Assalamu everyone and thank you for joining me in the study of Parashat Vaya Khil. There is something very, very strange in Parashat Vaya Khil regarding one of the vessels that Moshe was commanded to build or to create and to bring to the tabernacle. And what do I mean by that? It says the following. So Moshe commanded them to create the basin or the sink from the choshet from kapur. With those marot tzovot. What is mar'ot tzvot? Even in Hebrew it's very hard to translate, even more so in English, but we will call them for now with those mirrors, some kind of mirror that they will take and they will create the sink. And the word tzovot is problematic. What does it mean, tsovot? So it seems to be maybe from the word tsava army that gathered together. What does that mean? And why would you use mirrors and who brought them? That's going to be our discussion for today. So, Targum Yerushalmi, the Jerusalem translation to the Torah says the following. And when they will come to Davin at the tent of meeting, this is a very, very interesting translation, which obviously has a commentary in it. He basically says there were women, very righteous, pious women, that they will come and dove in and pray at the tent of meeting. And they will pray for children, for having children. And then they will praise God and they will go back to their homes and they will get pregnant and they will give birth to righteous, pious children, and in exchange of it, or in recognition of the fact that their prayers were answered, they gave these copper mirrors to the tabernacle. So this is a very unique, special, interesting commentary that basically says that the sink where the Kohanim later on will wash their hands before they can do anything in the tabernacle was basically based on what? Donations by women, righteous, pious women, who gave those mirrors, but we don't understand exactly why Dafka, why specifically the mirrors, why not to give money, gold, their earrings, their rings, but they gave those copper mirrors, and they were accepted to be the foundation of that sink. That basically, again, that sink was the first entry, the first key for entry into the temple or into the tabernacle, without washing their hands and their feet, the Kohanim would not be able to serve. So the beginning of the Kohanim's journey basically begins with what? With this righteous, pious women. That's according to the Jerusalem translation. The Ibn Ezra, who lived in the 11th century, has a different interpretation. And he says the following. But there were a group of women within the Jewish people that they decided, you know what? We are not doing it anymore. We are removing ourselves from the pleasures or the desires of the world. And therefore, so they gave the mirrors as a contribution to the tabernacle to show that they don't need the mirrors in order to look at themselves anymore and to beautify themselves. They decided we don't need it anymore. But rather they come every day to Daven at the tent of meeting and to listen to Moshe giving a speech about the commandments. And in order to show that they are serious about it, they gave those copper mirrors to the sink, and they were accepted as a donation, and that was the foundation for the sink. This is very interesting because that uh it really presents us with uh some kind of a little bit of a complicated issue here. It seems to be that in order to come close to God, you need to obviously make a sacrifice, but those women had to sacrifice in a way their beauty, or at least to look at their beauty, in order to come closer to Hashem. Is that the right path? Is that what Hashem wants us to do? And why their contribution was accepted for the sync, we are still trying to understand what exactly is going on here. Rashi gives a tremendous insight into this issue. And he says the following Israel Ayubia Dan Marot Sherrootben. The women, the Jewish women had mirrors that they would look at them when they would beautify themselves. And even though they liked those mirrors, they wanted them, but when they were asked to bring a donation, they did not hesitate, and they brought even those copper mirrors to the tabernacle. Moses didn't want to accept it. He says, I don't want to accept those mirrors, because mostly those mirrors they beautify themselves in order to do something that it's maybe not appropriate. So I don't want to take something that was used for something that it's not appropriate. This donation. Why? Those mirrors are the most beloved contribution to the tabernacle more than everything else, more than the gold and the silver and the other copper and everything that was brought to the temple and to the tabernacle, those mirrors are more important. Why? Because because of those mirrors, those Jewish women were able to maintain Amisrael and to make it grow. Why? Because in Egypt, when the husbands were enslaved and worked very hard, so at lunch break or at dinner time, they would come and bring them food and some drinks. Basically, they gave hope up. They had no hope anymore. The husbands were enslaved, worked hard, didn't want to be there with their wives, didn't want to bring children to the world, didn't want to have families anymore, because for what? So my children will be slaves too? Enough, I'm a slave, and let it end with me. But the women, the Jewish women, are the powerhouse. They had emunad, they had faith, they understood, they realized that even though it's hard and it's dark now and it's challenging, and it seems to be that there is no hope, there is hope. And therefore, we need to have the next generation, we need to have another generation. Because there is going to be a generation that will get out of here of Egypt, will get the Torah, and will go into the land of Israel. We need to make sure, we need to secure the Jewish future. So, what do they do? At the end of the day, they bring food and drinks and they bring those mirrors, and they look at the mirrors with their husbands, and they start nudging their husbands, and they basically talk to their husbands, and their husbands believe that maybe there is hope, and then their wives get pregnant and they have children. Tsuvot from the word tsava, but not savah as an army, but like more people. So those mirrors, says Mush, says Rashi, were used for something that secured the Jewish future. Moshe looked at those mirrors and said, you know, those mirrors basically create temptation, seduction. You know, maybe we shouldn't bring it to the temple. Maybe we shouldn't bring it to the tabernacle to use it with kdusha, with holiness. Hashem says to him exactly the opposite. Those vessels that, yes, you can use for temptation, seduction, and all kinds of maybe inappropriate things, but you can also use it to secure the Jewish future, and that's what those women did, all of them. So not only that you should accept them, you should embrace this donation. Because without them, there will be no Jewish people. There will be no tabernacle. Says Rashi, this kyor, this sink that was made by those mirrors, was not only used for the Kohanim to come and to wash their hands and their feet, but also from that sink that will take the water. When there was a story about a husband that suspected that his wife deviated from the right path and it brings her to the Beta Migdash, what we call Isha Sutta, you will take this water from that sink, you will take the name of God, you will put it in a vessel, and you will erase the name of God for what? In order to bring peace and harmony between the husband and the wife. According to Rashi, the Pasuk that we begin with, this kion kosha, this sink that allows the Kohanim, the priest, to start their service in the Mishkan, in the tabernacle. And the same thing that brings shalom, peace, and harmony between a husband and a wife that has some kind of a feud and animosity was all established based on what? On taking a vessel that can be used for something that it might be inappropriate, to something of holiness, to something that will secure the Jewish future forever. Hashem says to Moshe, you are mistaken. You think that I don't like or that I would reject such a gift? Exactly the opposite. This is the most beloved donation that was brought into the Mishkan. I think this is an amazing lesson. Because you're talking about simple people in Egypt, women who took those mirrors, they looked at their husbands, and they said, We believe, we will have faith, we will overcome this darkness. Without them, we'll probably still be stuck in Egypt. That's what Rashi says. Rabbeinu Bahye says that perhaps there is another insight into this donation. And he says, So Rabbeinu Bachi asks a different question, says, Riga Riga, one second. Why do I need to have a special mentioning to the fact that the women brought those mirrors? We already know that the first time that Moshe Rabbeinu asked for donations for the tabernacle, everyone brought, including the women. And the women brought the rings, the earrings, nose rings, everything they brought to the temple. They brought to the tabernacle. So why is it that the Torah did not mention it? They brought the rings, the earrings, the nose rings, and also those copper mirrors. Why do I need to separate the gifts? So first, he wanted to separate between gold and silver, or really gold and copper. So one time it was about the gold, and one time it was about those copper mirrors. This is an incredible reason. Whatever they brought in terms of earrings and rings and nose rings, which was made of gold, it was just mixed with all the other donations that everyone else brought with the gold. So there was nothing unique. Basically, at the end of the day, it was all gold. However, those copper mirrors created a separate vessel, the sink, which was designated for its purpose. It was basically singled out from many of the other vessels, so everyone knew that that was given by the women, by the women that basically guaranteed the Jewish future. You can see how the commentators basically look at what this donation signifies and its meaning. And basically, this sync that was separate basically was almost like a constant reminder for all of us. A, look what you can do when you have faith, and B, how can you take something that can be used for something that it might be inappropriate? You take those mirrors that can be used for things that maybe we not maybe that we definitely do not encourage or embrace, to something that not only that we embrace, we love. You take something that can be used for two different things, for something that is bad and something that it's good, for hol oktusha, for the mundane or for holiness. We have nothing against something that it's mundane, just elevate it, channel it into holiness. And by doing so, God would say, Halalu Khavivim Alaimikol. This donation is the most beloved donation for me from everything else that was donated. Spoke about perhaps something very similar to Rashi but a bit different. And he says the following Tam Amok, there is a very deep reason, there's tremendous depth, but Uvdain, the factush yadayin viraglaim, that that same sink that was designated to wash the Kohanim's feet and hands, musar a ma'ase. So first, here says that the idea that the Kohanim, that the priests, before they start their service, they need to wash their hands and their feet. It's and the kadesh, it's not only to wash it, it's to sanctify it. So he says that the hands symbolizes the action. We do things with our hands. And the raglaim, the feet, symbolizes the sha'ifa, the aspiration. Because with the feet you walk, you walk towards a destiny. You walk, you walk towards a goal that you would like to accomplish. You aspire to achieve something. So basically, Rapshiv Shanal Fi here says that when the Kohanim, the priests, came into the tabernacle or to the Mikdash and they washed their hands and their feet, they basically sanctified their actions and their aspirations. So this sink was made out of what? Mimarot from mirrors. He says it seems to be that the material of that thing is mutually exclusive to its goal. The goal of the Sing is to sanctify the action and the aspirations, which means it's all about spirituality and sanctity and holiness. But it's the material is what? Is a mirror. What is a mirror? A mirror is what? Is something that basically magnifies your external appearance, your body. So it's mutually exclusive. You have the material that it's all about body, physicality, aesthetics, beauty, body, versus the goal, which is spirituality, holiness, sanctity. So how do you what? How do you reconcile this contradiction? Says Rapshim Shon Rafal Hirosh? So it's come to teach you. Specifically, this tension comes to teach you what? This statement I think needs to be taught everywhere. We believe that our religion is committed to this belief that what that the physicality and even I will call it the desire for beauty and aesthetics is not a separate entity that has nothing to do with kiddosh, with kadosh. With holiness, with sanctity. Exactly the opposite. God's request from us is to bring this bodily, materialistically, physically aspiration for aesthetics and beauty and bodily functions into the holiness. It's not a separate thing. There is no such a thing in our religion that when we come to a holy place, there we are holy, and then when we are outside of this holy place, we are the most physical bodily people. No. The first thing that comes, that enters the temple, the tabernacle, is what is our body. And we are not denying it, we are elevating it. We are re-channeling it into holiness. We do not condemn it, we do not reject it. We encourage marriage. The only one who was somewhat separate was Moshe Rabbeinu, but everyone else was married. Even Aharona Koen, high priest. We believe in marriage, we believe that there is a formula that can integrate and intertwine body, physicality, and spirituality. They are not mutually exclusive. He says this little hard to translate, but it's like it's this love for desires and for bodily functions or love is the first principle to some extent to a spiritual desire and aspiration. Because when I think about I have an aspiration to be spiritual, what does that mean? So think about your bodily desires. This is easier for a person to think about. I would like to be A, I would like to look like that. It's more visual, it's something concrete. Then take that and elevate it to something that is spiritual and holy. He says, He says, we also use that thing, as I mentioned before, to bring peace between what? Between a husband and a wife. The husband is suspicious that his wife deviates and she goes out with other men and she says, No way, I'm not doing it. He takes her to the temple and she drinks this bitter water. And if she's correct and if she's right and she didn't do anything wrong, not only that nothing will happen to her, but she will get pregnant and she will have children and she will have a lovely life. And it will bring them together for Kdusha, which means what? When the husband comes along and accuses his wife in something like that, we don't say, ah, you know what? Okay, separate, move on. No, we try to bring it together. We try to bring holiness back to their lives. And Hashem basically says, I would like to redwell in their home. Meaning that they took those copper mirrors and basically they didn't change them. They put them as is so everyone could recognize that the foundation of the sink and the way it was built, it was built based on those mirrors, the copper mirrors that the women brought. Most of the times, when I give something to the holy, I need to change it. It cannot be like that. There is going to be some kind of a change. But here there was an exception, says Rapshim Shon Rafar Hirsch. And the gift was taken and accepted. S is no changes. Why? In order to show everyone, look at the tabernacle or the Mishkan or the Bet Migdash. And everything is gold and it's melted. And no one can say, oh, you know, this is mine. This is it's your gold, my gold, it's the same thing. When it comes to the sink, everyone was able to recognize the mirrors, those copper mirrors, and everyone could realize what they mean. They mean that what? That something that it's the most, I will call it the vessel that basically magnifies physicality, body, external appearance, which you would think has no place in the Mishkan, has no place with spirituality and the divine presence and holiness and sanctity. This is the entry to Kdusha. I think Absim Show Nefile here, she's teaching us a tremendous lesson. There should be no animosity tension between our physical world and our spiritual world. There's definitely a recognition that we are made out of flesh and blood, and we have dreams, we have aspirations, we have desires. And does not say that there is anything sinful in having a body. However, there is a demand, there is a request, there is an expectation that we will take it and channel it to something that is holy. It's difficult, it's much easier to leave it outside of the temple, outside of the tabernacle. So when you enter the tabernacle, everything is holy, not a problem. The way you go out, you do what you want. You bring the body into the sanctity and you take the sanctity with the body. That's the entry to holiness. There is there are no restrictions, or I should say the idea of physical body and material things and physical things are not contrary to holiness. So that's Rapshim Shon Rifad Hirosh. The Balaturim, Abiyakov Balaturim, who was the son of Asher the Rosh, so he's in the 14th century in Spain, and he says the following Bamarot, which means mirrors. He says there are four times in Tanakh in the Bible that that word appears. One here, the second one is, or the first one really is in Bereshit in Genesis 46b, where and Hashem spoke to Yaakov in the Marot Alila. So their marot will be not mirrors, but rather vision. And then in Yeshel in Ezekiel twice, Bem Marot Elokim. Marot Elokim meaning in the vision of God. Says the Baalaturim, and this is almost like a play on words. Marot mirrors and marot visions. The Baalaturim suggests that this marot, the duels mirrors, became vision. The ability to vision or to see God. And I'll just bring the Psukim. And he says to him, Yaakov, Yaakov, Yaakov says, Here I am. Don't be afraid, go to Egypt, I'll be with you. And in Yechel Vatavirus, God brought Ezekiel in his vision to Jerusalem and to see, to see the temple. And another one, God brought me in his vision to the land of Israel. So what's the point here? According to Balaturim, which was it's very similar to what Rapshim Shalfali here says later on, and maybe what Rashi said as well, is that you take a mar'a, a mirror, which basically its goal is to look at me, to look if my hair is done correctly, if I look good, if I'm beautiful, if I'm nice, if I'm presentable. It's all about physical functions, physical appearance. And to take it and channel it into what? To mare a vision, to a spiritual vision. So it's not only to include it in holiness, it's much more than that. It's to use it in order to accomplish spirituality, in order to be able to see a vision, a spiritual vision of God, of the land of Israel, of the temple. Which means it's not only to donate it, it's to use it. It's to look at physical things as a a conduit, as an instrument for holiness. And if you think about Judaism in general, you can see something very interesting. Most of our mitzvot, most of them, has something to do with something that it's tangible, visual, action, something physical. There is the joke that every khad, every holiday, you know, they try to kill us, we won, let's celebrate and let's eat. Let's eat. It's not a joke. We are eating, and this is what? A mitzvah. We eat matzot, which is a mitzvah. We eat in the sukkah, we shake the lulav, we put on fillin, we keep Shabbat, we do things that are what we will call actions. We blow the shofar. There is only one day of the year that we don't eat and we don't drink and we don't take a shower and we don't take care of our external appearance. It's only Yom Kippur. One day a year, one day of 365 days. Because we believe that spirituality and holiness and sanctity is not separate from our physical appearance or physicality or even our material world. It's all intertwined as one. So the kiyo, the sink, was made out of those couple mirrors of those women. Not so much as the Jerusalem translation says that they were pious and righteous and they gave it up. We are not advocating for giving up physicality for spirituality. We try to encourage more and a way to bring them together, to integrate them. That perhaps is a more challenging thing to do. Is how you take this world, this mundane world, those physical day-to-day things that we do, and bring it into the sanctity, and not only when you are in a holy place, but even when you are in the marketplace, even when you are at work or when you are in a place that no one else can see you. This is how you build a true Mishkan. So this kiod, this ink was singled out from all the other places as a constant reminder of what you can accomplish when you look at the mirror and you see a vision of God. Thank you.