Honoring the heroic women of Israel

• Published date: 08 March 2024
• Author: MOSHE TARAGIN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Every time I pass the checkpoint, I well up with tears of pride – much to the derision of my children. Unfortunately, throughout the world, people face routine discrimination, but in our country they are empowered, and it is I who must answer security questions to them

Thankfully, women in Israel have been granted equal opportunities in all sectors of the army, and they proved their abilities and their mettle on Oct. 7. Sadly, many female soldiers, particularly those stationed at military lookout sites, were murdered on that tragic day.

While we applaud women on the battlefield of Gaza, let us not forget the less public heroes whose bravery unfolds every day, right in our own backyards.

Every component of the Mishkan (the desert Tabernacle) was symbolic of a fundamental religious value. The Mishkan wasn't merely a Temple for ritual sacrifices but served as a metaphor for overall religious identity. The copper water basin, or kiyor, situated at the entry to the Mishkan was used to wash the hands and feet of the priests before religious ceremonies. Obviously, as it cleansed the priests from their impurities, the washing station symbolized human purity.

Where did the Jewish people acquire copper in the desert? Gold was used for ornaments, and silver was employed as currency, and presumably they had been acquired from the Egyptians. How, though, did the desert travelers secure enough copper to fashion a water basin?

The copper was donated from an unlikely source. If copper is sufficiently buffed, it can used as a rudimentary mirror. The Torah states (Exodus 38:8) that the Jewish women freely offered their mirrors for the water basin.

Understandably, as the midrash claims (Tanhuma Pekudei, chap. 9), Moses was appalled at the thought of using copper mirrors for a water basin of purity. Mirrors, he reasoned, were instruments of vanity and had no place in the Mishkan, let alone as the raw material for a water basin of purity.

Quiet heroes

Correcting Moses, God declared that the mirrors were more precious than any other material. Despite the brutal Egyptian slavery, Jewish women maintained their hygiene, their beauty, and their marital routines. Under nightmarish conditions, the mirrors helped them preserve their appearance. By maintaining marital life, they were able to raise families despite the unspeakable hardships. The children born during those dark and gloomy days of persecution would one day march out of Egypt and receive the Torah. The mirrors were female...