Parshat Ki Sisa from the Gaon and Tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a – "The Women Build the Mishkan (Tabernacle)"

"And all the people took off the golden rings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron" (Exodus 32:3)

"There are tens of thousands of endless chambers above in Heaven, belonging to tens of thousands of righteous women throughout all generations, each of whom built a chamber from her yearnings and longings for a mitzvah (commandment)."

Why Aaron agreed to make the Calf

"The holy Zohar says regarding the sin of the Golden Calf (192a) that Jannes and Jambres, the sons of the wicked Balaam who were from the Erev Rav (mixed multitude) and left Egypt together with Israel, began to convince the People of Israel that Moses would surely not return. They claimed that if he ascended to Heaven, he would not come back, and therefore they needed to make a calf; they needed to perform a new coronation with sorcery and magic. They said that with this calf they would conquer nations, and in this way, they would also conquer the Land of Israel. Immediately, they went to Aaron the Priest and said to him, 'Come, let us make a calf.' What did Aaron do? How did he want to 'handle' them? He told them, 'Go to the women, bring me the rings of the women, and tell them that Aaron commanded to make a calf.'"

"Aaron knew that the women would not agree to make a calf. He knew that if a woman heard even once, 'You shall have no other gods before Me,' nothing would help! No one can move her from that. This is the nature of the woman—if she heard a certain word, a certain Torah thought, nothing in the world can move her from it."

Nothing can move the woman from her fear of Heaven

"'A woman who fears Hashem, she shall be praised' – The woman possesses fear [of Heaven]; the woman has more fear than the man, for the women were not involved in the sin of the Golden Calf, and the women were not involved in the sin of the Spies. This is because the moment the women received the Ten Commandments, the moment they took upon themselves the yoke of Torah and mitzvos (commandments), nothing in the world could move them, nothing could divert them—no argument, no persuasion—because the emunah (faith) of the woman is much stronger than that of the man."

"When they came to the women, every husband tried to convince his wife: 'What? Do you not believe Aaron the Priest? Do you not have Emunas Tzaddikim (faith in the righteous)? Do you not believe in the Tzaddik? Aaron the Priest said to make a calf, where is your faith?' Every woman said to her husband, 'Come, let us go to Aaron the Priest, let us argue with Aaron. What does it mean that he said to make a calf? After we heard such a commandment as "You shall not have..." from one end of the world to the other in seventy languages, when even a bird did not chirp and an ox did not low—now we shall change such a commandment? What does it mean that Aaron told me? Does Aaron change the Ten Commandments?'"

Nothing moved the women from their simplicity

"The holy Zohar says, 'Vayitpareku (and they broke off/stripped) all the people' – what is this expression 'Vayitpareku'? The Zohar explains that the women did not remove the rings under any circumstances! They grabbed their ears and clamped their hands over their ears. So it is written 'Vayitpareku,' similar to 'breaking (mefarek) mountains and shattering rocks.' The men simply took them by force, 'damaging and breaking their ears' as the Zohar phrases it. For when the husbands were seized by a certain madness, Heaven forbid, and wanted to make a calf, then Hashem have mercy—but the women remained in their temimus (simplicity), their kashrus (purity), their tzniyus (modesty), and their pure emunah (faith), and nothing moved them, nothing in the world!"

There is a chamber in Heaven where women innovate Torah

"A woman can also be a prophetess, like Deborah the Prophetess or Miriam the Prophetess, as the Tanna D'vei Eliyahu says—swearing by Heaven and earth—that anyone can merit to see the holy Shechinah (Divine Presence), without exception. The holy Zohar says there are chambers in Heaven, chambers merited by righteous women. There is a chamber called the chamber of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh; thousands of women innovate Chiddushei Torah (original Torah insights) there every day. There are thousands of women there who left their homes, left wealth, and left careers. Bithiah was a king's daughter and left everything to be a simple Jewess. So every woman who could have been a great manager but left it all to be at home, to raise her children for Torah study, who sends her husband to learn Torah, who recites Tehillim (Psalms) and goes to the Kotel (Western Wall)—she ascends to such levels that no other woman can reach, and then she merits the levels of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, who ascended with her body to Gan Eden (Paradise)."

Deborah wanted to increase Torah and her light grew in Judah and Jerusalem

"There is the chamber of Serach the daughter of Asher who ascended with her body to Gan Eden, and there is the chamber of Jochebed, and the chamber of Deborah the Prophetess. All the righteous women of the generation ascend to those chambers; each one is assigned the chamber that suits her according to her deeds, and there are endless other chambers. Tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of righteous women in every generation, each of whom built a chamber from her yearnings and longings for a mitzvah, like Deborah the Prophetess, whose entire yearning and intention was how to 'magnify the Torah and make it glorious.' Deborah made her torches, the large candles, specifically so that Torah scholars could sit until morning and study Torah—so that the candle would not go out in the middle of the night because the wick was not good, or the wax was not good, or the oil was not good. Deborah ensured that the light of the candle would be of the highest quality, the finest wax, the finest oil, so that everything would be the height of hiddur (beautification of a mitzvah). It never happened that a candle suddenly went out in the middle of the night and they had to close the holy Gemara, Heaven forbid; the candles always burned until Netz HaChama (sunrise). So Hashem said to Deborah, 'Since you intended to increase My light in Judah and Jerusalem, I too will increase your light in Judah and Jerusalem.' He gave her prophecy, He gave her such attainments and such mochin (spiritual consciousness) that she would judge, as the Chida zt"l says (Rosh David, Parshat Beshalach), that all original insights and all the laws of judges were revealed to her."

Women are the aspect of the Altar

"The Zohar says in Parshat Mishpatim, 'Vatashar Devorah' (And Deborah sang) – 'Vatashar' hints at the 'Reshet' (grate/network) of the Mizbe'ach (Altar), as the verse says, 'And the Reshet shall be under the ledge of the Altar.' Deborah merited to sacrifice herself to Hashem Yisbarach; she was the aspect of the Reshet of the Altar—'Vatashar' contains the letters of 'Reshet.' Women are the aspect of the Altar, because in truth they sacrifice (zovech) themselves to Hashem Yisbarach. They sacrifice themselves; they receive the children, care for ten children—the mothers do everything. They devote themselves to the children, feed them, give them drink, admire them, and do this with mesirus nefesh (self-sacrifice), sacrificing themselves to Hashem Yisbarach; therefore, they can be prophetesses.

The women build the Mishkan

What is a home? A home is a Mishkan (Tabernacle). 'M-sh-k-n' is an acronym for Mitah (Bed), Shulchan (Table), Kiseh (Chair), Ner (Lamp). The woman cleans the house, educates the children—this is just like having Sifrei Torah (Torah scrolls) in the house because the children are learning Torah. The husband can sit and learn Torah when the wife washes the dishes and lights candles, cooks and sets the table—then she is building the Mishkan. If she performs her work, her mission, she can receive prophecy from it."

If she fulfills all the negative commandments, she can be a greater prophet than the man

"'These are the ordinances which you shall set before them' – the woman was equated to the man regarding all the laws of the Torah (Rashi). A woman is like a man and she is obligated in all negative commandments. She also has the prohibition of 'Do not steal' and 'Do not murder'; she is also forbidden from speaking Lashon Hara (evil speech). And if she decides to fulfill the commandments properly—to have three meals [on Shabbos] and Melaveh Malkah (the post-Shabbos meal), not to speak Lashon Hara, not to speak nonsense, etc.—then she can be a greater prophet than the man."

"A woman is indeed exempt from studying Gemara, but she is not exempt from being attached to Hashem; from this, she is not exempt. She can be attached to Hashem while she cleans the house, cooks, and washes dishes. As is told about the wife of Rabbi Yitzchak Drohobycher, the mother of Rabbi Michel of Zlotchov, that while she was sweeping the house, she said, 'Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh' (Holy, Holy, Holy). Her husband Rabbi Yitzchak asked her, 'Why are you saying Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh?' She answered him, 'I hear the song of the angels; the angels are saying Kedushah right now.'"

"Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sassov became blind. They asked him, 'Why did you become blind?' He told them, 'Because of my wife I became blind... everything she does, she says "In honor of Shabbos, in honor of Shabbos." She kneads the dough and cooks and says "In honor of Shabbos," and from every "In honor of Shabbos" that she says, an angel is created. From every word "In honor of Shabbos," angels are created, until the whole house became a blazing fire. The whole house was filled with angels until they blinded my eyes from the intensity of the light.'"

"If the woman does what is necessary in her matters, performs her role with faithfulness, devotion, joy, and with dechilu u'rechimu (awe and love) for the sake of Hashem, then from the simplest of things, she can receive prophecy."