Parshas Vayakhel-Pikudei 5786: Inner Reflection

                                                             Torah Parallels 

Parshas Vayakhel-Pikudei 

לעוי נשמת האדא בת מרדכי 

 

Inner Reflection 

Parshas Vayakhel–Pekudei describes the final stages of constructing the Mishkan and its vessels. Among the materials donated, the Torah records an interesting contribution. The passuk (Shemos 38:8) tells us that the kiyor was fashioned from the copper mirrors of the women who congregated at the entrance of the Ohel Moed. Rashi explains that these were the mirrors the women had used in Mitzrayim. Moshe Rabbeinu initially rejected them, since mirrors are associated with physical appearance and the stirring of human desire. Yet Hashem not only instructed Moshe to accept them, but even declared, “Eilu chavivin alai min hakol”, these are more precious to Me than anything else, because through them the women established the legions of B'nei Yisrael in Mitzrayim. 

This raises an obvious question. How exactly did Hashem’s response address Moshe’s concern? Moshe objected because the mirrors were associated with physicality and human desire. Hashem did not respond by reframing their use as something entirely spiritual. He did not say “they could also be used to see if your Tefillin are on straight” or some other mitzvah-related use. On the contrary, the response seems to affirm Moshe’s premise: yes, they were used to encourage attraction between husband and wife and to bring children into the world. If so, how does this answer Moshe’s reservation? 

There is also another difficulty in the passuk itself. The Torah describes the mirrors as belonging to the women who congregated “at the entrance of the Ohel Moed.” But at this point in the Torah’s narrative the Ohel Moed had not yet been constructed. So, what does the passuk mean when describing the women congregating at the Ohel Moed? 

The Ramban and Rabbeinu Bechaye explain that the phrase “Ohel Moed” here refers to Moshe’s tent, which functioned as such before the Mishkan was built. The Kli Yakar brings this explanation as well, but adds another layer. On a deeper level, the Torah is hinting to the extraordinary tzniyus these women demonstrated. The language of “Ohel Moed” echoes the description of Sarah Imeinu when Avraham says to the malachim, “Hinei ba’ohel”, “Behold, she is in the tent”, (Bereishis 18:9). The women who brought these mirrors to contribute for the Mishkan embodied that same modesty inside and out, in Mitzrayim and beyond.  

This middah that the women embodied is fundamental and the bedrock of what it means to live a life of kedusha. The mirror itself is only a tool. The question is not the object itself, but how it is used. We were created with the unique ability – and responsibility – to take physical tools and actions and elevate them, transforming them into vehicles of kedushah. When that happens, it is not merely a “loophole” or an “excuse”. Using the physical world for the purpose of kedusha is in fact the very purpose. We are the bridge between the spiritual and the physical, a neshamah housed within a guf. When we use our guf to interact in the world to ultimately serve the needs of our neshamah, we turn the physical world into one of ruchniyus, purpose, and serving Hashem. 

This is precisely what the women of K’lal Yisroel accomplished. They used the mirrors to stay away from tumah, and instead connect to kedushah. They did this against the incredibly strong current working against them: Mitzriyim were in power, B’nei Yisroel were hard at work, and there was despair all around. Yet the women held strong in Emunah and Bitachon looking to the future and not only ensuring “sur mei’rah”, but doubling down on “aseh tov”, and building K’lal Yisroel. This is what Hashem was answering Moshe. The association is in the hands of the user of the tool, and these mirrors were used for ultimate kedushah.  

This also explains why these mirrors were used specifically for the kiyor itself. Rashi notes that the waters of the kiyor would later be used in the process of the sotah, ultimately bringing peace between husband and wife. The sotah-water from the kiyor would clarify whether there had been an act of physical desire and tumah, or whether the kedusha of marriage remained intact. As the Kli Yakar further elaborates, the mirror of the kiyor reflects something deeper. It not only reflects what you look like on the outside, but reveals what you look like on the inside.  

May Hashem help us learn from the women of K’lal Yisroel, then and now, to use our guf and all our surrounding physical tools to elevate them and our actions in this world, and to lead a life of kedushah and tzniyus to continue strengthening this foundational layer of ruchniyus in K’lal Yisroel for generations.