Kosher Vanity - Ki Tisa

Kosher Vanity
Parshat Ki Tisa


Vanity. A self indulging character trait. The obsession of looking good, glamorous and cool. The need and desire to have others look at you is not exactly what we would consider a spiritual pursuit.

Holiness, A focus on Hashem and spiritual things. Focusing not on the physical and material, but on the deeper message and meaning of things.

How can two diametrically opposed ideas become one?

In this week's portion of Ki Tisa we read how Moshe was commanded to construct the Kiyor (Wash Basin) for the Kohanim-priests to wash their hands and feet prior to doing the service in the sanctuary. It was made of copper and filled with fresh water.

The Midrash tells us that the copper for this Kiyor came from the donations of the Jewish women. The women had kept their copper mirrors that they had used in Egypt to make themselves pretty and attractive to their husbands, and now they wanted to donate these mirrors to the sanctuary. Moshe, our sages tell us, was very reluctant to accept these mirrors, as they represented vanity and physical attraction, not exactly what you would expect for building of a sanctuary.

But Hashem told Moshe not only to accept them, but to melt them down and use the copper for the Kiyor, a primary vessel in the sanctuary. The Kiyor was the one service that preceded every other service in the Mishkan. The reason? These mirrors were holy as they were used to keep Jewish families together during the most difficult of times.

Vanity in general may be a bad trait, but these special women had an ulterior G-dly motive in mind. They were trying to keep their families together. That is considered pretty important by G-d.

Shabbat Shalom