The medieval Biblical scholar Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra translates this list of items slightly differently, as “earrings, nose-rings, finger-rings, and bracelets.”
The four items that the women donated allude to the four aspects of proper child-rearing and Jewish education:
Earrings: Listening carefully to children’s conversations with their peers, for children learn how to talk from their elders’ example; if something is amiss in how they speak, it means something is amiss in how their role models speak.
Nose-rings: Developing a keen sense of “smell” to determine if children’s friendships with other children are beneficial.
Finger-rings: Pointing children to the proper path, by gently guiding them to adhere to the Torah’s teachings and not to follow harmful paths.
Bracelets: Being strong-armed – for even if children are well-behaved, it is necessary to be firm with them in order to foster their enthusiasm for their studies.1
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