This is an abridged version of the essayMirrors of Love, written by Rabbi Sacks in 2012.
This week the Torah goes out of its way to emphasise the role women played in creating the Mishkan. Verse 22, “Vayavo-u ha-anashim al hanashim”, implies that the women gave their donations first, and the men followed their lead. But our commentators teach us that the women refused to contribute to the making of the Golden Calf. Since the Mishkan was a tikkun for the Golden Calf, the women had no need to contribute at all. It was the men who needed to atone. Nonetheless, women gave, and they did so before the men.
Then there is the cryptic verse that Betzalel made the copper washstand and its base out of the mirrors of the dedicated women [ha-tzove’ot] who congregated at the entrance of the Communion Tent.
Rashi tells the backstory of these mirrors. When the Egyptians sought to enslave, and then end, the people of Israel, both men and women were forced to labour all day. At night, they were forbidden to return home. They slept where they worked. The intention was to prevent the Israelites from having more children.
The women realised this, and decided to frustrate Pharaoh’s plan. They used their mirrors to get ready, and then approached their husbands, and the couples were strengthened. Only because of this was a new generation of Jewish children born. The women, by their faith, courage, and ingenuity, secured Jewish survival.
The Midrash continues that when Moshe commanded the Israelites to bring offerings to make the Mishkan, some brought gold, some silver, some bronze, some jewels. But many of the women had nothing of value to contribute except these mirrors, so they brought them to Moshe, but he refused them. What, he thought, have these cheap objects, used by women to make themselves look attractive, to do with the sacred Mishkan? God rebuked Moshe for daring to think this way, and ordered him to accept the mirrors.
The story is powerful. It tells us, as do so many other midrashim, that without the faith of women, Jews and Judaism would never have survived. But it also tells us something absolutely fundamental to the Jewish understanding of love in the religious life.
Judaism sees love as supremely physical and spiritual. That is the meaning of, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might.” This is not the language of meditation or contemplation, philosophical or mystical. It is the language of passion.
Only because the Sages thought about love this way, did they take it for granted that Shir HaShirim – a beautiful series of love poems – was about the love between God and Israel. Rabbi Akiva called it “the holy of holies” of religious poetry. Even Rambam, who rarely expresses emotions, writes: What is the love of God that is befitting? “It is to love God with a great and exceeding love...”
Moshe believed that closeness to God was about celibacy and purity. In our story, God taught him otherwise, that passionate love, when offered as a gift to God, is the most precious love of all. This is the love we read about in Shir HaShirim. It is the love we hear in Yedid Nefesh, the daring song we sing at the beginning and toward the end of Shabbat.
When the women offered God the mirrors through which they opened their husbands’ hearts in the dark days of Egypt, God told Moshe, “These are more precious to Me than anything else.” The women understood, better than the men, what it means to love God “with all your heart and all your soul and all your might.”
Around the Shabbat Table
Questions to Ponder
How do you show love for the people and things that matter most to you? Is it through words, actions, or something else?
How does this detail about the mirrors connect to what we have learnt about the Jewish aesthetic?
Where else in Tanach have we seen physicality as a way to express love to God?
On the Parsha
Written by Sara Lamm
Inspired by the Teachings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
The Parsha in a Nutshell
Moshe reminds the Israelites to keep the Shabbat holy. He then shares God’s detailed instructions for constructing the Mishkan. Bnai Yisrael respond with overwhelming generosity, bringing materials like gold, silver, and gemstones. Their enthusiasm is so great that Moshe eventually must ask them to stop donating.
Skilled craftspeople then create the Mishkan and its furnishings: three-layered roof coverings, the dividing curtain between chambers, the entrance screen, the Ark with its cover and cherubim figures, the Altar, the seven-branched Menorah, and the basin from the women’s copper mirrors.
Philosophy of Rabbi Sacks
Delving Deeper
Women played an essential role in building the Mishkan, and they were the first to offer contributions. The women donated their mirrors, which Moshe initially rejected as inappropriate. But God insisted these mirrors were especially precious because of how and when the women had used them in Egypt.
Judaism views religious love as deeply physical and passionate, not merely contemplative. By contrast, it was Christianity, under the influence of classical Greece, that drew a distinction between eros (love as intense physical desire) and agape (a calm, detached love of humanity-in-general and things-in-general) and declared only the detached love, to be religious. Unlike Christianity’s separation of physical desire and detached, spiritual love, Judaism embraces physical passion as a valid expression of devotion to God.
The Jewish women understood that loving God means engaging “with all your heart, soul, and might” - a love characterised by intense devotion, trust, and absorption in God’s will.
How can we show our love for God using all our senses?
Parsha Activity
Mirror Mirror
Two people face each other, with one designated as the “leader” and the other as the “follower.” The leader makes slow, deliberate movements with their hands, arms, face, or body, while the follower attempts to mirror these actions simultaneously, creating the illusion that they’re reflections of each other!
Partners can then switch roles, to try it the other way around. For an additional element of gameplay, can the rest of the group spot who is leading and who is following, or are the partners a perfect reflection of one another?
A Story for the Ages
Kintsugi: Beauty in Brokenness
Kintsugi, meaning “golden joinery,” is a Japanese art form of repairing broken pottery and transforming it into something even more beautiful than the original item. Rather than hiding damage, artists reassemble fragments using lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, creating shimmering veins where cracks once existed.
This process honours history of each broken piece, as the shards are carefully cleaned and fitted together with urushi lacquer, then dusted with precious metal and polished to reveal gleaming seams that become the focal point of the restored work.
At its heart, kintsugi celebrates imperfection and renewal. It suggests that brokenness is not the end of an object’s story but a meaningful chapter that adds character and unique beauty. The golden repair doesn’t erase the breakage but transforms it into something precious. One theory is that kintsugi may have originated back when Japanese shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent a damaged Chinese tea bowl back to China for repairs in the late 15th century.
Just as the women contributed their mirrors to the Mishkan, turning ordinary objects from the past into an item of sacred beauty, kintsugi artists take what is broken and make it not merely whole again but more magnificent, embracing imperfections and resilience. The beauty of kintsugi lies not in perfection, but in how brokenness itself becomes the source of something sacred and extraordinary.
How might the mirrors that women contributed to the Mishkan and the golden paths in Kintsugi each teach us something about finding beauty in what others might consider imperfect or ordinary?
On the Haftara
Written by Rabbi Barry Kleinberg
Inspired by the Teachings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
An introduction to the Haftara for
Shabbat Para
Ezekiel 36:16-38 (Ashkenazim) Ezekiel 36:16-36 (Sephardim and Yemenites)
In this passage, God speaks to Ezekiel about Israel’s sins and their exile. The Israelites have defiled their land through their wickedness, so God has scattered them among the nations. However, this exile caused God’s name to be profaned when other nations saw Israel’s downfall and doubted God’s power. So God declares that He will restore His holy name. He promises to gather Israel back from the nations, cleanse them from impurity (this is the reason for this Haftara being read on this special Shabbat), and give them a new heart and spirit, replacing their heart of stone with a heart of flesh.
This renewal will bring obedience and prosperity, making the land fruitful once more. The surrounding nations will recognise God’s power when they see Israel restored, proving that God can transform desolation into abundance.
What is the connection between purity and the festival of Pesach?
The regular reading for Vayakhel
The Haftara passages
I Kings 7:40-50 (Ashkenazim) I Kings 7:13-26 (Sephardim) I Kings 7:13-22 (Yemenites)
(See “The Book of Kings” for an understanding of chapter 7, read as the Haftara for Vayakhel.)
Tanach Connections
Parsha and Haftara Links
The regular Haftara and Parsha both describe the construction of God’s dwelling places on earth. The Mishkan is constructed by Betzalel and Oholiav, whilst the Temple in Jerusalem is built by Hiram on behalf of Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon).
Rabbi Sacks noted the beauty of the constructions and wrote the following: The most significant intrusion of the aesthetic dimension was in the Tabernacle itself, its framework and hangings, its furniture, the cherubim above the Ark, the Menorah, and the vestments of the Priests and the High Priest, lekavod uletifaret, “for dignity and beauty” (Ex. 28:2).
Rambam says that most people are influenced by aesthetic considerations, which is why the Sanctuary was designed to inspire admiration and awe; why a continual light burned there; why the priestly robes were so impressive; why there was music in the form of the Levitical choir; and why incense was burned to cover the smell of the sacrifices.
Rambam himself, in his introduction to his commentary on Mishnah Avot – speaks about the therapeutic power of beauty and its importance in counteracting depression:
“Someone afflicted with melancholy may dispel it by listening to music and various kinds of song, by strolling in gardens, by experiencing beautiful buildings, by associating with beautiful pictures, and similar sorts of things that broaden the soul...” (The Eight Chapters, ch. 5)
Art, in short, is balm to the soul.
Point to Ponder
The mitzvah of the Para Adumah (the Red Heifer) is a classic example of a chok, a mitzvah for which we do not understand the reason.
What is the purpose of this category of mitzvot (commandments)?
Putting the Haftara into Context
The Book of Kings
There are varied customs relating to how much of chapter 7 from I Kings is read for this week’s Haftara, and so we thought it would be useful to summarise the whole of this chapter in this section.
The chapter describes the construction of King Solomon’s palace complex and the Temple furnishings. Solomon builds his royal palace over 13 years, including the House of the Forest of Lebanon, the Hall of Pillars, the Hall of Judgment, and a separate house for Pharaoh’s daughter, his wife.
The chapter also highlights the craftsmanship of Hiram of Tyre, a skilled bronze worker. He forges two massive bronze pillars, named Jachin and Boaz, for the Temple’s entrance. Other items he crafts include the molten sea (a large bronze basin for priestly purification), ten bronze stands with basins, and numerous other sacred vessels. Gold and bronze decorations fill the Temple.
The chapter ends by listing all the intricate furnishings and vessels made for the Temple, emphasising Solomon’s wealth and devotion. This detailed account reflects the grandeur and significance of the Temple as a centre of Israelite worship.
Quote of the Week
“Chukim are Judaism’s way of training us in emotional intelligence, above all a conditioning in associating holiness with life, and defilement with death...”
If you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed, what techniques do you use to relax?
Have you ever visited an inspirational place and felt overawed by it?
Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks’ weekly Covenant & Conversation essay, the
Family Edition
is aimed at connecting teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the parsha.
With thanks to the Schimmel Family for their generous sponsorship of Covenant &
Conversation, dedicated in loving memory of Harry (Chaim) Schimmel.
“I have loved the Torah of R’ Chaim Schimmel ever since I first encountered it. It
strives to be not just about truth on the surface but also its connection to a
deeper truth beneath. Together with Anna, his remarkable wife of 60 years, they
built a life dedicated to love of family, community, and Torah. An extraordinary
couple who have moved me beyond measure by the example of their lives.” — Rabbi
Sacks
Mirrors of Love
Family Edition
Vayakhel
Inspired by the teachings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
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Mirrors of Love
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The Summary
This is an abridged version of the essay Mirrors of Love, written by Rabbi Sacks in 2012.
This week the Torah goes out of its way to emphasise the role women played in creating the Mishkan. Verse 22, “Vayavo-u ha-anashim al hanashim”, implies that the women gave their donations first, and the men followed their lead. But our commentators teach us that the women refused to contribute to the making of the Golden Calf. Since the Mishkan was a tikkun for the Golden Calf, the women had no need to contribute at all. It was the men who needed to atone. Nonetheless, women gave, and they did so before the men.
Then there is the cryptic verse that Betzalel made the copper washstand and its base out of the mirrors of the dedicated women [ha-tzove’ot] who congregated at the entrance of the Communion Tent.
Rashi tells the backstory of these mirrors. When the Egyptians sought to enslave, and then end, the people of Israel, both men and women were forced to labour all day. At night, they were forbidden to return home. They slept where they worked. The intention was to prevent the Israelites from having more children.
The women realised this, and decided to frustrate Pharaoh’s plan. They used their mirrors to get ready, and then approached their husbands, and the couples were strengthened. Only because of this was a new generation of Jewish children born. The women, by their faith, courage, and ingenuity, secured Jewish survival.
The Midrash continues that when Moshe commanded the Israelites to bring offerings to make the Mishkan, some brought gold, some silver, some bronze, some jewels. But many of the women had nothing of value to contribute except these mirrors, so they brought them to Moshe, but he refused them. What, he thought, have these cheap objects, used by women to make themselves look attractive, to do with the sacred Mishkan? God rebuked Moshe for daring to think this way, and ordered him to accept the mirrors.
The story is powerful. It tells us, as do so many other midrashim, that without the faith of women, Jews and Judaism would never have survived. But it also tells us something absolutely fundamental to the Jewish understanding of love in the religious life.
Judaism sees love as supremely physical and spiritual. That is the meaning of, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your might.” This is not the language of meditation or contemplation, philosophical or mystical. It is the language of passion.
Only because the Sages thought about love this way, did they take it for granted that Shir HaShirim – a beautiful series of love poems – was about the love between God and Israel. Rabbi Akiva called it “the holy of holies” of religious poetry. Even Rambam, who rarely expresses emotions, writes: What is the love of God that is befitting? “It is to love God with a great and exceeding love...”
Moshe believed that closeness to God was about celibacy and purity. In our story, God taught him otherwise, that passionate love, when offered as a gift to God, is the most precious love of all. This is the love we read about in Shir HaShirim. It is the love we hear in Yedid Nefesh, the daring song we sing at the beginning and toward the end of Shabbat.
When the women offered God the mirrors through which they opened their husbands’ hearts in the dark days of Egypt, God told Moshe, “These are more precious to Me than anything else.” The women understood, better than the men, what it means to love God “with all your heart and all your soul and all your might.”
Around the Shabbat Table
Questions to Ponder
On the Parsha
Written by Sara Lamm
Inspired by the Teachings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
The Parsha in a Nutshell
Moshe reminds the Israelites to keep the Shabbat holy. He then shares God’s detailed instructions for constructing the Mishkan. Bnai Yisrael respond with overwhelming generosity, bringing materials like gold, silver, and gemstones. Their enthusiasm is so great that Moshe eventually must ask them to stop donating.
Skilled craftspeople then create the Mishkan and its furnishings: three-layered roof coverings, the dividing curtain between chambers, the entrance screen, the Ark with its cover and cherubim figures, the Altar, the seven-branched Menorah, and the basin from the women’s copper mirrors.
Philosophy of Rabbi Sacks
Delving Deeper
Women played an essential role in building the Mishkan, and they were the first to offer contributions. The women donated their mirrors, which Moshe initially rejected as inappropriate. But God insisted these mirrors were especially precious because of how and when the women had used them in Egypt.
Judaism views religious love as deeply physical and passionate, not merely contemplative. By contrast, it was Christianity, under the influence of classical Greece, that drew a distinction between eros (love as intense physical desire) and agape (a calm, detached love of humanity-in-general and things-in-general) and declared only the detached love, to be religious. Unlike Christianity’s separation of physical desire and detached, spiritual love, Judaism embraces physical passion as a valid expression of devotion to God.
The Jewish women understood that loving God means engaging “with all your heart, soul, and might” - a love characterised by intense devotion, trust, and absorption in God’s will.
Parsha Activity
Mirror Mirror
Two people face each other, with one designated as the “leader” and the other as the “follower.” The leader makes slow, deliberate movements with their hands, arms, face, or body, while the follower attempts to mirror these actions simultaneously, creating the illusion that they’re reflections of each other!
Partners can then switch roles, to try it the other way around. For an additional element of gameplay, can the rest of the group spot who is leading and who is following, or are the partners a perfect reflection of one another?
A Story for the Ages
Kintsugi: Beauty in Brokenness
Kintsugi, meaning “golden joinery,” is a Japanese art form of repairing broken pottery and transforming it into something even more beautiful than the original item. Rather than hiding damage, artists reassemble fragments using lacquer mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum, creating shimmering veins where cracks once existed.
This process honours history of each broken piece, as the shards are carefully cleaned and fitted together with urushi lacquer, then dusted with precious metal and polished to reveal gleaming seams that become the focal point of the restored work.
At its heart, kintsugi celebrates imperfection and renewal. It suggests that brokenness is not the end of an object’s story but a meaningful chapter that adds character and unique beauty. The golden repair doesn’t erase the breakage but transforms it into something precious. One theory is that kintsugi may have originated back when Japanese shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent a damaged Chinese tea bowl back to China for repairs in the late 15th century.
Just as the women contributed their mirrors to the Mishkan, turning ordinary objects from the past into an item of sacred beauty, kintsugi artists take what is broken and make it not merely whole again but more magnificent, embracing imperfections and resilience. The beauty of kintsugi lies not in perfection, but in how brokenness itself becomes the source of something sacred and extraordinary.
On the Haftara
Written by Rabbi Barry Kleinberg
Inspired by the Teachings of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
An introduction to the Haftara for
Shabbat Para
Ezekiel 36:16-38 (Ashkenazim)
Ezekiel 36:16-36 (Sephardim and Yemenites)
In this passage, God speaks to Ezekiel about Israel’s sins and their exile. The Israelites have defiled their land through their wickedness, so God has scattered them among the nations. However, this exile caused God’s name to be profaned when other nations saw Israel’s downfall and doubted God’s power. So God declares that He will restore His holy name. He promises to gather Israel back from the nations, cleanse them from impurity (this is the reason for this Haftara being read on this special Shabbat), and give them a new heart and spirit, replacing their heart of stone with a heart of flesh.
This renewal will bring obedience and prosperity, making the land fruitful once more. The surrounding nations will recognise God’s power when they see Israel restored, proving that God can transform desolation into abundance.
The regular reading for Vayakhel
The Haftara passages
I Kings 7:40-50 (Ashkenazim)
I Kings 7:13-26 (Sephardim)
I Kings 7:13-22 (Yemenites)
(See “The Book of Kings” for an understanding of chapter 7, read as the Haftara for Vayakhel.)
Tanach Connections
Parsha and Haftara Links
The regular Haftara and Parsha both describe the construction of God’s dwelling places on earth. The Mishkan is constructed by Betzalel and Oholiav, whilst the Temple in Jerusalem is built by Hiram on behalf of Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon).
Rabbi Sacks noted the beauty of the constructions and wrote the following: The most significant intrusion of the aesthetic dimension was in the Tabernacle itself, its framework and hangings, its furniture, the cherubim above the Ark, the Menorah, and the vestments of the Priests and the High Priest, lekavod uletifaret, “for dignity and beauty” (Ex. 28:2).
Rambam says that most people are influenced by aesthetic considerations, which is why the Sanctuary was designed to inspire admiration and awe; why a continual light burned there; why the priestly robes were so impressive; why there was music in the form of the Levitical choir; and why incense was burned to cover the smell of the sacrifices.
Rambam himself, in his introduction to his commentary on Mishnah Avot – speaks about the therapeutic power of beauty and its importance in counteracting depression:
“Someone afflicted with melancholy may dispel it by listening to music and various kinds of song, by strolling in gardens, by experiencing beautiful buildings, by associating with beautiful pictures, and similar sorts of things that broaden the soul...” (The Eight Chapters, ch. 5)
Art, in short, is balm to the soul.
Point to Ponder
The mitzvah of the Para Adumah (the Red Heifer) is a classic example of a chok, a mitzvah for which we do not understand the reason.
What is the purpose of this category of mitzvot (commandments)?
Putting the Haftara into Context
The Book of Kings
There are varied customs relating to how much of chapter 7 from I Kings is read for this week’s Haftara, and so we thought it would be useful to summarise the whole of this chapter in this section.
The chapter describes the construction of King Solomon’s palace complex and the Temple furnishings. Solomon builds his royal palace over 13 years, including the House of the Forest of Lebanon, the Hall of Pillars, the Hall of Judgment, and a separate house for Pharaoh’s daughter, his wife.
The chapter also highlights the craftsmanship of Hiram of Tyre, a skilled bronze worker. He forges two massive bronze pillars, named Jachin and Boaz, for the Temple’s entrance. Other items he crafts include the molten sea (a large bronze basin for priestly purification), ten bronze stands with basins, and numerous other sacred vessels. Gold and bronze decorations fill the Temple.
The chapter ends by listing all the intricate furnishings and vessels made for the Temple, emphasising Solomon’s wealth and devotion. This detailed account reflects the grandeur and significance of the Temple as a centre of Israelite worship.
Quote of the Week
“Chukim are Judaism’s way of training us in emotional intelligence, above all a conditioning in associating holiness with life, and defilement with death...”
Descartes' Error, Chukat, Covenant & Conversation
Further Ponderings
If you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed, what techniques do you use to relax?
Have you ever visited an inspirational place and felt overawed by it?
Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks’ weekly Covenant & Conversation essay, the Family Edition is aimed at connecting teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the parsha.
With thanks to the Schimmel Family for their generous sponsorship of Covenant & Conversation, dedicated in loving memory of Harry (Chaim) Schimmel.
The Aesthetic in Judaism
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