This week, I would like to combine two different parsha insights from two different sources, which both point to the same mussar haskel [ethical lesson].
The pasuk in Parshas Vayakhel says, “The men came with the women; everyone whose heart motivated him brought bracelets, nose-rings, rings, body ornaments – all sorts of gold ornaments – every man who raised up an offering of gold to Hashem.” (Shemos 35:22). All types of women’s jewelry were brought for the Mishkan. The Targum translates that the women actually wore these pieces of jewelry as they went to deposit them in the area where the raw materials for the Mishkan were being accepted.
The question is – since the women were anyhow going to give these items to the gizbar [foreman], why wear them? When a woman looks at her jewelry box and decides – I can spare this bracelet; I can give away these rings, etc. isn’t she more likely to carry the items to the donation center rather than wear them.
I saw an answer quoted in the name of Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, that the women wanted to make a point: The point was “This is not spare jewelry that I have not worn in the last twenty five years. After all, styles change and tastes change. This was not a case of the women readily parting with old fashioned jewelry that they did not wear anymore. The women wanted to stress that this was their current jewelry. It was jewelry that they love and still wear. “I want to give it because I want to make a precious donation to the Mishkan. I want to show the Ribbono Shel Olam that this is something that I in fact treasure and appreciate.” That makes the gift all the more meaningful, because I am literally taking the ring off my finger and giving it for the Mishkan. Now my finger will no longer have that ring.
The lesson is that many times in life – especially regarding giving tzedakah and avodas Hashem – it is not the monetary value that makes it a significant gift. It is the way it is given.
This concept helps us to understand a different set of pesukim in the parsha, a few pesukim later. Two different pesukim mention women spinning goat hair to make yarn or cloth. First, pasuk 25 says: “Every wise-hearted woman spun with her hands; and they brought the spun yarn of turquoise, purple, and scarlet wool, and the linen.” This means they donated all these cloths. This is not like going to JoAnn Fabrics (an 80-year-old regional fabric and craft chain of stores that is going out of business in 2025) today and
