Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 25 Adar 1, 5784
Parsha Va-Yakhel: (Exodus 35:1 – 38:20)
Third Portion: Exodus 35:30 – 36:7

Good morning! As we continue this journey “as he assembled” we left off yesterday with generosity bringing the materials to build the tabernacle, and wisdom being the ones MAKING the tabernacle. While this was going on, we enter into today’s third portion:

30Moses said to the children of Israel: “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

31He has imbued him with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with insight, and with knowledge, and with [talent for] all manner of craftsmanship

32to do master weaving, to work with gold, silver, and copper,

33with the craft of stones for setting and with the craft of wood, to work with every [manner of] thoughtful work.

So it is interesting here, right? We see Women being the wise ones yesterday. Today we focus on Bezalel.  It says the Lord has “imbued him with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with insight, and with knowledge.” Bezalel had the ENTIRE package. He had the feminine wisdom within him. He had the masculine insight (understanding) and he brought them together in unity (knowledge).

Bezalel was a MASTER at weaving and metal work.

I shared this earlier – do we crave wisdom or understanding? Can we bring BOTH to the table and weave them together in true knowledge? Not the knowledge of data we get from google – but from the knowledge that comes from understanding wisdom?  That is a take away for us, I think.  Let’s keep going:

34And He put into his heart [the ability] to teach, both him and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.

35He imbued them with wisdom of the heart, to do all sorts of work of a craftsman and a master worker and an embroiderer with blue, purple, and crimson wool, and linen and [of] weavers, those who do every [manner of] work, and master weavers.

And. Not only did Bezalel have this knowledge – he had the ability to teach himself AND Oholiab.  Bezalel was self taught. Let’s keep going:

36:1Bezalel and Oholiab and every wise hearted man into whom God had imbued wisdom and insight to know how to do, shall do all the work of the service of the Holy, according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

2And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every wise hearted man into whose heart the Lord had given wisdom, everyone whose heart lifted him up to approach the work to do it.

So again, we see wisdom, insight and knowing working together here. The wisdom of the heart – which feels different than the wisdom of the mind – which is where we tend to place wisdom, I think.

3So they took from before Moses all the offering[s] that the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the Holy, and they brought him more gifts every morning.

4Then all the wise men who were doing the work of the Holy came, each one from his work, which they had been doing.

5And they spoke to Moses, saying: “The people are bringing very much, more than is enough for the labor of the articles which the Lord had commanded to do.”

6So Moses commanded, and they announced in the camp, saying: “Let no man or woman do any more work for the offering for the Holy.” So the people stopped bringing.

So basically, these wise hearted men did work, and realized they had enough. Instead of asking for more? They told Moses, and Moses told the people they had enough.

My takeaway? When we have enough for a moment, do we ask for more? Or do we say we have enough? Are we afraid we won’t have enough in the FUTURE? Is that where we go

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 20 Adar, 5783

So this week’s double portion means longer passages each day. Today’s one portion equals three portions from last year, so bear with me. Again, remember our goal; to make it through the Torah each year, at a pace we can digest.

Reading through this time, what strikes me is the repetition of the roof in the passage. The tapestry.

As I read this year, I’m thinking about how important the idea of covering, shielding, protection, and shelter is.

We often think of this on a physical level. But what about spiritually? What do we look to? What have we constructed in terms of our spiritual “roof” or covering?

I wonder if the Torah itself makes for a good covering?

Something that may JUST be a coincidence, but may also be more:

This year when we read about the repetition of the tapestry covering, it’s part of a joining of three portions from last year.

Today’s portion combines the third, fourth, and fifth portions from a year ago. The passage of the repetition of the tapestry falls in the middle. It is protected.

I wonder if that points to the Torah as our covering?

Just something I’m chewing on. What are your thoughts?

Here is all the commentary I wrote a year brought together:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 21 Adar I, 5782

Today’s portion starts with the appointment of leaders. Moses said to the children of Israel; “See, God has appointed Bezazel son of Uri son of Hur of the tribe of Judah. He has filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with insight, with Devine inspiration, and with the ability for all types of work.”

Much has been written about this passage:

The Talmud talks about this interaction with the following context:

“Moses!” asked God, “Do you consider Bezalel fit for this task?” Moses replied, “Master of the universe! If You consider Bezalel fit, then I certainly consider him fit!”

God said, “Nevertheless, go and speak to the people, and see what they have to say.

Moses went and asked Israel, “Do you consider Bezalel fit?” They replied, “If God and you consider him fit, then we definitely consider him fit!”

Here you learn not to appoint a leader without first consulting the community. (End quote)

What a lesson to learn about the appointment of leaders. How often to do we fail to consult the community when it comes to leadership? How much different would it be? What if Bezalel had done things in the community that Moses wasn’t aware of? What if Hashem was wanting to see Moses’ response, rather than giving an endorsement of Bezalel? Consulting the community is a great way to affirm what is going on.

Rabbi Isaac Luria writes this about Bezalel:

“Hur, Bezalel’s grandfather, was killed by the Israelites when he rebuked them for making the Golden Calf (Exodus Rabbah). If God, two generations later, was now appointing a descendent of the martyred Hur to lead the construction of the Tabernacle, then their sin must have been forgiven. If this were not so, Hur would have acted as their prosecutor in heaven rather than their defender. So from Bezalel’s lineage here we can learn that the sin of the Golden Calf had already been atoned for at this point, through the donations of the Jewish people.”

What a redemption story we have right here!

Finally, about Bezalel, Rabbi Meir Simchah of Dvinsk writes;

“Bezalel received Divine inspiration as a reward for the self-sacrifice of his ancestors. The leader of his tribe of Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab, had been the first to follow God’s command and wade into the Reed Sea, even before it had split. In addition, his grandfather Hur had fought with the perpetrators of the Golden Calf and ultimately was killed by them. In this merit, they were blessed with a brilliant grandson filled with wisdom and Devine inspiration who would oversee the construction of Hashem’s tabernacle.”

So in this short paragraph we get some wonderful Torah thoughts on leadership!!

The portion continues with the Torah teaching us that Hashem himself gave Bezalel and Oholiab the ability to teach others.

Can we teach others without Hashem giving us the ability to do so? Something to consider as we looking the current landscape of education (especially in America).

So Moses called all the wise men together and they brought Moses all the contributions every morning.

As they were doing the work, they discovered they had more than enough. They went to Moses to tell him; “The people are bringing a lot, much more than is needed to do the work.”

Moses hears this and issues a command to stop working for donations. So the people stopped bringing. They not only had what they needed, they had a surplus.

How are we as givers? Are we generous? Or do we hold on to what we are given? That’s what I’m reflecting on.

What about you? What are your thoughts?