Tafsiran Keluaran 35:22: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rashi, Ramban & Sforno

“Men and women brought” [35:22]. Ramban writes that since the bulk of the gold and silver jewelry belonged to the women, which is why the verse says that the men came after the women. That is to say, the women brought gold and silver first and then the men came after them and each one brought his gold or silver rings.¹³Ramban, Exodus, 35:22.

Toldot Yizhak asks a question. The sages said: one does not take for charity from women, except for small things. How did they take so much gold from the women? The explanation is that the woman did not have to give her silver and gold that she brought from her father’s house. She also did not have to give away the silver that her husband had given her. Therefore, men and women went together to bring silver and gold to the Tabernacle. That is to say, the man took his wife by the hand and accompanied her to the Tabernacle. Therefore, it is written, “Men and women brought” [35:22]. That is to say, men and women came together.¹⁴Toldot Yizhak, Exodus, 35:22.

From here we should learn that the women should not give charity without their husband’s knowledge. However, throwing in a penny or half penny or something similar, which is not a great amount, a woman can give this to charity. The Talmud says that a woman may give charity from her household foodstuffs to poor people and guests. The Talmud says in [tractate Ta’anit], chapter three. One time they needed rain and the sages sent two rabbis to Abba Hilkiah so that he should pray for rain. The rabbis came to his house. Abba Hilkiah was in the field, plowing for a householder who had hired him to work. The two rabbis said hello to Abba Hilkiah. He did not respond to them. When it was close to evening, he gathered some wood and carried the wood on one shoulder and on the other shoulder wore his garment. He walked barefoot and when he came to a body of water he put on his shoes. The rabbis asked: why did you not respond to our greeting? Abba Hilkiah said: he had been hired to work a whole day and he did not want to waste work time. Then they asked him: why did you remove your garment from your shoulder where you carried the wood? He answered: I borrowed the garment from a householder. Therefore, I did not want to put the wood on it, so that it should not be damaged. Why did you put your shoes on in the water? He responded: in the water, one cannot see what is lying there; a stone or a bone could stick me. Therefore, I put the shoes on, so that I should not be hurt. He went where there were thorns and he removed his garment. The rabbis asked: Why did you remove your garment? Your body will be hurt. He responded: the body will heal, if there will be a wound. However, when the garment is torn, it will be damaged. When they came close to the city, his wife came toward him in beautiful white garments with lovely adornments. The rabbis asked: why so? He said that he expected that he would think about his wife and if he would see other women in the city, he would only have thoughts about his wife. When he came to his house, his wife went in first, he followed, and the rabbis followed him. The rabbis asked him: why did you go first? He responded: I do not know you, if you are pious. I will not trust my wife with you. Therefore, I let her go ahead and I will protect her from you. That is why I placed myself between my wife and you. He went to eat bread and he did not invite the rabbis to eat. The rabbis asked him why he did not invite them to eat? He responded: he had little bread and he did not want to invite them to eat and deceive them. That is to say, there are many people invite to eat and their heart is not in it, because they do not have enough for themselves. However, I do not want to do this, because my heart cannot tolerate this. I do not have enough for my household. He divided the bread and he gave the older son one part and he gave the younger son two parts. The rabbis asked him: why do you give your older son one part and the younger one two parts? He responded: the older one is at home all day and eats when he wants. However, the younger one is at school all day. Therefore, I give him two parts. Then he said to his wife that the rabbis had come because of the rain. Then both of them went up on the roof and prayed. He stood in one corner and his wife stood in the other corner and they prayed. A rain cloud came over where the wife was standing. That is, her prayer was accepted more quickly than her husband’s prayer. The rabbis asked: how is it that her prayer was more accepted than your prayers? He answered: the wife is always at home and gives charity through feeding the poor. Therefore, her prayer is more accepted.¹⁵B. Ta’anit, 23a-b. From here we can learn that the woman should give charity and may give it without her husband, like Abba Hilkiah’s wife gave charity without his knowledge. Therefore, her prayer was accepted. If he had known of it, why was his prayer not accepted so quickly? From here we can also learn that even a poor person must also give charity, since Abba Hilkiah was also a poor person. He worked for people day and night.

על הנשים means with the women and closely following them.