Vayakhel

 

From an essay by Rabbi Nancy H. Wiener in "The Women's Torah Commentary"

 

Why is this portion, Vayakhel, different from all other Torah portions?

 

Not once, but repeatedly, this Torah portion specifically mentions the women as a significant group among the Israelites. It gives us a taste of the variety of ways that women contributed to the vitality of the people's material and spiritual life.

 

In this portion, Moshe assembles (Vayakhel) the people and conveys to them God's instructions for building the Mishkan, the portable desert Tabernacle in which God's presence will dwell.

 

The Torah then says:

 

"Men and women, all whose hearts prompted them, all who wanted to make a wave-offering of gold to God, came bringing brooches, earrings, rings, and pendants – gold objects of all kinds." (Exod. 35:22)

 

AND

 

"And all the women whose hearts' wisdom was in their hands spun what they had spun in blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and in fine linen.  And all the women whose hearts prompted in them great skill spun the goatsí hair." (Exod. 35:25-26)

 

AND

 

"And so the Israelites, all the men and women whose hearts moved them to bring anything for all of the work that God, through Moshe, had commanded to be done, brought it as a freewill offering to God."  (Exod. 25:29)

 

In this short section (Exodus 35:20-29), we learn much about the ways that women were capable of participating in communal endeavors.  Contrary to today's popular conceptions, Israelite women did have their own possessions.  Everything was not the property of their husbands.  And they were recognized as having wills of their own!  They could freely take from their possessions to make an offering to God.  Their own hearts moved them to have their own relationships with God.  Women's special skills and talents enabled the entire community to reach its sacred goal.  With their own hands, they spun multicolored yarns and varied fabrics into articles to be used in the service of God.  In the hands of the women who excelled in particular handicrafts, raw materials were transformed into holy objects. 

 

The outpouring was so abundant that Moshe eventually turned to the people, at the request of the lead artisans, and proclaimed throughout the camp, "No man or woman shall do more work for the holy offering!  And the people ceased bringing; the effort had sufficed for all the work to be done and more" (Exod. 36:6-7) 

 

 

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