Three hidden lessons in a highly technical Parasha: Vayakhel

This week’s parasha, Vayakhel, presents a challenge to any darshan or rabbi who wants to talk about the parasha.

Indeed, in a recent book by Hillel Halkin, A Complicated Jew, there is a chapter, in which he surveys the weekly portions. He writes “this week was Pekudei, the last Torah reading of Exodus. Before it came Vayakhel. Together, they are two of the most tedious parshiot shavua in the chumash. Vayakhel relates how the Israelites built the Tabernacle… Pekudei how they made the priestly vestments… The commentators fall silent. What is there to add?” Then, of course, he brings his own chiddush, his own addition to those weekly portions.

I believe that there are at least three things we can learn from Parashat Vayakhel. The first has to do with the status of women in Judaism. As you may know, in a few weeks, we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first Bat Mitzvah— Judith Kaplan the daughter of Rabbi Professor Mordechai Kaplan— which took place on March 18th, 1922. Those who have made changes in Jewish practice regarding women during the past 100 years, have looked for precedents. Indeed, a wonderful precedent appears in this week’s portion.

Chapter 35:  “The whole community, the Israelites, left Moses’ presence. Everyone who excelled in ability and everyone whose spirit moved him came, bringing to the Lord his offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting. Men and women, all whose hearts moved them… and everyone who had in his possession X, Y and Z. Everyone who would make gifts of silver and copper. Everyone who had in his possession acacia wood. And all the skilled women spun upon their own hands and all the women who excelled in that skill spun the goats’ hair. Thus, the Israelites — all the men and women whose hearts moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord through Moses had… to be done — brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.” (Lev. 35: 20-29).

In other words, men and women contributed equally to the building of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, and this is presented in our Torah portion in a very egalitarian fashion. Indeed Rabbi Dr. Tuvia Friedman pointed out in a wonderful article published about 40 years ago about “The Shifting Role of Women from the Bible to the Talmud”: the Bible, we have many examples of women having a much stronger role in Judaism than they had in the Talmudic period.

Furthermore, in the Introduction to my book, The Status Of Women In Jewish Law: Responsa, I sketched 41 tachanot, 41 stations, on the road to women having more and more public roles in Judaism during the past 150 years. The road from this week’s portion led eventually to the Bat Mitzvah of Judith Kaplan and to many other areas in which women have a greater role in Judaism today than they did in the past.

The second thing that we can learn from this week’s portion is found in Chapter 36. We read there that the people who were collecting the money for the Tabernacle, in addition to what they collected, added their own gift. This was stressed in a work, called Imrei Shefer quoted in Iturei Torah: “Vehem heviu elav od nedavah baboker baboker — and they brought to him an additional contribution in the morning,” meaning the people who were collecting the money also gave a contribution themselves. The Imrei Shefer goes on to say that one of the problems with askanim, with people engaged in Jewish public life, is they say “I give them my time so I don’t have to give them my money.” Imrei Shefer says: no! We learn from Vayakhel that those who collect money and those who lead the Jewish people must contribute money to the organizations which they are leading.

Finally, the third lesson is found in one verse at the end of Chapter 35, talking about Betzalel, the designer of the Mishkan. It says there in the Hebrew “Ulehorot natan belibbo — To give directions, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan.” Lehorot in Hebrew can mean to give direction, it can mean to pasken Halakhah, to give Halakhic decisions, or it can mean to teach. Ibn Ezra says to us that it means to teach, and he says here, ki yeish chaham gam charash lo yuchal lehorot heiteiv, there are people who are wise, who have great skills in the area of arts and crafts, but they don’t know how to teach others how to do that. The ideal in Judaism is, of course, to learn in order to teach. The story of Betzalel teaches us that not only did Betzalel know how to *make* beautiful things, but he also knew how to teach *others* to make beautiful things and to build the Mishkan.

So, from this seemingly “boring” parasha, Vayakhel, we can learn about the egalitarian tendency of men and women in the biblical period. We can learn that each person who collects money for a good cause must also give money to that cause. And we can learn kol halomed chayav lelamed, whoever learns must also teach.

Shavua Tov from Schechter.