Commentary for Exodus 35:22

על הנשים means with the women and closely following them.

AND THE MEN CAME ‘AL HANASHIM’ (WITH THE WOMEN). The meaning of this expression is that because donations of ornaments were more common amongst women, and they all had these jewels [cited in the verse: nose-rings, and ear-rings, and signet-rings, and golden beads, all jewels of gold], therefore they immediately pulled off their ear-rings and signet-rings and were the first to come to Moses, and [afterwards] they brought with them those men with whom they found ornaments. For the phrase al hanashim indicates that they were there first, while the men joined them later. Similar usage of the word al is found in these verses: Aram is confederate ‘al’ Ephraim,³⁵Isaiah 7:2. for that war [against Judah] was mainly led by Ephraim [i.e., the kingdom of Israel]; and he did not put them ‘al’ (unto) Laban’s flock;³⁶Genesis 30:40. ‘v’alav’ (and next unto him) shall be the tribe of Manasseh.³⁷Numbers 2:20. There are other similar instances. Thus Scripture is stating that all — men and women — came with nose-rings, and ear-rings, and signet-rings, and golden beads, and with all jewels of gold, such as bracelets and ear-rings, as all of the people found some jewelry to bring. It further states that some of them brought an offering of gold, in some broken form or as coin.

ויבואו האנשים על הנשים, together with the women who were contributing voluntarily. The men accompanied the women to indicate that the women had their approval.

ויבאו האנשים על הנשים; They came, both men and women. The expression על הנשים needs further analysis. Besides, why does the Torah repeat once more that the people who brought the materials were כל נדיב לבו, "all motivated by a generous heart?" Perhaps the Torah wanted to describe the nature of the generosity of these men, i.e. the אנשי החיל, the men of valour. People are attached to their earthly possessions in different degrees. We may perceive of this attachment in a descending order. 1) One is attached most strongly to possessions that serve one in the home, jewelry, household utensils, furniture, etc. This attachment is based on sentimental rather than monetary considerations. 2) One is attached to one's gold, seeing it represents the most enduring of one's possessions and does not require expense for its upkeep. 3) One is attached to possessions which are one's exclusive property, no one else in the world possessing anything like it, such as a rare painting by a painter already deceased. 4) One is attached to all the other kinds of possessions one owns.

ויבאו האנשים על הנשים, “The men came together with the women;” the meaning of the word על הנשים is that the men “played second fiddle” to the women, who had been the primary movers in getting the whole project off to a flying start. One of the reasons the women were so quick in contributing, was that they had plenty of jewelry with which they were in the habit of adorning themselves. They did not have to go searching for things to contribute. All they had to do was to take off part of their jewelry and to hand it to Moses.

על הנשים means with the women . . . Rashi is answering the question: [Why were the donations accepted?] Only a small amount of tzedakah may be accepted from a [married] woman, [unless the husband approves]. Thus Rashi says that the men came with the women, [showing they approve]. (Nachalas Yaakov)

V. 22. Das ויבאו des vorigen Verses wird hier noch näher präzisiert: es kamen nicht nur die Männer, sondern auch die Frauen, und zwar gingen hier die Frauen voran. Zum עגל hatten die Frauen ihre Geschmeide verweigert. Hier waren sie die ersten, und die Männer erschienen in zweiter Linie, sie kamen על הנשים, von den Frauen geleitet, wie ועליו מטה מנשה (Bamidbar 2, 20). — כל נדיב לב וגו׳, die vorhergehenden Sätze hatten die Beteiligung des Volkes im allgemeinen geschildert, nun folgt das einzelne. — חח: wir finden חוֺחַ als Dorn: כשושנה בין החוחים (Hohel. 2,2) als bohrende Spitze: ובחוח תקוב לחיו (Job 40, 26), als festhaltendes Mittel: וילכדו את מנשה בחחים (Chron. II 33, 11). חח als Geschmeide bedeutet daher wohl eine zum Zusammenhalten der Gewänder dienende Nadel. — כומז: die Lautverwandtschaft mit קמש, das ebenso wie חוח eine Dornart bezeichnet, קמוש וחוח Jes. 34, 13), zeugt von) der begrifflichen Verwandtschaft von כומז mit חח. Die fernere Verwandtschaft mit כמס: verbergen, קמץ: Zusammengreifen, weist auf ein zusammenhaltendes oder bergendes Geschmeide hin, etwa: Halter, Schloss.

ויבואו האנשים על הנשים, “and the men came to the women intending to deny them to offer their jewelry such as חח ונזם nose rings and ear rings; however the women were quite anxious to donate even these pieces of jewelry, seeing that it was for holy purpose. This is why the Torah gives them special credit for their general attitude in verse 26: וכל הנשים אשר נשא לבם אותנה, “and all the women whose heart stirred them, etc.” According to our sages, this is the reason why they were given a holiday each Rosh Chodesh by being allowed to treat it as a sort of holiday, not having to perform tedious activities. This was also in recognition of the fact that they had refused to part with any of their jewelry during the episode of the golden calf. (Compare Exodus 32,2, as interpreted by Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer in chapter 45). According to our author, they were given off on the first day of the month of Nissan during that year, as that was the day when the Tabernacle was put up. Subsequently, every Rosh Chodesh became a semi-holiday for the women.

ויבואו האנשים על הנשים, the men came “upon” the women, to take away their jewelry in order to use them for building the Tabernacle, as we will read presently. A different interpretation: the word על in this verse means: “with;” in other words, the men did no volunteer their own jewelry as gifts for to building the Tabernacle until after the women had already done so by removing their own jewelry. The use of the word על as meaning “with,” we know already from Leviticus 25,31 על שדה הארץ יחשב, “it will be considered as belonging with the open country.” Or, Numbers 19,5: על פרשה ישרף, “it will be burned together with its dung.”

חח is a circular golden ornament placed upon the arm; it is the צמיד which is often mentioned in Scripture (cf. e. g., Numbers 31:50).

And every man, with whom was found blue-purple and red-purple.³⁸Verse 23. The reason for this expression is that these items were found only amongst a few of the people. Then Scripture states again, and every man, with whom was found acacia-wood,³⁹Verse 24. because the people who had this kind of wood were still fewer in number. It states, Every one that did set apart an offering of silver and brass,³⁹Verse 24. because most people had silver and brass in coins or vessels. Scripture, however, did not mention this above together with all jewels of gold, because it mentioned there the women, and they did not have silver and brass ornaments but gold ones, just as Aaron said, Pull off the golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives.⁴⁰Above, 32:2.

וכל איש אשר הניף תנופת זהב, together with the women who had donated golden jewelry also every male who donated such golden offerings. The Torah states simply that donations of different materials were not all lumped together but that all silver donations irrespective of by whom, as well as all donations of gold whether by men or by women, were kept together based on the raw material they consisted of.

וכל איש אשר הניף תנופת זהב לה', “and any man who raised up an offering of gold for G’d.” Seeing that the Torah had already reported that all kinds of golden vessels had been donated, here we must think in terms of either gold coins or remnants of golden vessels that had somehow disintegrated.

Worn on the arm . . . ]Rashi knows this] because Onkelos translates חח as שירין . And so does he translate אצעדה in Bamidbar 31:50, and צמידים in Bereishis 24:These [latter two] are clearly ornaments worn on the arm.

In our verse the Torah describes how the men brought the kind of possessions normally worn by women, i.e. their most cherished possessions. The donors' generosity was such that they donated the most precious jewelry of their wives, nose-rings, ear-rings, signet-rings, etc.. The Torah distinguished between a נדיב לב, and between a נשאו לבו, as we have already explained. When the Torah speaks about people donating כל כלי זהב, it is to tell us that the people did not donate the golden utensils they had duplicates of which they could use instead. The word כל is a reminder that they did not retain a duplicate or substitute golden vessel for the ones they donated for the Tabernacle. It is also possible that the expression על הנשים means that this jewelry was still being worn by the wives of the men when they came to Moses to hand over their donations. They took off the jewelry only after Moses could see that this jewelry represented something very dear to them.

תנופת זהב ist wohl eine Spende von Goldmetall, im Gegensatz zu כלי זהב das verarbeitetes Gold bezeichnet. — Hier heißt es: תנופת זהב, V. 24: תרומת כסף ונחשת, Kap. 38, 24: זהב התנופה :V.29: נחשת התנופה und sonst der gewöhnliche Namen für Weihespenden: תרומה. Der Grund dieses Wechsels der Ausdrücke scheint der Ermittlung wert. Kommt doch ebenso konstant חזה התנופה und שוק התרומה vor, obgleich beide Weihebewegungen, die horizontale (תנופה) und die perpendikuläre (תרומה) mit beiden vorgenommen wurde. Bei der horizontalen Weihebewegung, תנופה, erscheint der zu weihende Gegenstand mit dem Zielgegenstand der Weihe in einer Ebene. Er befindet sich bereits in der Richtung seines Zieles und wird seiner Bestimmung hingegeben. Die hebende Weihebewegung, הרומה, lässt das Weiheziel in einer den bisherigen Standpunkt des zu weihenden Gegenstandes überragenden Höhe denken. Der zu weihende Gegenstand wird durch die Weihe gehoben. Gold (siehe zu Kap. 25, 8), als das edelste Metall, das Reinste und Gediegenste bezeichnend, findet im "Heiligen" seine eigentlichste Verwendung, daher: זהב התנופה ,תנופת הזהב. Kupfer und Silber jedoch (siehe das.), den unveredelten, der Läuterung so bedürftigen als fähigen Zustand ausdrückend, findet im "Heiligen" das anzustrebende Höheziel, daher: תרומת כסף ונחשת. Ebenso: חזה התנופה und חזה .שוק התרומה, das geistige Gesamtvermögen des Menschen umschließend, findet in der Hingebung an Gott und sein Heiligtum ihre naturgemäßeste, nächstliegende Bestimmung, daher: שוק .חזה התנופה jedoch, das leiblich Starke repräsentierend, wird durch die Weihe an Gott und sein Heiligtum gehoben, daher: שוק התרומה. Fällt dieses alles nicht von der Wahrheit, so ist es bedeutsam, dass, während in Verbindung mit Silber Kupfer: תרומת הכסף ונחשת heißt, es für sich allein Kap. 28, 29 נחשת התנופה genannt wird. Es wäre damit die tiefe, das ganze jüdische Heiligtum tragende Wahrheit ausgesprochen, dass in tiefem wahrhaftem Grunde das Bereich des jüdischen Heiligtums kein transzendentales, das gewöhnliche Leben und seine Verhältnisse negierend überragendes sei; sondern, wie der Altar unmittelbar auf den Boden der Erde, der Altar des Gesetzes nicht auf den blühenden Gerisim, sondern auf den kahlen Ebal zu errichten war, so überhaupt das Gesetzesheiligtum die ganz konkrete Wirklichkeit des menschlich-irdischen Daseins voraussetze, unmittelbar an dieses anknüpfe, unmittelbar in ihm verwirklicht werde, und das höchste Ziel und die höchste Weihe in letztem Grunde nur eben das sei, wofür das Irdischste der irdischen Beziehungen seine durchaus ursprüngliche und eigentliche Bestimmung und Verwirklichung finde. Die Läuterungsweihe des Unedlen, die תרומה des נחשת selbst, ist in Wahrheit seine תנופה.

חח, jewelry worn in the ear;

כומז was a golden ornament worn by the women upon their private parts, Our Rabbis explain the name כּוּמָז as [an acrostic]: כַּאן מְקוֹם זִמָּה, [meaning] here is the place of licentiousness. (cf. Shabbat 64a).

Our Sages explained . . . Rashi is answering a question on his own explanation: Does this not imply that כומז is a noun referring to something [in the form] of one’s private parts? But, our language is called the Holy Tongue because it has no specific word for one’s private parts! Therefore Rashi brings our Sages’ explanation [that it is not a noun, but an abbreviation for “here is the place of lewdness”].

Then there was the kind of gold which had not served as jewelry. When describing people who donated that kind of gold the Torah wrote: וכל איש אשר הניף תנופת זהב לשם, and any man who brought an offering of gold for G'd. The third category of possessions donated by people, i.e. the items which a person knew was one of a kind seeing these things were unobtainable in the desert, is described by the Torah with the words וכל איש אשר נמצא אתו תכלת וארגמן, וגו and any man who had in his possession blue wool, purple wool, etc. Finally, the the fourth category of donors, the people who donated silver and other valuable possession are described as כל מרים תרומת כסף ונחושת, any man donating silver or copper.

And every man that ‘heinif tenufath’ (brought an offering of) gold. This is so phrased because the number of these people was not as great as those who brought silver and brass. Thus the amount of gold brought was not as much as that of silver and brass. It is for this reason that the gold donation is called tenufah (waving), whilst that of silver and brass is called terumah (offering),⁴¹Thus in Verse 24: Every one that ‘meirim terumath’ (set apart an offering of) silver and brass… for one who brings gold waves it with his hand to show the importance of the donation, or it may be that those who take it from him wave the gold to show up the donor in a praiseworthy light for having brought such a donation. However, in the section of Eileh Pekudei Scripture calls the donations of both gold and brass tenufah,⁴²Further, 38:24: And the gold of ‘hatenufah’… And in Verse 29: And the brass of ‘hatenufah’… because there it does not mention at all terumah (free-will offering,) but only the silver of them that were numbered.⁴³Ibid., Verse 25. And since everyone had to give the half-shekel in order to be counted, it is not called terumah which indicates a free-will offering. See Ramban above at beginning of Seder Ki Thisa. It is possible that brass also was called tenufah because it was more important to them than silver, since they did not have much of it. Or it may have been very important on its own merit, similar to that which is said, and two vessels of fine bright brass, precious as gold.⁴⁴Ezra 8:27.

נזם, jewelry worn in the nose;טבעת, jewelry worn on the fingers;

When the Torah continues and describes people who possessed and brought acacia wood, the term נדבה, a donation, is omitted seeing that according to Tanchuma Parshat Terumah Jacob had foreseen the need for such wood and had planted such trees for use in the Tabernacle when required. The people with whom these trees or planks were found and who now brought them to Moses had only been trustees. These trees had only been "on deposit" with their keepers. They did not give up something that was theirs. Their contribution then could not qualify for the description "donation." לכל מלאכת עבודת הביאו, they brought it to be used for any work connected to the service (in the Tabernacle). The fact that the Torah stresses לכל מלאכת עבודה, is proof that the people bringing these trees or planks had kept them only for that purpose, otherwise these words are quite superfluous seeing that all the donations were brought for the same purpose. When you consider our explanation about the different types of possessions a person owns and what he feels for his various possessions, you will understand why the Torah repeated the word הביאו separately for each of the items listed.

כומוז, jewelry worn on the arms.35, 27. והנשיאים הביאו, “and the princes had brought;” they had taken these things with them at the time when theIsraelites had “emptied” Egypt of all their valuables (Exodus 12,36) each taking items appropriate to their social status.