Vayakhel: There Is No Wisdom to Woman Except the Spindle

This week’s parsha discusses the donations of the “chachmei leiv”, the wise-hearted men and women who gave materials towards the Mishkan. The women in particular are highlighted for their skilled work where they spun goats’ hair directly on the live goat. Something about this work required such depth that the Gemara goes so far as to use this pasuk to say “there is no wisdom to woman except with the spindle.” We will unpack this Gemara and discover the meaning behind the wise weaving of the Jewish women. 

The pesukim tell us (35:25-26) ‘And every wise-hearted woman spun with her hands and they brought what they had spun, in blue, purple and crimson yarns, and in fine linen. And all the women whose hearts motivated them with wisdom spun the goats’ hair.’ The women took on the job of providing the materials for the Mishkan’s curtains. On this the Gemara (Shabbat 99a) teaches that the weaving which the women performed was highly skilled work. The wool spinning was an extremely delicate process as the women actually spun off the goats’ backs. In one sense, therefore, the praise of women is completely physical. The pasuk is an acknowledgement of their fine weaving skills. On a spiritual level, the Gemara is not simply praising the sewing itself, but the manner in which it was done: with zerizut, enthusiasm. The women are singled out for the way in which they anticipated this mitzva. They could not wait for the animal to be shorn, they wanted to contribute to the Mishkan right away. 

However, there is another layer to the narrative here. Rabbi Frand explains that there were a group of women who were ritually impure¹. These women felt that they would miss out on the tremendous zechut of contributing to the Mishkan as a result of their status and were saddened. Miriam, the sister of Moshe and Aharon advised those women that if they spun straight off the animal’s back, it would be permitted even in their impure state because a live animal is not mekabel tuma. This creative solution was extremely praiseworthy in the eyes of Hashem because Miriam was able to channel the women’s passion into something completely halachically permissible. The wisdom of a Jewish woman is thus not only expressed through her artistic handiwork, but through the G-d fearing attitude she adopts in creating it. 

The Gemara in Yoma (66b) quotes this pasuk and makes a strong statement: אֵין חׇכְמָה לָאִשָּׁה אֶלָּא בְּפֶלֶךְ which means ‘there is no wisdom in a woman except with a spindle.’ At first glance, this Gemara seems to suggest that the only skill a woman can acquire is the skill of weaving. That it is the only wisdom we possess. However, that is only the superficial reading of the Gemara. A deeper understanding of the Gemara would demonstrate how somehow the pasuk of the wise-hearted women weaving are proof of this statement. There is something about weaving which is intrinsic to a woman’s essence and which is symbolic of all the wisdom a woman could wish to acquire. 

A woman serves as the weaver between Heaven and earth. While the man is charged with the responsibility of bringing home the wheat and the flax, the woman is expected to convert those raw materials into Heavenly ones. The wheat becomes a delicious challa for the Shabbat table, the flax is designed into tzniut clothing. While a Jewish man is lauded for spending time in shul; learning and davening, a Jewish woman can achieve the same praise by spending time at home.

A woman’s wisdom is all contained within her spindle. Because a woman is a connector, A woman is a weaver. A woman is charged with the role of tying the threads. Her contribution to the Mishkan, the house of Hashem is emblematic of what each woman brings to her own Mishkan, her own home. Weaving disparate threads into one beautiful tapestry. All this imagery can be concretised in two different ways. On the micro-level, a woman is master of her ‘spindle’ when she manages to connect the threads of her home. When she is able to bring out the best in her husband and each of her children, by drawing on their unique talents and capitalising on their strengths. She knows that this one is hyperactive and that one is extra sensitive, this one is highly logical, and that one is more slow-paced. She combines each thread of their uniquely designated character traits into a masterful tapestry. This, in turn, becomes a receptacle for Hashem to dwell in her home. A woman is able to use her gift, her bina yeteira to discover what makes her spouse and children tick and how to channel that into creating a sanctuary for Hashem. The Gemara is not dismissive of a woman’s capabilities and is not suggesting that a woman’s potential is limited to sewing curtains. The Gemara actually opens up a woman to her true essence, as the akeret habayit, the one who has the wisdom of heart to bind the members of her family. 

This idea expands on the macro-level as well. A woman serves as the weaver between Heaven and earth. While the man is charged with the responsibility of bringing home the wheat and the flax, the woman is expected to convert those raw materials into Heavenly ones. The wheat becomes a delicious challa for the Shabbat table, the flax is designed into tzniut clothing. While a Jewish man is lauded for spending time in shul; learning and davening, a Jewish woman can achieve the same praise by spending time at home. This is not because she is less spiritual, but rather because she possesses the power to uplift the physical, to transcend the material substances of her home and redirect them towards holiness. Even when she is not in the beit midrash, everything she does can be infused with a taste of the Divine. With each mundane act, whether peeling carrots or polishing silver, she is creating her special craft – stitches which bind the physical to the spiritual. This is the work of her spindle. This is her masterful weaving which the Gemara praises as so specialised, so skilled and so unique. 

May we all master the craft of our spindle, the exquisite weaving which is so embedded into our essence as Jewish women. May we weave the varied threads of our family together and bind the physical elements of our lives in a way which creates a spiritual oasis for Hashem down here on earth. As the pasuk in Eishet Chayil writes, וְ֝כַפֶּ֗יהָ תָּ֣מְכוּ פָֽלֶךְ (Mishlei 31:19) ‘Her hands grasped the spindle.’ May we value and express this special feminine virtue and attain the ultimate wisdom: that of the spindle.

1. Impurity as conveyed in the Torah is an entirely spiritual concept that is not meant to be derogatory by any means. ↩︎