women of valor

Parshat Va'Yakhel

In 35:22 it says, " And they came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought nose-rings, and ear-rings, and signet-rings, and girdles, all jewels of gold; even every man that brought an offering of gold unto the LORD."

This statement of the Torah is juxtaposed with a statement we read last week in Ki Tisa.

There, Aharon suggested the men bring the jewelery of their wives. We are told he was hoping the women would refuse to part with their jewelry, effecting a delay in their plans. Aharon was wrong in his assumption because the men did not wait for the agreement of the women, rather they simply took the jewelry.

The righteous women refused to be part of the Golden Calf fiasco and refused to give up their jewelry to the point that it had to be forcefully taken from them. Here, the women along with the men happily participated in donating from their personal items and jewelry on behalf of the construction of the mikdash.

the women in the Torah constantly show their dedication to Hashem's path, even when the men constantly fail.