The Mishkan, the Tabernacle, was ‘home’ to the Divine Presence during our forty year sojourn in the desert, and subsequently during the early years after entering the Holy Land, was a remarkable entity. It contained the many holy vessels; the miraculous Ark that housed the Tablets, the Menorah; the Table of Show-Bread; the Laver and Altars; as well as the intricate and exquisite vestments of the Priests, that were fashioned through great craftsmanship from rare materials generously donated by the people who were eager to bring G-d into their midst.

These were all housed in a structure composed of gilded acacia wood boards, covered with magnificently embroidered curtains and tapestries, which all required great effort and talent to design and produce.

Yet despite the extraordinary items within this dwelling and the solid wooden walls that housed them all, its very name, The Mishkan, literally meaning ‘The Residence’, is attributed solely to the Yerios, a tapestry, woven of linen and red, blue, and purple wool. The tapestry had two separate sections consisting of five joined panels each, which were attached to each other by a row of fifty gold hooks. This tapestry covered the exposed roof of the structure as well as the walls formed by the wooden planks. There was an additional curtain composed of goat hair that rested atop this first one, as well as a final cover that was placed above them all, comprised of animal hides.

ואת המשכן תעשה עשר יריעות... - שמות כו א, You shall make ‘the Tabernacle’ of ten curtains...

The second covering of goat’s hair is referred for use, לאהל, for a Tent, and the animal hide layer as simply a מכסה, cover.

The forty eight tall and sturdy gold layered planks that served as the actual enclosure of the Tabernacle, are referenced as קרשים למשכן, planks of the Tabernacle, merely ancillary to the Yerios; The Mishkan.

The Sforno in fact alleges that when the Torah later on describes how  ‘Moshe erected the Mishkan/Tabernacle’, it means that he first suspended the ten Yerios, i.e. the Mishkan, either physically or miraculously in mid-air, and first afterward emplaced the planks beneath it that would then support it. (שם מ יח)

What is so significant about these curtains that make it the defining article of the Tabernacle?

The construction of these curtains consisted of first producing ten individual 4 x 28 cubit panels. They would then sew together two sets of five panels each. These two sets were then connected by the insertion of fifty hooks into two sets of fifty corresponding loops at the edge of each of these two tapestries, thereby creating one integrated curtain measuring 40 x 28 cubits.

When the Torah describes the careful sewing together of each set of five panels it uses the metaphor, אשה אל אחותה, literally ‘a woman to her sister’, to indicate their joining together.

Similarly when it talks about the placing of loops at the edge of each of these two sets of curtains, it repeats once again אשה אל אחותה, a woman to her sister, to indicate the precise placement of their corresponding loops that will enable them to be linked together.

Finally when delineating the placement of the connecting gold hooks into these loops, it reiterates yet again their being closely connected like an אשה אל אחותה, a woman to her sister.

A total of four times, the Torah emphasizes how the components of the Yerios must ‘relate’ like ‘a woman to her sister’.

In the next paragraph as well, that defines the specifics of the wooden planks that ultimately supported these curtains, the Torah describes how at the base of each plank there were two ‘matching’ or ‘parallel’; like אשה אל אחותה, ‘a woman to her sister’, square pegs, carved from the wood that were inserted into two silver sockets.  

This is the only section in all five books of Torah that this allegory is used to connote ‘connection’.

The only other time this phrased is used is where the Torah lists the actual prohibition not to marry two living sisters, where the Torah states: ואשה אל אחותה לא תקח לצרור - ויקרא יח יח, You shall not take a woman in addition to her sister, to make them rival...

Is this simply a useful simile or might there be a deeper message in its specific use here?

Throughout the Torah there are six references to Jewish ‘sisters’.

Rivka is noted as the sister of the nefarious Lavan. Rachel and Leah go down in history as the most famous of loyal sisters. Dinah is noted by her brothers’ reaction to her having been ravished by Shechem, in their quest to preserve the honor of their ‘sister’. Serach is introduced, in the context of the enumeration of the seventy souls that descended to Egypt with Yaakov, as the ‘sister’ to her brothers, the children of Asher. Miriam is twice referenced as the ‘sister’ of Moshe, who stood from afar to observe his fate as an infant, as well as being the ‘sister of Aharon’. Lastly, Elisheva, the wife of Aharon, thus becoming the Matriarch of Priesthood, is identified as being the ‘sister of Nachshon’.

Might there be a message in this ‘coincidence’ of six usages of the term ‘a woman to her sister’, and these six renowned ‘sisters’?

אחות לנו קטנה ושדים אין לה מה נעשה לאחותנו ביום שמדובר בה - שיר השירים ח ח, We have a little sister who has no breasts; what shall we do for our sister on the day she is spoken for?

The Midrash says that the ‘little sister’ in this verse refers to Avraham Avinu, who is called ‘sister’ since the word for sister in Hebrew, אחות, is rooted in the word אחה, meaning to literally stitch, or figuratively unite, for it was Avraham ‘who ‘stitched’ together all the people of the world... like one who sews together a tear’. (ב"ר לט ג)

The broader context of the verse poses a question as to how this young and inexperienced ‘little sister’, Avraham, will fare in facing the challenges to his faith. To which Avraham responds, “I am a wall” and capable of ‘keeping’ it all together, as a steadfast wall that protects all that is encircled by it.   

Perhaps it is the imagery of a loyal and mindful sister who despite the tests of family differences and rivalries remains the one who always ‘holds it together’, never losing sight of the forest for the trees, providing the encouragement and support to others to move forward and not allow themselves to be felled by the difficulties that may interfere in our lives.

Wasn’t that Avraham’s unique ability, not be discouraged or defeated by the tribulations he faced and continuing his mission to convey to a fragmented world a path towards repair?

Rivkah could have easily succumbed to the influence of her conniving brother, yet her ‘sisterly’ quality, to see beyond the evil machinations and promote before the world superlative kindness and grace, remained healthily intact.

Perhaps it was the influence she imprinted on that household that left fertile ground for the developing of her illustrious nieces, Rachel and Leah, in becoming the paradigm of ‘sisters, who would never allow their differences to separate them.

Ironically it was from that impregnable and deep love for one another that allowed for Dinah to be born. Wasn’t it due to Leah’s pleading with G-d that the seventh child in her womb be transformed into a female so that Rachel could bear a son instead, to become an equal among the wives of Yaakov? Dinah despite her trauma bounces back and marries Shimon, gives birth to the child fathered by Shechem, Osnat, who goes on to eventually become the wife of Yosef and mother of their two children, Efraim and Menashe, who would number for all of posterity among the twelve tribes of Israel. We are taught that Osnat was shunned by her family because of her illegitimate birth. Clearly though, Dinah never lapsed into defeatism and nevertheless succeeded in instilling within her ostracized child a fierce sense of survival that empowered her to reach such great spiritual attainments.

Serach was the one who could be trusted to remain calm and collected in delicately revealing the news of Yosef’s being alive to Yaakov. She was the one entrusted with task to accurately identify Moshe as the true savior. She also possessed the privileged information of the coffin of Yosef’s location. Hundreds of years later the Prophet records an episode where a ‘wise’ woman intercedes in convincing Yoav, the army commander, who threatens to destroy an entire city in order to extract Sheva ben Bichri, who rebelled against King David and sought harbor there, to not lose sight of the forest for the trees, with Yoav indeed backing down. We are taught this was none other than ‘sister’ Serach. Clearly this was a woman who knew how to hold it all together.

Miriam, even as a young girl takes her father Amram, the great leader of his generation, to task for losing sight of the forest, in divorcing his wife Yocheved so as not to bring children into the dangerous environment of Egypt, telling him that life must continue with eternal hope. He agrees, retakes his wife and from that intervention Moshe is born. Always the optimist this tambourine carrying ‘holy sister’ leads the women in song and dance at the splitting of the sea.

Elisheva, we are told, was privileged to experience five additional joys on the day the Tabernacle was dedicated. She was not only jubilant in anticipation of the inauguration of the Tabernacle, but also  for the fact that her husband, Aaron, was to be consecrated as High Priest. Her brother-in-law, Moshe, was to serve as the de facto king of Israel. Her son, Elazar, was appointed as the head of all the priests. Her grandson, Pinchas, had been appointed to be the Priest of War, and her brother, Nachshon, assumed the leadership of the great tribe of Yehudah. Elisheva’s joy, however, was suddenly disrupted and turned into unbearable grief when two of the four sons of Elisheva and Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, died on that day. The Midrash indicates that she admirably maintained her composure, keeping everything in proper perspective, realizing that although things don’t always go the way we’d like there is nevertheless a Divine plan behind it all. About her the verse testifies, ‘Strength and majesty are her raiment, she joyfully awaits the last day’.

It is never about the trees alone. One must always keep one’s sights on the forest; the bigger picture. Otherwise one can easily succumb in defeat.

The Yerios, the curtains that ‘pulled it all together’, as the verse describes the purpose of placing these Yerios so that והיה למשכן אחד (שמות כו ו), so that the Tabernacle shall become one, conveys this very message: Never lose focus despite the difficulties and failures. Because what defines our relationship with G-d is how we remain ever cognizant of Him in the greater picture of life and its challenges.

These curtains were powered by the legacy of these ‘holy sisters’ who infused the soul of our nation with the capacity to ‘keep it together’ at all times and at all circumstances.

One need not be a female to possess the mighty power of ‘sister’ in staying focused on the presence of G-d at all times, as Avraham Avinu had, in constantly ‘stitching’ the pieces of life together, because in that talent we can not only repair ourselves but also impact the greater world around us by making His presence so tangibly there.

באהבה,

צבי טייכמאן