Sisters at Sinai: New Tales of Biblical Women

The Mirrors

134 He made the laver out of copper, and its base out of copper, from the mirrors of the serving women [tzovot] who served at the entrance of the Tabernacle. —EXODUS 38:8 Miriam was a teacher of women. —TARGUM MICAH 6:4 W hen the Israelites received the Torah, they did not, at first, know what to do with it. Parts of it were law. Parts of it were story. Parts of it were poem. They began to read it, and discovered that every time they read it, it had a new meaning. They also discovered that the new revelation seemed more clear if they studied it together. The people were occupied with the task of building the Tabernacle and all its furnishings as a dwelling place for God. Yet they also knew that it was an equally important task to study the words that they had been given at Sinai. So, at night when the work of building the Tabernacle had ceased for the day, the people began to gather in groups to learn Torah together. Miriam, the prophetess, called together the women who had worked hard all day to spin blue, purple, and scarTHE MIRRORS k let thread for the Tabernacle’s curtains. They wound their threads into skeins and came to sit in Miriam’s tent, where she taught them Torah for hours, until their eyes drooped. The very beginning of the Torah fascinated them. They spent many days on the six days of Creation, probing its mysteries, for they too were engaged in a work of creation. Finally, when they came to the creation of humankind, the women became confused, for they had read this verse: “God created the adam in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.” They argued about the meaning of this verse. How could God create one creature that was also two? And how could God create a mortal creature, of any gender, in God’s own image? They had seen on Sinai that the Eternal was a consuming fire. No mortal could approach that presence and live. Miriam listened as the women argued. The debate grew more and more heated. Finally Miriam said to her disciples: “Go home and fetch your mirrors.” The women did not understand this strange request, but they hastened to follow Miriam’s request. Each went to her tent to find the mirror that she looked into when she braided her hair or painted her eyes. Some opened carved chests of olive wood given to them by their mothers. Some unwrapped bundles of rags. Some begged from neighbor women or from grandmothers. Some brought two or three mirrors so that others could share. Soon all came back to Miriam’s tent, carrying the precious bronze circles. The firelight reflected in the many mirrors made the tent blaze like a palace of light. Then Miriam told the women to look into their mirrors. “What do you see?” she asked. “I see myself,” each woman answered. “I see my eyes, which reveal my soul. I see my mouth, which speaks and sings. I see that I am different from everyone else.” 135 P R O P H E T S : The Mirrors “Each of you is made in the image of God,” Miriam explained. “Your soul and your speech are like God’s, and your body is God’s dwelling place. Each of you embodies the divine Presence in a different way. When you look into your mirror, you see a woman, but you also see the Divine image. If a man were to look into your mirror , he would see a man, but he would also see God. This is what the Torah means when it says: ‘God created the adam in His own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.’ God is like the mirror: God remains the same but reflects each of our images differently, men and women, young and old. This is why, when we study together, we can reveal different facets of the Torah to each other. Each of us is a different reflection of the One.” The women were silent, and for a long time they looked into their mirrors without speaking. Then one of the women said: “These mirrors are holy now, because each of them has held God’s image...