Devarim/Eikev - Mountains of Copper

In Devarim parsha Eikev we read (Deuteronomy 8:9)

אֶ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר לֹ֤א בְמִסְכֵּנֻת֙ תֹּֽאכַל־בָּ֣הּ לֶ֔חֶם לֹֽא־תֶחְסַ֥ר כֹּ֖ל בָּ֑הּ אֶ֚רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֲבָנֶ֣יהָ בַרְזֶ֔ל וּמֵהֲרָרֶ֖יהָ תַּחְצֹ֥ב נְחֹֽשֶׁת׃

 

- A land where not in scarcity shall you eat bread. You shall lack nothing in it; a land whose stones are iron and from whose mountains you shall hew copper. 

 

We may surmise that eating of the bread is related to iron, because plows which till the land are made of iron, and therefore with the help of those plows the land will be well-prepared for sowing and growing wheat from which bread is made. But that leaves us with the second pairing in that pasuk, namely that lacking nothing must be somehow related to the mountains of copper. It is as if the Torah is saying that the "lacking nothing" will be assured thanks to the "mountains of copper". So this begs the question: what does copper have to do with satisfying one's desires, so much so that one feels like he is lacking nothing?

The answer is suggested in Exodus 38:8, where Moshe asked the people to bring materials for the construction of the Mishkan, and women brought copper mirrors, as it says: 

וַיַּ֗עַשׂ אֵ֚ת הַכִּיּ֣וֹר נְחֹ֔שֶׁת וְאֵ֖ת כַּנּ֣וֹ נְחֹ֑שֶׁת בְּמַרְאֹת֙ הַצֹּ֣בְאֹ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֣ר צָֽבְא֔וּ פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃

 - He made the basin out of copper and its base out of copper, from the mirrors of the women who had gathered at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting

Here that RASHI explains that 

 — The Israeli women possessed mirrors of copper, into which they used to look when they adorned themselves. Even these did they not hesitate to bring as a contribution towards the Tabernacle. Now Moses was about to reject them since they were made to pander to their vanity, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Accept them; these are dearer to Me than all the other contributions, because through them the women reared those huge hosts in Egypt!” For when their husbands were tired through the crushing labor they used to bring them food and drink and induced them to eat. Then they would take the mirrors, and each gazed at herself in her mirror together with her husband, saying endearingly to him, “See, I am handsomer than you!” Thus, they awakened their husbands’ affection and subsequently became the mothers of many children, as it is said, (Song 8:5) “I awakened thy love under the apple-tree”, (referring to the fields where the men worked). This is what it refers to when it states, מראות הצבאת “the mirrors of the women who reared the hosts (צבאות)” (Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 9) etc.

 What is amazing about this story, is that even Moshe himself thought it was inappropriate to use women's copper mirrors for the Mishkan, because he thought they were used for vanity, but Hashem corrected him and said that, in fact, these mirrors are more dear to him than all other contributions, (even more so than silver and gold!) because they awakened love and affection between husband and wife, which resulted in the people of Israel multiplying in Egypt. 

This, then, helps to answer the above question: what does copper have to do with "lacking nothing"? With the help of the mirrors made of copper (of which Hashem, in anticipation, prepared mountains of it in the Holy Land), there will be plenty of copper for the mirrors to arouse Love and intimacy, ultimately between the Holy One, blessed be He, and his wife, the Shechina, the holy people Israel, who will build these mirrors to reflect their spiritual beauty and arouse Hashem's love and affection, which will, through intimacy, draw down His Shefa, blessing, and Light that will satisfy all souls, for not by bread alone does a man live, but everything that comes out of the mouth of God, resulting in true satisfaction of the soul, lacking nothing, absolutely nothing, for Hashem's Light will satisfy every desire of the heart and soul.