"And he made the washbasin of bronze and the pedestal of bronze out of the mirrors of the women who assembled at the entrance of meeting." (Exodus 38:8)

 

It must be wonderful being the rabbis of old and making stuff up as you go along.

Oops! Did I say that outloud?

Sorry, but that is how I felt studying this week's portion.

Moses is finalizing the inventory of all the metals that will be used to craft the portable Tabernacle and its various furnishings. The Torah spends quite a bit of time giving a detailed accounting of all the contributions given by the Israelites and what each metal gift would be used for.

Except the bronze basin and pedestal.

This washing basin was one of the first objects noted in the Torah that would be crafted for the priestly duties. The priests would use the basin to wash their hands and feet on entering and this act of purification would enable them to perform their critical duties.

But the basin is not noted here as made from any of the contributions of the Israelites.

So the rabbis started making things up.

They take a very brief allusion about "mirrors" in a sentence (noted above) and come up with a story that the basin and pedestal were actually crafted from highly polished bronze mirrors specially donated by the Israelite women. 

Our English translations today incorporate that interpretation even though the Torah never says that. In fact, scholars are not at all sure what the sentence even says; the original Hebrew is problematically constructed.

But the rabbis weave a fanciful story that is found nowhere is the Torah: that the women donated the mirrors they used to entice their husbands into have sex with them.

Kid you not.

But wait, it gets better.

You see, the rabbis write that Israelite men in Egypt had stopped drawing near to their wives. Enslaved and without hope, they didn't want to bring another human being into that hell. Why raise a child that will be enslaved by Pharoah at best or mercilessly beaten and murdered by a taskmaster. The Israelite women would have none of that thinking, putting their trust in a G-d who promised that the Jewish people would be fruitful and multiply and one day be in the land of the ancestors. They used those bronze mirrors to make themselves attractive and irresistible to their soulmates, coaxed them into sex which led to bearing more children. Those mirrors, the rabbis teach us, were now donated to be melted down to fashion the priestly wash basin.

Welcome to the world of the Midrash. Homiletic stories taught by the rabbis that provide analysis to the Torah. Stories that teach lessons; legends that are not to be taken literally but seriously.

So what does this story teach? That women used bronze mirrors to get their husband into bed and then decided they would make wonderful housewarming gifts for the priests of Israel?

Here is my take.

In the bleakest days of Egypt, a place without hope, the Jewish people were broken. They saw no future. But the women of Israel put their trust in G-d and believed there would be better days ahead. To want to bring a child into the world was a statement that despite the darkness, life would endure. G-d would never abandon them. That was the message conveyed with the bronze mirror.

The basin and pedestal was the first and most important stop for the priest as he prepared to perform the sacrifices for the people of Israel. The sacrifices were offered as a way for broken souls to draw near to G-d. Many of those sacrifices were offered by the priests on behalf of those who had sinned, who had darkened their world by falling short. The priests of Israel were there to declare that better days would come. That G-d loves his people and understands our shortcomings. That despite sin, there is a G-d who cares for us and believes we are capable of starting anew.

Crafty rabbis.

Connecting two unrelated objects, mirrors and basins, to teach us a lesson about life.

That lesson is never give up on the future.

Never abandon hope.

Embrace the gift of life and the gift of redemption.

The next day will be always be brighter as long as we put our trust in G-d.

I like it when the rabbis make things up.