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PARASHAT VAYAKHEL FOR THE MISHKAN THE WOMEN GAVE FIRST "And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing hearted, and brought clasps, and pendants, and rings and golden beads, all vessels of gold." (Shemot 35:22) The expression translated in our verse as "both men and women" reads in the Hebrew: "haanashim al hanashim" which literally means "the men on the women". Rashi, Ramban and Rabeinu Bachaya explain that the women immediately took off their jewelry and brought them at once. They preceded the men in bringing clasps, pendants, rings, golden beads and all vessels of gold. Only afterwards did the men bring some gold too, but when they arrived they found that the women had already brought their contribution. This is a great tribute to the women, who refused to give anything to the golden calf. The above explanation would also hold true had the verse read "haanashim acharei hanashim" - "The men after the women". Perhaps the word "al" which literally means "on" alludes to the fact that in preparing for the miskan the men relied on the women. It was the merit of the righteous women that enabled the building of the miskan. (tabernacle) In Perkey D"Rav Eliezer it states that G-d rewarded the women both in this world and in the next. Since they gave to the mishkan, which was erected on Rosh Chodesh, they received the privilege to keep Rosh Chodesh more than the men in this world, and their reward in the world to come is to be renewed like the moon. We await this renewal of the wisdom of women to bring about the building of the Temple in our time. TO GIVE OR NOT TO GIVE The greatness of the women who refused to participate in making
the golden calf is proven by their eagerness to give their gold
to the building of the Mishkan. Had their generous spirit not prompted
them to jump at the opportunity to donate their jewelry for a good
cause, one could have suspected that they withheld their jewelry
for the golden calf because they were stingy, and wanted to keep
their gold to themselves. Thus, the women at Sinai teach us the
importance of knowing when to give and when not to give. Certain
people give indiscriminately without knowing whether their gift
can be misused or even used against them. Others, frantically hold
on to their possessions, not realizing that what we give is what
comes back to us, and neither silver nor gold can be taken to the
grave. It is a challenge to develop the right balance of giving
and to use our female intuition to discern how to give in a way
that truly benefits the recipient.
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