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Judge An Attribute
By How It Is Used

RABBI MORTON F. YOLKUT

Special to The Jewish News

A

cursory reading of
this week's lengthy
double Torah portion
could well lead to the conclu-
sion that these chapters have
little relevance to our daily
lives. Indeed, why should we
be interested in the dimen-
sions, arrangements and ap-
pointments of a mishkan
(tabernacle) that existed
thousands of years ago?
And yet, we dare not unde-
restimate the significance of
any chapter or verse of our
sacred literature. The .eighth
verse in Chapter 38 of
Exodus is a good case in
point..It reads: "And he (Be-

TORAH PORTION

zalel) made the laver of
brass, and the foot of it of
brass, from the mirrors of the
women who assembled at the
door of the tent of the meet-
ing." What prompted Moses
to use the mirrors of the
women for the making of a
sacred vessel to be used by
the priests before entering
the sanctuary?
The rabbis provide us with
some enlightening back-
ground information. The
Midrash tells that there was
a quarrel between Moses and
God about how the tabernacle
was to be built. God told
Moses to let the entire com-
munity have a share in the
building of the sanctuary,

Vayakel—Pekudei
Shabbat
Hachodesh
Exodus
35:1-40:38;
12:1-20,
Ezra 45:16-46:18

and so Moses issued a call for
donations and workers. The
princes brought their silver
and gold. The carpenters and
artisans brought their
supplies and their skills. Ev-
ryone brought something for
the building of the House of
God.
And -then, says the Mid-
rash, the women came and
they said: We, too, would like
a share in the building of the
sanctuary. Alas, we are not
craftsmen or carpenters. We
have no silver and no gold.

Morton F. Yolkut is rabbi at
Cong. B'nai David

But we each have mirrors,
and perhaps you can make
something sacred out of
them.
Moses was furious and
shocked at the idea. Mirrors?
Symbols of vanity in a holy
Temple? But God said: "Ac- -
cept them, for they are preci-
ous in my eyes."
For these mirrors insured
the continuity of the Jewish
people. When the Israelites
were slaves in Egypt, the
men did back-breaking labor
all day. They came home
exhausted and debilitated.
They felt demoralized and
dehumanized. But their wives
beautified themselves and
welcomed them. They were
the • only remnants of beauty
in the midst of all that evil.
They kept their ' husband's
morale alive, and reminded
them of the existence of a
better world and they gave
them hope for a better tomor-
row. Therefore God said: "Ac-
cept these mirrors and use
them for one of the second
vessels in the sanctuary. For
there is a time when a con-
cern for beauty is not a sin
but a mitzvah."
What is true or vanity is
true of all other sings. There
are few things that are good
or bad in themselves. They
derive their powers from the
purposes to which we put
them.
Consider for example, the
sin of anger. We are told that
it is not right to be angry. It
is considered impolite to lose
your temper. And yet nothing
worthwhile was every accom=
plished, no evil was ever
eradicated, and no great re-
form was every carried out
except by people who had the
ability to become angry.
And so it is with stubbor-
ness. When all the world is
against you, and yet you
know you are right, then it is
a mitzvah to be stubborn. In-
deed, the secret of Jewish
survival in history may be
due to the fact that we have
always been a stiff-necked
people.
It is so even with lying.
Our rabbis teach that for the
sake of bringing about peace,
it is sometimes a mitzvah,
and not a sin, to tell a lie.
Vanity, anger, stubborness,
even lying; each of these so-
called vices can be used for
good as well as for evil. In
fact, god has given us no
quality that cannot be used
for good. He taught Moses
that lesson when he ordered
him to take the mirrors and
use them in the making of
the sanctuary. It is also an
important lesson that we can
take with us from this week's
Torah portion.

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