Sure, Mercy and Justice Are Popular, But Halacha Is Necessary
I have made a principle, for these posts, of defining a Jewish religiosity that is unequivocal, unarguable, inescapable. A possible problem with that is that what we have found, especially the parts about seeking to perform acts of justice, kindness, and mercy within a relationship [...]

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This week we read two portions. This happens sometimes, due to certain vagaries in the Jewish lunar calendar. These two parshas really do make up one unit: The summary of all that was built for and installed in the Tabernacle. Moshe instructs the people to gather and bring all the material needed for the construction, they respond generously, and the work is completed. The parshas include a long list of all the construction materials and details of the Tabernacle itself, the vessels, and the priestly garments. One of the vessels described is the ‘Kiyor’, the sink, or basin, to be used by the priests to wash their hands and feet in the course of their work in the Tabernacle. The Bible presents us with a somewhat cryptic description of its construction: “And he made the sink of bronze, and its pedestal of bronze, with the mirrors of the women who congregate, who congregated at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting”. Who are these women? Where and why are they congregating? Why were their mirrors used to construct the basin?

Rashi brings the following fascinating answer from the Midrash: “The women of Israel were in possession of mirrors, which they used when they beautified themselves, and even these they did not withhold from donating to the Tabernacle. And Moshe rejected them, for they are made to serve the evil inclination. God said to him: ‘Accept them, for these are dearer to me than all the rest, for it is with them that the women raised many congregations [this is the meaning of 'the women who congregate' in the verse] in Egypt. When their husbands were tired from their labors, the women would go and bring them food and drink and feed them, and bring the mirrors with them, and each one would look at herself and her husband in the mirror and tempt him, and say ‘I am prettier than you’, and thereby arouse their husbands’ desire for them, and they would be together, and the women conceived, and gave birth …’. And the sink was made of them, for its function is to make peace between husband and wife, by giving water from it to the woman suspected by her jealous husband of having been unfaithful [during a ritual known as the 'Sotah' ceremony].”

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