Vayak'hel-Pekudei 5775

The laver in which the kohanim would wash their hands was made of the women's bronze mirrors. The Kli Yakar explains that the water taken from the laver was also used to determine if a woman was unfaithful to her husband. By contributing to the laver, the women wanted to show that they would always be faithful. Secondly, water acts like a mirror. You can see your reflection and see if you look good or not; so too the water from the laver would determine if a woman is faithful or not.

Vayak'hel 5774

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks compares Bnei Yisroel from last week to this week. Last week, Bnei Yisroel were gathered together in a state of chaos to make the golden calf. This week, they are gathered together in an orderly fashion to donate to the mishkan. Moshe took their original motivation and turned it into avodas Hashem. As Rabbi Sacks puts it, "If you want to bond human beings so that they act for the common good, get them to build something together." This is an important message for a community. We all must work together in an orderly fashion. We must put aside our own personal agendas for the greater good. We shouldn't shun others due to selfish motives. Together, we can help our community grow.

Vayak'hel-Pekudei 5773

The posuk (35:25-26) says that the women of Bnei Yisroel also worked on the Mishkan. The Rosh explains that when the men came to ask their wives to donate their jewelry for the mishkan, the women gave with happiness and zealousness. This is opposed to when the men had to forcefully take their wives' jewelry in order to make the golden calf. Because of their actions, the women merited not doing work on Rosh Chodesh of every month; it became a yom tov for them.