רַבֵּנוּ הַזָּקֵן אָמַר: בִּתְרוּמַת הַמִּשְׁכָּן הָיוּ זָהָב וָכֶסֶף וּנְחוֹשֶׁת. וְלֹא הָיָה דָּבָר הַמַּבְרִיק זוּלַת מַרְאוֹת הַצּוֹבְאוֹת שֶׁמֵהֶן נַעֲשׂוּ הַכִּיּוֹר וְכַנּוֹ. הַכִּיּוֹר וְכַנּוֹ הֵם הַבָּאִים בָּאַחֲרוֹנָה מִכָּל כְּלֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן, וְתַשְׁמִישׁוֹ הוּא בְּרֹאשׁ כָּל עֲבוֹדוֹת הַמִּשְׁכָּן, כִּי נָעוּץ תְּחִלָּתָן בְּסוֹפָן.

The Alter Rebbe once taught:1 The contributions toward the construction of the Sanctuary [in the wilderness] included gold, silver and copper, but the only items that shone were the women’s [copper] mirrors, from which the basin and its stand were made. And though the basin and its stand are listed last among all the holy vessels, they were used before all the services in the Sanctuary2 — for “the beginning is rooted in the end.”3

Probing Beneath the Surface

The copper mirrors were contributed to the Sanctuary by women who had originally used them to arouse their husbands’ desires. The Midrash relates that at nightfall, when the Jewish slaves in Egypt finished their backbreaking work, each wife would meet her husband in the fields with refreshments and lead him to the orchards. She would take out her mirror and in it, next to his own exhausted reflection, he saw the image of his wife. In this way, the righteous women of that generation secured the continuity of the Jewish people.

Since the mirrors had been used to arouse a physical drive, Moshe shrank from accepting them. How could they be fit to become part of the holy Sanctuary? G‑d corrected him: “Accept them, for they are dearer to Me than all the other gifts.”4

The purpose of the Sanctuary was to transform our world — including its most physical elements — into a dwelling place for G‑d. In no case was this purpose more clearly reflected than in these mirrors.5