March is International Women’s Month, based on International Women’s Day which is tomorrow, Friday, March 8th. According to the U.S. National Archives, National Women’s History Month was established by a presidential proclamation to draw attention to and improve the focus on women in historical studies. This official version notes that the day commemorates a strike by female textile workers in New York City on March 8, 1857, in which they protested unfair labor conditions. Research suggests that this is a myth, created during the Cold War to distance the day from its roots: “to detach International Women’s Day from its Soviet history in order to give it a more international origin, more ancient than Bolshevism, more spontaneous than a decision of Congress or the initiative of women affiliated to the Party….” I encourage you to read this summary of the origins in JSTOR.
However, the labor movement myth is what many of us have been taught– and it’s quite fitting that we should read Parshat Vayakhel, this week’s Torah portion, in conjunction with International Women’s Day as this parasha explicitly names the value of women’s contributions to greater Israelite society through the skill of their hands and the materials they contributed to the construction of the mishkan, the sanctuary in the wilderness.
“Vayakhel” means “and he gathered,” as our parasha begins:
וַיַּקְהֵל מֹשֶׁה, אֶת-כָּל-עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל–וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם: אֵלֶּה, הַדְּבָרִים, אֲשֶׁר-צִוָּה יְהוָה, לַעֲשֹׂת אֹתָם.
Moshe gathered all the children of Israel and said to them, these are the things which Adonai has commanded you to do.
Continuing in Exodus 25:2, Moshe first gives the mitzvah (commandment) of Shabbat, then delivers the list of materials needed for the mishkan construction project, before the Children of Israel go off to collect their offerings. The Children of Israel return with their offerings in Exodus 25:21:
וַיָּבֹאוּ, כָּל-אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר-נְשָׂאוֹ לִבּוֹ; וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר נָדְבָה רוּחוֹ אֹתוֹ, הֵבִיאוּ אֶת-תְּרוּמַת יְהוָה לִמְלֶאכֶת אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וּלְכָל-עֲבֹדָתוֹ, וּלְבִגְדֵי, הַקֹּדֶשׁ.
And everyone who excelled in ability and everyone whose spirit was moved came, bringing to God an offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting and for all its service and for the sacral vestments.
Every person (literally “man”) whose heart was lifted and kol (“all”) whose spirit sought to give, brought gifts for Hashem. Here it is again with the trope:
וַיָּבֹ֕אוּ כׇּל־אִ֖ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־נְשָׂא֣וֹ לִבּ֑וֹ וְכֹ֡ל אֲשֶׁר֩ נָדְבָ֨ה רוּח֜וֹ אֹת֗וֹ הֵ֠בִ֠יאוּ אֶת־תְּרוּמַ֨ת יְהֹוָ֜ה לִמְלֶ֨אכֶת אֹ֤הֶל מוֹעֵד֙ וּלְכׇל־עֲבֹ֣דָת֔וֹ וּלְבִגְדֵ֖י הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ
Notably, the trope mark above the word kol (in bold above) is a pazer. Meaning “to distribute,” this particular trope is used to lengthen a word during the Torah reading, placing a strong emphasis on the meaning of that word. You can hear it chanted here.
In her book, A River Flows from Eden, Zohar scholar Melila Hellner-Eshed teaches how the Zohar understands the meaning of this trope, based on Psalms 112:9 and a play on words quite fitting for our context, “He gives freely (pizzar) to the poor; his [the giver’s] tzedakah lasts forever.” Using the word kol together with this particular trope makes it clear to me that all genders are indicated, everyone brought gifts to Hashem.
However, the Torah goes on to explicitly add “the women” many times, as in Exodus 35:22:
וַיָּבֹאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים, עַל-הַנָּשִׁים; כֹּל נְדִיב לֵב הֵבִיאוּ
The men came with the women, all whose hearts moved them brought
Rabbi Nancy H. Weiner, in her essay on this parasha, writes that this repetition of “the women,” which on the surface seems superfluous, comes to underscore the importance of the women’s participation in this community building project. Weiner observes that the women’s skills enabled the collective to reach their sacred goals.
In 35:25-26, we learn of one unique contribution of the women:
וְוְכָל-אִשָּׁה חַכְמַת-לֵב, בְּיָדֶיהָ טָווּ; וַיָּבִיאוּ מַטְוֶה, אֶת-הַתְּכֵלֶת וְאֶת-הָאַרְגָּמָן, אֶת-תּוֹלַעַת הַשָּׁנִי, וְאֶת-הַשֵּׁשׁ.
וְכָל-הַנָּשִׁים–אֲשֶׁר נָשָׂא לִבָּן אֹתָנָה, בְּחָכְמָה: טָווּ, אֶת-הָעִזִּים.
And all the skilled women spun with their own hands, and brought what they had spun, in blue, purple, and crimson yarns, and in fine linen.
And all the women who excelled in that skill spun the goats’ hair.
Rabbi Jill Hammer, co-founder of the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute, observes that mentioning this distinctive skill illustrates the value the Israelites placed on the women’s spinning and weaving work. Who else could have made the special clothing for the Kohanim (Priests)? The coverings for the mishkan? The parochet (curtain) for the Holy of Holies?
Lifting up women’s skill as weavers is yet another connection to this particular moment. The current Hebrew month, Adar Aleph, is associated with the female archetype of the Orevet, the weaver. Hammer defines a weaving as a bringing together of community in a single place and time. Auspiciously, we are weaving together a variety of strands of womanness this Sunday at our 12th Annual TBZ Women’s Retreat. Rabbi Weiner notes that our parasha makes us wonder about other ways women’s experiences were written out of our collective memory and history; we co-create space in the life of TBZ to explore just this issue at our retreat. If you have not yet signed up, it is not too late. You can read a full description of the day here.
In closing, the archetype of the Orevet, the weaver, brings us back to the mythical origins of International Women’s Day. I offer the following intention from fabric artist Kohenet Ketzirah Lesser:
What does it mean to be a Weaver? It means you bring together different pieces into a distinct and new whole. It’s different than creating a patchwork, where the original sources are pieced together. When you weave fabric or spin yarn, you draw on the best of the original source, but it is blended into a new stronger creation. We can do this literally with fiber, but we can also take this concept into the wider world.
Jewish women weave wonders. We weave communities and we weave dough to create challah. We weave cultures old and new to create modern Judaism. I weave worlds, and I am part of a long line of weavers whose stories have never been told. My way of life is not new. It’s what our grandmothers did when they reached the shores of America and had to create new lives for their families while still retaining tradition.
May the light of Shabbat bring you grounding and wisdom.
May you experience a ta’am olam ha’ba, a taste of the world that is coming, a world where everyone’s needs are met because we’re all willing to do our part, to be content with enough and not more than we need, and to live within the trust and faith of the interconnectivity of all life.
May those who are ill find refuat ha’nefesh, healing in spirit, as well as refuat ha’guf, healing in body, if possible.
And, may the hostages soon be returned to their families and friends, may the Israeli and Palestinian peace workers in the land continue their sacred work and not be deterred or turn away from the vision of peace and dignity for all.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rav Tiferet