פרשות ויקהל - פקודי / הרבּה דליה תיבון לגזיאל 14.3.10

–– – "– – – – – – – – ’s previous commandments to Moshe, to collect donations and build the Tabernacle, were followed. In our Parasha, In Parshat Vayakhel Moshe collects donations from the people of Israel – gold, silver, brass, expensive fabrics, oil, etc…
The fact that the procedure of collecting donations is an integration of obligation and generosity is fascinating. For example: at the beginning of Parashat Vayakhel :”And Moses spoke unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: 'This is the thing which the LORD commanded, saying: Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD, whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, the LORD'S offering: gold, and silver, and brass;” (Exodus, 35:4-5).
In this verse we can already see that God’s command on one hand and generosity on the other hand are combined. We can also see it throughout the whole Parasha, for example: “And let every wise-hearted man among you come, and make all that the LORD hath commanded:” (Exodus, 35:10) and “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and brought the LORD'S offering, for the work of the tent of meeting, and for all the service thereof, and for the holy garments.” (Exodus, 35:21), and there are many more examples.
The word every (wise, one) is repeated over and over many times and serves to emphasize the fact that everyone was obligated to donate. It is a joint commandment. But, as we can see, it is the decision of individuals to decide how much and what to donate. It is up to everyone’s kindness and ability.
Surprisingly, parashat Vayakhel emphasizes specifically the contribution and the generosity of the women who usually, do not play an important roll in the Bible, except maybe in Genesis. For example in chapter 35 verse 22 we are told: “And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted…”. Rambam when he refers to this verse interprets the saying “and they came both man and women” that the women were first to donate. They happily and willingly donated their jewelry and only after their donation the men joined and also donated.
As we said, in many places in this Parasha women’s contribution is emphasized together with a description of their generosity and wisdom, something that is rare in the Bible. “And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands… And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats' hair… The children of Israel brought a freewill-offering unto the LORD; every man and woman, whose heart made them willing to bring for all the work, which the LORD had commanded by the hand of Moses to be made” (Exodus 35: 25-29).
At the end of Exodus the building of the Tabernacle is finished and it couldn't gave been perfect without the help and the contribution of the women.
Symbolically, Exodus starts with emphasizing the important roll of the women in the destiny of the people of Israel. The two midwives Shifra and Pua who refused Pharaoh’s command to kill Jewish babies, Miryam and Yocheved who hide and rescued the Moses when he was a baby, and Pharaoh’s
According to tradition women did not participate in the making the golden calf. Midrash Rabah tells us that the women refused to donate their gold to make the calf as it is written: “And Aaron said unto them: 'Break off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives…'” (Exodus 32:2), because the women did not want to donate their gold to make the calf (Midrash Rabbah 21).
Here we see how the women, who immediately and willingly donated their gold to the sacred work of building the Tabernacle, avoided joining the men’s sin of idol worship.
But, despite of the fact that the women in this Parasha get the recognition they deserve, the verses that describe their contribution to the process of building the Tabernacle, was one of the main sources resulting in the exclusion of women from Jewish learning and Jewish culture. In the Talmud Rabbi Eliezer refers to the verse . “And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands” to conclude that all the wisdom of women is in the spindle (Talmud Bavli Masechet Sotah chepter 3 page 18).
Rabbi Eliezer also said to his son that he prefers that the Torah be burned and not given to women.
To our regret, we well know that through all generations this idea of Rabbi Eliezer's was accepted by most of the adjudicators. For thousands of years women were prevented from learning Torah, from Beit Midrash and from the discourse that has shaped reality. In all generations men bless God every morning for not making them women and immediately after, they bless for not making them a slave. It may be that in this reality, exclusion and objection are right.
Of course our culture was not created in a vacuum. For many generations women were inferior in all cultures and religions. We should be happy that in western society, the feminist revolution of the previous century paved the beginning, and only the beginning of the way of the equality of women.
Despite the traditional societies, many conservative circles in Judaism still hold onto the perception that discriminates and excludes women.
Nowadays we are witnessing the beginning of a change in the liberal movements and also in the religious Zionist movement. Women ask to learn Torah, they want to be counted in a Minyan, they want to be allowed to say Kaddish for a parent who has passed on.
Last Monday was international women’s day. On this day there were many discussions on the challenges women still face: a real equality in wages, in advancement in the workplace, problems of sexual abuse, women’s slavery etc…
In our Parasha and in the book of Exodus we can see principles of change regarding women. In Exodus women are independent and influenced the people's destiny and shaped it for generations. Not once were they responsible the salvation of Bnei Yisrael during critical moments. Without their contribution and wisdom, no sacred work would have been completed, not even the completion of the Tabernacle.
I will end with the blessing to be strong and with a prayer that we will be blessed in completing the sacred missions that women face on the way to real equality. Amen let it be.