Brazen as Brass, Soft as Soil
“…You shall make the altar… and you shall coat it with copper. …You shall make it hollow, out of panels…” – Shemos 27:1-8
וְעָשִׂיתָ אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּח . . וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתוֹ נְחשֶׁת . . נְבוּב לֻחֹת תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתוֹ – שמות כז, א-ח
The outer mizbei’ach, the altar that stood in the courtyard of the Mishkan, was coated with a layer of copper. Rashi explains that copper is a metaphor for brazenness (see Yeshayahu 48:4), and likewise the mizbei’ach atoned for Bnei Yisrael’s brazen and insolent behavior.
There is also a positive form of brazenness that the copper coating of the mizbei’ach represents. Namely, this means that a Jew must be bold and unashamed about his Judaism, defiantly unfazed by those who might mock his worship of G-d.
These two aspects in the construction of the mizbei’ach, its copper coating and its hollow inside filled with earth, represent two contradictory, yet vital qualities that a Jew must always have.
—Reshimos 108
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