Dear Friends,
Sometimes the simplest objects offer the deepest meanings.
It is not unusual when I meet with families for funerals that they speak about some item of modest import which held profound significance for the deceased—perhaps a book, a dog bowl, or a sweater. Similarly, I have seen wedding couples incorporate seemingly odd objects into their ceremonies, but they were of importance to the couple. No less, we learn that refugees from Hitler’s oppression, or asylees from Central America, have carried the most unexpected items on their journeys, just as astronauts have brought thoroughly unique trinkets to space.
Take, for example, an easily overlooked verse in this week’s Torah portion. Moses had charged the artisan, Bezalel, to build the ancient Tabernacle, which would serve as a religious focal point during their time wandering in the desert. From metals, yarns, and skins, Bezalel crafted this sacred meeting place and its religious objects. Thus, we read in this week’s portion, “He made the laver of copper and
its stand of copper from the mirrors of the women…” (Exodus 38:8).
The mirrors of the women? Really?
We could ask, from where did the women acquire such objects, and why did they take them from Egypt when they were rushing so hastily that they did not even allow time for their dough to rise, and hence we eat matzah when we commemorate that exodus at Passover?
Mirrors? Really?
One commentator suggested that Moses initially rejected the gifts of the mirrors as they represented vanity, which was contrary to the selfless virtue of the soon to be completed Tabernacle.
However, another fine commentator, Samson Rafael Hirsch, the founder of modern Orthodoxy, argued otherwise. He taught that the physical and sensual dimensions of humanity must not be overlooked. It is essential to human life, and we are not commanded to live as ascetics. Hence, mirrors, which help all people, regardless of one’s gender, to present themselves properly and attractively, were not inappropriate as sources of material for building the most sacred of spaces.
Thus, it is worthwhile to reconsider the complex import and impact of the simplest of objects. Moreover, we ought not offer simple objections to otherwise complex considerations. Stuff has meaning, and meaning may differ from person to person, and from time to time.
So, yes, mirrors!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Sometimes the simplest objects offer the deepest meanings.
It is not unusual when I meet with families for funerals that they speak about some item of modest import which held profound significance for the deceased—perhaps a book, a dog bowl, or a sweater. Similarly, I have seen wedding couples incorporate seemingly odd objects into their ceremonies, but they were of importance to the couple. No less, we learn that refugees from Hitler’s oppression, or asylees from Central America, have carried the most unexpected items on their journeys, just as astronauts have brought thoroughly unique trinkets to space.
Take, for example, an easily overlooked verse in this week’s Torah portion. Moses had charged the artisan, Bezalel, to build the ancient Tabernacle, which would serve as a religious focal point during their time wandering in the desert. From metals, yarns, and skins, Bezalel crafted this sacred meeting place and its religious objects. Thus, we read in this week’s portion, “He made the laver of copper and
its stand of copper from the mirrors of the women…” (Exodus 38:8).
The mirrors of the women? Really?
We could ask, from where did the women acquire such objects, and why did they take them from Egypt when they were rushing so hastily that they did not even allow time for their dough to rise, and hence we eat matzah when we commemorate that exodus at Passover?
Mirrors? Really?
One commentator suggested that Moses initially rejected the gifts of the mirrors as they represented vanity, which was contrary to the selfless virtue of the soon to be completed Tabernacle.
However, another fine commentator, Samson Rafael Hirsch, the founder of modern Orthodoxy, argued otherwise. He taught that the physical and sensual dimensions of humanity must not be overlooked. It is essential to human life, and we are not commanded to live as ascetics. Hence, mirrors, which help all people, regardless of one’s gender, to present themselves properly and attractively, were not inappropriate as sources of material for building the most sacred of spaces.
Thus, it is worthwhile to reconsider the complex import and impact of the simplest of objects. Moreover, we ought not offer simple objections to otherwise complex considerations. Stuff has meaning, and meaning may differ from person to person, and from time to time.
So, yes, mirrors!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
