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Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
To make a tax-deductible donation in Israel, please contact:
Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
Email: dina@schechter.ac.il
Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
Box #3566
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3566
Attn: Mr. Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
Please indicate the donation is "for your joint Schechter Institutes program."
Checks should be made payable to the Jewish Theological Society of Canada and mailed to:
Jewish Theological Society of Canada
c/o Camp Ramah in Canada
3845 Bathhurst St., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, M3H 3N2
Phone: 416-789-2193, ext. 2139
E-mail: accounting@campramah.com
Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
Israel
For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
Your donation will be tax deductible in the US to the extent allowed by the IRS.
To make a tax-deductible donation by wire transfer in the US, please contact:
Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
To make a tax-deductible donation in Israel, please contact:
Dina Gudai, Israeli Representative
Phone: 074-7800643
Email: dina@schechter.ac.il
Please mail your check to:
The Schechter Institutes, Inc. (a 501(c) 3 tax exempt organization)
Box #3566
PO Box 8500
Philadelphia, PA 19178-3566
Attn: Mr. Avrum Lapin, North American Representative
Toll-free: 1-866-830-3321
Email: schechter@thelapingroup.com
Please indicate the donation is "for your joint Schechter Institutes program."
Checks should be made payable to the Jewish Theological Society of Canada and mailed to:
Jewish Theological Society of Canada
c/o Camp Ramah in Canada
3845 Bathhurst St., Suite 310
Toronto, ON, M3H 3N2
Phone: 416-789-2193, ext. 2139
E-mail: accounting@campramah.com
Please mail a check to:
The Schechter Institutes
Attn: Dina Gudai, Finance Department
PO Box 16080,
Jerusalem, 9116002
Israel
For assistance, please call Dina Gudai at 074-780-0643 (8:00 AM – 3:00 Israel time Sunday through Thursday).
We at Schechter are so excited about the construction of the Tabernacle that we have two videos for Parshat Vayakhel one of which you can watch below.
Dr. Shula Laderman, lecturer in Judaism in the Arts at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, draws comparisons between two cases when Israelites gave gifts. First there is the problematic giving of gold and silver for the construction of the golden calf. Then in Vayakhel there is the redemptive giving of gold, silver and mirrors for the construction of the Tabernacle and the laver, a basin used for ritual washing.
What were the values behind donating valuables to build a golden calf versus doing so in order to build the Tabernacle?
Watch the video and read the full article below:
In the previous parasha we learned about the enthusiasm with which the Israelites offered their gold jewelry to make the Golden Calf and the devastating results of that episode. Now in Parashat Vaykhel the Bible tells us of their generosity in connection with the creation of the Tabernacle and its furnishings: “Men and women all whose hearts moved them, all who would make an elevation offering of gold to the Lord, came bringing brooches, earrings, rings and pendants. Everyone who would make gifts of silver or copper brought them ….” (Exod. 35:22, 24). The text emphasizes that the people brought these offerings of their own free will and even gave more than was needed. Obviously we sense here that the Israelites wished to atone for their grievous sinning in connection with the Golden Calf.
The text of this parasha, which describes the Tabernacle furnishings in detail refers to the laver in only one somewhat ambiguous verse: “He made the laver of copper and its stand of copper from the mirrors [mar-ot] of the women [ha-tzov-ot] who performed tasks at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” (Exod. 38:8).
What is the special significance of this single verse? Why does the text stress the fact that the copper for the laver was to be taken from the women’s copper mirrors and not from other copper donated for the Tabernacle? Why did Moses choose to use mirrors, an object of feminine vanity, for making the vessel in which the priests would wash and purify their hands and feet? What were the “tasks” that the women performed at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting?
Art by Avner Moriah ©
Avner Moriah’s painting hints at the answers. Of all of the Tabernacle’s furnishings mentioned in the parasha, he focused on the laver, a sign of sanctity for the priests according to God’s command in the previous parasha: “Make a laver of copper, and a stand of copper base for it, for washing and place it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Put water in it…. And let Aaron and his sons wash their hands and feet there in water drawn from it…they shall wash their hands and feet, that they may not die…” (Exod. 30:18, 19, 21).
The group of women seen next to the laver facing the High Priest in both sections of the picture are in matching dresses, standing very closely together. On the right, each one is carrying a round copper-colored object, which suggests a mirror. As understood from the feminine word ha-tzov-ot, the verse refers to women assembling to serve at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. The expression “who performed tasks” may relate to some type of service to atone for their having offered gold to make the Golden Calf. Accepting their part in the Israelites’ idolatry, which was punished by the death of so many of the people, the women, anxious to repent, were giving up their precious mirrors to make the laver for the priests’ purification. Although it was not considered part of the Tabernacle furnishings, the laver was a very important part of the priestly ritual.
In the image on the right, the women seem to be throwing their mirrors into a deep round vessel, under which we see a fire burning, so the copper will be melted down and then be used to form the laver. In the left-hand image, the High Priest is joyfully raising his arms, a sign of gratitude for the women’s repentance and for their gifts, which would enable the shaping of the laver for the purification of the priests so that they might escape death.
Dr. Shula Laderman worked for many years as a computer programmer and planner at Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. While working there, she studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem towards her Ph.D., which she received in 2000. Her topic of research is the “Artist as an Interpreter” – visual interpretation of the Bible in Jewish and Christian Art. She is the author of Images of Cosmology in Jewish and Byzantine Art-God’s Blueprint of Creation and is co-author with the artist Avner Moriah of The Illuminated Torah. She taught for many years at Bar Ilan University as well as at the Schechter Institute, where she continues to teach in the Judaism and the Arts track (which she directed in the past).
