One Deed Reflects On Another The Torah describes how the people
eagerly came to donate their prized possessions towards the
building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). "The men came with the
women; everyone whose heart motivated him brought bracelets,
nose-rings, body ornaments - all sorts of gold ornaments - every
man who raised up an offering of gold to God." (1) The
commentaries discuss the meaning of the phrase, "the men came
with the women". Rabbeinu Bechaye explains that the women in
fact came first to donate their jewelry, and the men only came
after them. This, he explains, demonstrates their righteousness
in and of itself but it also reflects positively on an earlier
incident involving jewelry - that of the Golden Calf. When the
men demanded that Aaron make for them a statue, he told them to
remove the women's jewelry. However, the women refused to give
over their jewelry so the men took their own gold and gave that
towards the building of the Calf. From the incident of the
Golden Calf alone, it is unclear