. And this is the idea of this ma'ot at suvot, those mirrors that they are basic uses for vanity, but at the same time they can become the starting point of kdusha of holiness. The Balaturim, Rabbiakov Balaturim in the 14th century in Spain, he has a way that in his commentary he will take the word in the narrative and he will show you how many times it's being used in Tanakh in the Bible. Now don't forget, in the 14th century there is no computer, he did it all by heart. And he takes the word bemar'ot, which we called mirrors, and he says, Arba Bamesurah. You can find this word four times in the entire Bible. One is here in our pasha, bemarrot atzovot. The second time is God says to Israel, to Yaakov, Bemarot Alaila, that's where when Yaakov basically was talking to Hashem regarding going back to Israel. One in Perekh Pasugimel, chapter 8, verse 3. I think this Bala Turim says it all. There are four times the word bemarot. Once in our parshah, which means mirrors, that you look at the mirror and you see yourself. The second time was when Hashem talked to Yaakov, Bemarot Alilah, which means like a vision. And two more in Ezekiel, when Ezekiel sees God, bem mar elokim in a divine vision. Says Baalaturi. These are all the verses that Ba la Turim brings. And Baalaturim says, Meaning the mar'a, a mirror, can become mar'e, a vision. It all depends on how we use things. Meaning the idea or one of the most fundamental ideas of Judaism is that in almost everything you can use it for bad things, negative things, but you can also use it for good, holy things. That is basically something so miniscule, something that you use just to see how you look, that can become ma'e lokim, can become a divine vision, it can become the beginning of the service of the tabernacle. This pasha that comes after the golden calf, this horrific transgression gives us the opportunity to have an insight for the true meaning of Teshuva, of repentance, of bridging the gap between us and God. The world that was created for us is not our enemy. In order to come closer to God, we don't need to separate ourselves from the lives around us. We just need to know how to use it. We just need to know that everything in this world has a divine spark in it. We need to find it. We need to elevate it. And we need to take the mirrors and to make out of them a divine vision. Thank you.