אכל בני דבש כי טוב ונופת מתוק על חכך. כן דעה חכמה לנפשך אם מצאת ויש אחרית ותקותך לא תכרת, “My son, eat honey for it is good and the honeycomb for it is sweet on your palate. So shall knowledge of wisdom be to your soul if you have found (it); there is a future; your hopes will not be crushed.”(Proverbs 24,13-14).

Solomon compared wisdom which is a spiritual delight to honey which is a physical delight. This is a method Solomon employs in most of his parables in the Book of Proverbs. His purpose is to teach man to relate his spirit, his intellect, to his nature. Seeing that man is made up of a physical part and a spiritual, disembodied part, the only way he can relate the one to the other is by the use of the parable. Comparisons between the physical and the spiritual have to be illustrated for man in order for him to comprehend their validity. We know that the phenomena in this terrestrial world are comprised of four distinct categories, beginning with the lowest, most primitive form and culminating in the most sophisticated creature. The most primitive category of physical phenomena are the ones called דומם, inert objects such as stones, etc. Such objects do not possess any degree of mobility. The next higher category are plants; they are rooted in the earth but grow both vertically and horizontally. Next in terms of sophistication are all living, mobile creatures; finally the most sophisticated physical phenomenon is man inasmuch as only he can communicate his thoughts and feelings by means of language. Man’s advantage over other mammals is not his physical mobility but his intelligence. You will find the report in the Torah of the progress of creation of the universe in Genesis describe the creation of the inert, followed by the creation of vegetation, followed by the report of the emergence of a variety of more and more sophisticated forms of life, and only at the very end does the Torah describe the creation of man, G’d’s crowning handiwork. Only of man does the Torah report that he reflected part of the Creator Himself, was created “in His image” (Genesis 1,25). The report of the phenomena in the terrestrial world coming into existence follows the opposite pattern of the report of the phenomena of a celestial (extra-terrestrial) nature. When reporting on the creation of physical phenomena the Torah begins with the lowest, i.e. the mass of dry land becoming visible on the third day (Genesis 1,9), it continues with the report of the creation of vegetable matter (Genesis 1,11), etc., etc., whereas when it comes to describing phenomena in the celestial spheres (or at least in the world of the planets, the galaxies, a world between earth and heaven), the Torah begins with the creation of “light,” followed by the creation of a רקיע, “a firmament,” etc. The luminaries sun and moon, which were placed in orbit on the fourth day are another example of celestial phenomena being created in a descending order of their sophistication or lack of physicality.

Seeing that man shares common features with the essence of vegetation as well as with the essence of the mobility of the animals, he had to be equipped with an abstract intelligence in order for him to represent a higher stage of development than the stages of physical phenomena which preceded him. Even though all these facts are something we observe daily with our own eyes, Scripture nonetheless confirmed these facts. This is why we read in Job 35,11: “who gives us more knowledge than the beasts of the earth, makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?” By means of this additional intellect man proceeds to examine both his physical dimension as well as his spiritual dimension. He evaluates their respective worth. When man succeeds in making his spirituality his dominating feature he is likened to מלאך ה' צבאות, “an angel of the Lord G’d of Hosts” (Malachi 2,7), whereas when he allows his physicality to dominate him, placing his intellect into the service of his body, he is compared to the beasts as we know from Psalms 49,21 נמשל כבהמות נדמו, “he is like the beasts that perish (have no afterlife).” David is at pains to warn man not to allow this to happen when he says (Psalms 32,8) “Let me enlighten you and show you which way to go; let me offer you counsel; my eye is on you.” He warns man further not to follow his “nature,” i.e. physicality, saying in verse nine of the same psalm: “be not like a senseless horse or mule whose movement must be curbed by bit and bridle; far be it from you!”...

In the course of the entire Book of Proverbs Solomon is at pains to demonstrate to us the superiority of intellect, wisdom, spirituality, etc. over the influence of man’s body.” He points out the ineffectiveness of the body demonstrating that it is lazy and inert by definition. Allowing it to dominate man would result in his having neither food, shelter nor clothing. Seeing that the acquisition of these things is necessary for man’s survival, unless he followed the dictates of his intellect he would perish as nature had not provided him with these necessities at birth. It is clear that the intellect should play a dominating role in man. The body does not know that clothing protects against cold, for instance. In order to know this one needs a brain, intelligence. It is because of such considerations that Solomon said: (Proverbs 12,27) “the lazy man does not roast his game; diligence is man’s precious possession.” The meaning of the verse is that a lazy man will not hold on to his wealth. Seeing that it is the custom of the hunter to burn the wings (feathers) of the birds to prevent them from escaping, Solomon says that that he who steals and expects to hang on to his stolen game will not get to roast it. The only wealth a person can expect to hang on to is that which was earned by diligent effort. If man were to rely on nature, he would become an opportunist or worse, a criminal. His intellect teaches him which activities are worthwhile and which even if successful in the short run will ultimately result in his being shamed. In Proverbs 20,17 Solomon elaborates further by writing “bread gained by deceit may taste sweet; but later his mouth will be filled with gravel.” Whereas “nature,” i.e. the body desires instant gratification, partying, sexual activity, etc., man’s intelligence warns him of the tenuous nature of all such joys. The reason that sexual activity is a physically gratifying experience is because G’d wants to encourage people to procreate and to ensure the continuity of the human species. [In order to show man that such joy may turn into the reverse, Solomon describes the temptress as dripping honey from her lips which eventually turns bitter as wormwood (Proverbs 5,3-4). [The author continues, illustrating his view of the parables employed by Solomon in his book of Proverbs. I have only quoted a brief selection of a long list of examples. Ed.]

Solomon also addresses apparent contradictions which man could expect if he were to make Torah-principles his sole guidelines such as giving charity generously. He explains that contrary to human logic “giving” does not impoverish the giver but enriches him (Proverbs 11,24). A similar thought is voiced in Proverbs 28,27 i.e. “he who gives to the poor will not be in need.” It is important to realize that all such parables need to be based on life’s experiences, matters man experiences with one or more of his five senses. Unless the parable is something with which we are familiar it cannot hope to achieve its purpose, i.e. to convey the moral lesson it is meant to convey. The meaning of this statement is also that just as the body derives physical gratification from the consumption of honey, so the soul derives spiritual gratification from the absorption of words of wisdom. This is one of the meanings of Exodus 24,11: “they saw G’d and ate and drank.” In other words, just as eating and drinking provided physical gratification, so a vision of the divine provides man with spiritual gratification. One of the reasons Moses could spend 40 days on Mount Sinai going without bread or water, i.e. physical food, was that the divine visions he beheld during that time did more for his soul, his spiritual essence, than even the vision described as being had by the אצילי בני ישראל, ‘the nobles of Israel” in Exodus 24,11. Moses drew on this spiritual food-reservoir for practically 120 days seeing that the brief time he spent in the camp between his three sojourns on the mountain amounted to less than a full day each time. [The author had already explained the logic that if physical food which originally derived from the celestial regions can sustain our bodies on earth, then spiritual food, i.e. food at its source, not diluted by various detours before it reaches man, such as soil, trees, etc., would most certainly not do any less for the person absorbing it. In our day and age the best illustration is probably to compare that celestial, “pure” food to patients on earth who have to be fed intravenously. These patients do not suffer by their food by-passing the mouth, the stomach, and the intestines which are the body’s primary organs for food intake. Ed.] The author demonstrates that when Moses ascended the mountain on the first of Elul (the third time) this was a Monday so that his return on Yom Kippur occurred on Thursday. This is why the sages determined that courts were to sit on Mondays and Thursdays of each week. This is the allegorical meaning of the words דרשו ה' בהמצאו, “seek out the Lord when He is liable to be found” (Isaiah 55,6). The days which have proved particularly propitious are Mondays and Thursdays. The commandment to construct the Tabernacle was issued on the morrow of Yom HaKippurim, hence this is where our portion begins.

**ויקהל משה את כל עדת בני ישראל ויאמר אליהם אלה הדברים אשר צוה ה' לעשות אותם “Moses assembled the entire community of the Children of Israel and said to them: “these are the things that Hashem commanded.”**If you take a good look at the order of these things you will find that the construction of the Tabernacle and all its appurtenances have been mentioned many times over. G’d mentioned it to Moses on two separate occasions. The first time it has been mentioned in detail occurred in Exodus 25,2 where the Torah commanded that Moses should accept a contribution from the people, listing the various materials needed for its construction. The second time this commandment is phrased more generally in Ki Tissa (31,2). The third time it is mentioned by Moses at this point in a general way when he commanded them that every wise-hearted person amongst them should get involved and not only donate materials but participate in the conversion of these materials for the construction. The fourth time the Torah reports that the instructions had been carried out (36,8). The Torah mentions the word ויעש, “he constructed” in connection with every stage of the building of the Tabernacle and its components. The fifth time the Torah mentions the Tabernacle and all its components is in Exodus 39,33-42 where separate mention is made of all the components handed over to Moses after they had been completed. The reason the Torah troubles itself to mention all this on five separate occasions is to demonstrate how beloved the Tabernacle and its construction was to G‘d. In Numbers 8,19 where the name בני ישראל occurs five times in the same verse in which the Torah warns that the Israelites must avoid becoming victims of G’d’s retribution, the reason for using the name בני ישראל five times in a row when pronouns would have sufficed is also in order to demonstrate how beloved the people were in the eyes of G’d at that time. Our sages (Vayikra Rabbah 2,5) comment by illustrating the matter with a parable. A father who had an only son of whom he was extremely fond sent him off to school. When the son would come back, the father would ask him: “did you eat my son, did you drink my son, do you want to go to sleep my son?” We find a similar demonstration of how G’d reports matters which He liked when looking at the conversations conducted by Eliezer, servant of Avraham when he went to secure a wife for Yitzchak. Eliezer’s words are repeated by the Torah in great detail (Genesis, chapter 24). This prompted the sages in Bereshit Rabbah 60,8 to say that the mundane conversations of an Eliezer were more pleasing to G‘d than even the Torah-inspired discourses of later Torah scholars.” The truth of this is best illustrated when we reflect on the fact that the Torah devoted only a single word, or even letter, in order to inform us of some of its commandments. This is so in spite of the fact that the principal function of the Torah is to teach us the commandments.

A Midrashic approach to the verses ויקהל משה: The commandment for Moses to assemble all the people at this point was to compensate for the time Aaron had assembled all the people at the time of the golden calf. This new assembly was to atone for the previous assembly which had such tragic results. Similarly, the words Moses spoke at this time were intended to diffuse the impression Aaron’s words had left behind when he addressed the people at that ill-fated assembly (32,1). The wording אלה הדברים, “these are the words,” were meant to counteract the words אלה אלוהיך ישראל, “these are your gods O Israel,” spoken at the time when Aaron assembled the people. The gold donated for the construction of the Tabernacle was to atone for the gold donated for making the golden calf.

אלה הדברים אשר צוה ה' לעשות אותם, “these are the things G’d commanded to do them.” These words are followed by the instruction to work during six days. This teaches that construction work of the Tabernacle was not to override the work prohibitions of the Sabbath and should be carried on only on the six weekdays (Mechilta Vayakhel 1).The reason that the Torah writes the verb תעשה in the passive form, i.e. te-asseh instead of ta-asseh, is to teach the Jews that if they observe the laws of the Torah faithfully, the work to be performed on the six days of the week will be performed for them by Gentiles. If, however, the Israelites would not observe the commandments of the Torah, not only will they have to perform their own menial tasks but they will also have to perform menial tasks for others (Mechilta Ki Tissa 1).

וביום השביעי יהיה לכם קודש שבת שבתון, “and the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest.” In this passage Moses does not warn the people that they are to observe the Sabbath, i.e. ושמרתם את השבת “you shall observe the Sabbath” (Exodus 31,14 or 31,13). It appears therefore that we derive from here that the mystical dimension of the Sabbath is not to be revealed to the masses. When the Torah used the expression ושמרתם את השבת instead of ושמרתם את יום השבת, this is an indication that in chapter 31 the Torah addressed itself to the philosophical and hidden meanings of the Sabbath. Seeing that in our paragraph Moses spoke to all the people, including women and children, this was not the time and place to reveal hidden meanings of the Sabbath. In 31,13, on the other hand, G’d had instructed Moses with the words דבר אל בני ישראל, “speak to the Children of Israel,” implying that he should reveal to them both the obvious as well as the hidden meanings of the Sabbath legislation. The manner in which the Torah phrases what went on here is a hint to us not to reveal hidden meanings of the Torah to people who are not on the spiritual level enabling them to appreciate such meanings. There is another proof for what we just said from the Talmud in Megillah 3. The Talmud says that when Onkelos was engaged in translating the Torah, a heavenly voice was heard to exclaim: “who is this who reveals the hidden dimensions of the Torah?” If restrictions are in place when one merely translates the written text of the Torah, how much more so must one be careful not to reveal the mystical dimensions of the Torah which have not been spelled out for all to see in the text to people not on the appropriate spiritual level? Anyone who becomes guilty of violating this principle is known as a מגלה סתרים, someone revealing mysteries. Only slanderers do something like that (Proverbs 11,13).

כל העושה בו מלאכה יומת, “anyone performing (forbidden) work on it will be executed.” This line is immediately followed by the prohibition of lighting a fire on the Sabbath. It is possible to interpret these two verses as examples of forbidden work on the Sabbath. First the Torah prohibits the performance of certain categories of activities called מלאכה; the Torah describes the lighting of fire as an example of such a forbidden category of activity. The expression מלאכה applies primarily to activities connected to the building of the Tabernacle which are forbidden to be performed on the Sabbath. This is the reason the Torah does not speak here of כל מלאכה, “any manner of work,” as it does on other occasions when the work-prohibition on the Sabbath is mentioned (compare Exodus 20,10). Following the prohibition to perform such work on the Sabbaths during which the construction of the Tabernacle was in progress, the Torah goes on to prohibit such activities on the Sabbath for all future generations also. This is the meaning of the additional words בכל מושבותיכם, “in all your dwellings” (as opposed to G’d’s “dwelling’). The example of lighting a fire is merely representative of all the other categories of activity which are prohibited on the Sabbath. Making fire is an appropriate example of basic human activity seeing that most of the principal activities we are engaged in cannot be performed satisfactorily if one were not able or allowed to make fire. This is the reason that the sages instituted the benediction over fire during the הבדלה ritual at the end of the Sabbath to signify that this crucial activity (as well as other activities) which was prohibited on the Sabbath is once again permitted. Fire, i.e. light, was the first of the activities G’d engaged in when creating the universe (Genesis 1,2). The ritual known as הבדלה comprises a total of four benedictions (wine, fragrances, fire/light, and the benediction reminding us of the difference between the holy and the profane). This number corresponds to the letters in the holy name of the Lord, the tetragrammaton. The benediction over wine is alluded to in Genesis 1,1 in the word הארץ, a reference to Gan Eden. The grape vine was one of the trees in that garden. The benediction over the fragrances is also alluded to in the word רוח אלו-הים, “the spirit (whiff) of the Lord” in the same verse. Fragrance is central to wind, i.e. the wind carries the fragrance, the odor. It represents the air man breathes through his nostrils, the organ of smell. Finally, fire is represented in that same verse we quoted from Genesis 1,2 where the word “light” has a dual connotation, also meaning “fire,” i.e. the source of warmth. In the ritual of the הבדלה we refer to the whole concept of fire and light as a separation between light and dark.

יביאה את תרומת ה', “he shall bring it as a gift for the Lord.” We have already dealt with the meaning of this verse in our commentary on Exodus 25,2.

ויצאו כל עדת בני ישראל ...ויבואו, “the whole of the assembly of the Children of Israel departed...and they came, etc. This verse describes the eagerness with which the Jewish people responded to Moses’ request, and how they brought their respective gifts immediately.

The women were the first to respond; this is why the Torah records (verse 22) “the men came following the women, etc.” When the men arrived with their gifts they found that their women had already preceded them. It is a remarkable tribute to the Jewish women who had not been willing to give their men their jewelry to help in the making of the golden calf but who now volunteered their most precious possessions with alacrity (compare Exodus 32, 2 and 3, and Tanchuma on Ki Tissa 19). When the Torah had described the donations for the making of the golden calf which, according to Aaron (32,3), should have been given by the women and the girls, the Torah did not report any of the women giving up their jewelry for such a project. This is why the Torah reports the men as divesting themselves of their own jewelry instead (in that verse). Solomon alluded to this when he wrote in Kohelet 7,28: אדם אחד מאלף מצאתי ואשה בכל אלה לא מצאתי, “I have found one man in a thousand, but I have not even found one woman amongst these,” (who contributed to אלה, the word used when the Israelites were told to look upon that calf as a deity).

Now that the donations requested were for the building of the Tabernacle, were intended to provide a home for the Shechinah, the women were the first to respond enthusiastically to the call for contributions. The Torah enumerates that the women even contributed jewelry worn on intimate parts of their bodies. They overcame their habitual reluctance to part with such intimate jewelry. We find other examples in the Bible where the word על used here by the Torah means “in addition to.” An example of such a use of the word על is found in Isaiah 7,2: “Aram has joined Ephrayim (the Northern Kingdom) to gang up against you “ (the Kingdom of Yehudah). In that instance, Ephrayim were the first to ready themselves for war against Achaz, King of Yehudah.

In Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer we are told (chapter 45) that G’d rewarded the women for this both in this life as well as in the world to come, seeing all this occurred on the first day of the month. (The Tabernacle was erected on the first of Nissan, the donations were given immediately after the Day of Atonement). Women observe the Day of the New Moon more than do the men as on that day they do not perform all the chores which they perform on ordinary days of the week (Hagahot Rabbi David Luria based on a saying in the Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim beginning of fourth chapter). In the world to come, the reward set aside for women having volunteered their jewelry on this occasion is based on Psalms 103,5: “He satisfies you with the good things in the prime of life so that your youth is renewed like that of the eagle.” When the Torah reports that “every generously-minded individual brought bracelets and nose-rings, etc.,” this is a reference to the women who brought this jewelry. I believe we are dealing here with an abbreviated verse. The unabridged verse would read: “all the men who were of a generous disposition came after the women who had already brought jewelry including jewelry worn on intimate parts of their bodies.” The Torah then adds that the few people in whose possession there were such materials as blue wool, purple wool, and the skins of the animal called Tachash, etc., donated them. The same applies to the acacia wood in possession of a very small number of Israelites (verse 24). These people are named last as there were even fewer of them than there were people owning blue wool, etc.

כל מרים תרומת כסף ונחושת, “Every man who donated a gift of silver or copper, etc.” No doubt silver was more plentiful than gold, not to mention copper of which the people must have owned an abundance. Presumably, the gold owned by the people was concentrated mostly in the hands of the women who used it as jewelry, whereas silver and copper were used mostly by the men, both as tools and as coins, i.e. money. This is why in connection with the silver the Torah speaks of תרומה, an expression of raising, separating, whereas in connection with donations consisting of gold the Torah speaks of תנופה, something which is lifted up. When someone donates gold he considers himself as having raised himself to a higher level. The recipients of a gift consisting of gold generally make a point of lauding the generosity of the donor. Still, on occasion we find the word תנופה used in connection with copper vessels when there is a reason to emphasise the value of that particular item such as in 38,29 where the Torah in mentioning the total weight of the copper donated (which collectively represented substantial value) describes it as “seventy talents, 2400 shekel worth.” The copper in question was highly polished, capable of acting as a mirror, therefore it deserved to be described as נחושת התנופה. Copper of that quality was even rarer than gold.

וכל אשה חכמת לב בידיה טוו, “and every wise-hearted woman, spun with her hands, etc.” This is the source for the sages who hold that the term חכמה when applied to a woman means only manual dexterity, to be employed exclusively for the needs of her household and showing honour to her husband. It is why they forbade women to engage in the study of the Torah (Yuma 66). Our sages derive specific proof for their attitude from Deut. 6,7: ושננתם לבניך, “you shall teach them (the words of Torah) diligently to your sons” (and not to your daughters). The Talmud Kiddushin 29 goes as far as to say that anyone teaching his daughter Torah is comparable to someone teaching her תפלות, “frivolity.”

We have already mentioned that in Yuma 86 the Talmud mentions that the wording in our verse where women are described as possessing חכמה, applies exclusively to their knack for using the spindle, the distaff.

והנשיאים הביאו את אבני השוהם, “and the princes brought the shoham stones and the precious stones for the breastplate.” Seeing that in general it is the nature of the princes to feel and act superior to the common people [the reason why the Torah specifically warns a Jewish king not to be overbearing (Deut. 17,20)], the princes contributed items which were to be worn directly on the garments of the High Priest when he would perform service in the Tabernacle. They would thus obtain their atonement for their haughtiness, or remnants of it. This is also the reason that the verse refers to them with the introductory letter ה, i.e. the ones who were well known. The Torah implies that these princes had held back thus far meaning to supply all the things which the common people would fail to donate. In the event, their very arrogance resulted in there being nothing left to contribute other than these precious jewels as the people had pre-empted them and brought a surfeit of all the other materials needed (compare Sifri Nasso item 45). Even though their intention had been good, the Torah accounts their conduct as sinful seeing that if per chance the Israelites had possessed these precious stones they surely would have contributed them leaving the princes with nothing left to contribute. The Torah’s dissatisfaction with the princes’ behaviour is reflected in two letters י having been omitted here in the word והנשאם where the proper spelling should have been והנשיאים. This teaches that anyone who has the chance to be amongst the first to perform a commandment and holds back for whatever reason deserves to be punished.

There are those who explain that the availability of these precious stones amongst any of the Israelites was altogether something miraculous; it was an act of G’d to enable the Israelites to complete the building of the Tabernacle using only their own resources. According to the Talmud in Yuma 75 the shoham stones, etc., fell from heaven at the same time as the manna and this is what is meant by the expression ונשיאים הביאו, “and the princes brought, etc.” The expression נשיאים in that verse denotes someone or something elevated, raised up high, such as we find in Psalms 135,7 מעלה נשיאים מקצה הארץ, “He makes the clouds rise from the end of the earth.” The clouds of glory were contributed by G’d Himself (descending to Moses’ tent), completing all that was needed to make the Tabernacle operational.

מלא אותם חכמת לב, “He filled them with a wise heart.” There are 32 paths of wisdom (as we know from Sefer Yetzirah 1,1). The 32 fringes which make up the commandment of ציצית correspond to these 32 paths of wisdom. I will explain the deeper meaning of this when discussing the relevant passage in the Torah in Numbers 15,38 under the heading: “a kabbalistic approach.”

Seeing that attaining true understanding of the emanation חכמה is beyond most people, the Sefer Yetzirah speaks about 32 נתיבות, “paths,” leading to wisdom rather than 32 דרכים, “ways” to wisdom. The word דרך means a “broad way,” whereas the word נתיב refers to a “narrow path.” This is reflected in the words of prophet Jeremiah (6,16) who said עמדו על דרכים וראו, ושאלו לנתיבות עולם, “stand by the roads and consider; inquire about ancient paths.” The prophet uses the word ראו to encourage exploration of the broad דרך, while concerning the narrow נתיב he speaks only of “inquire,” knowing that it is so much more difficult to obtain accurate information about where a narrow path leads to.

Seeing that “wisdom” is so elusive, it is difficult to trace its origin. The only way is to explore it by means of the 32 different paths, each one revealing a small aspect of it. Wisdom, i.e. its root, is comparable perhaps to the roots of a tree which are covered with earth, difficult to trace. Only by following each little ridge in the earth can one tediously piece together where the centre of the tree (of wisdom) is to be found. When the Torah mentions the expression חכמת לב, “wisdom of the heart,” in our verse this is designed to highlight the outstanding wisdom of Betzalel and Oholiov who were filled with wisdom by the Shechinah. It is an expression similar to Genesis 6,6 where the Torah describes G’d’s anger at the corruption of mankind with the words ויתעצב אל לבו, “He was saddened at ‘his heart,’” i.e. at the abuse man had made of the wisdom the seat of which is in his heart. The word לב to describe wisdom is also found in Kings I 5,26 where Solomon had requested a לב שומע a “discerning heart” to enable him to judge the people.” G’d responded by וה' נתן חכמה לשלמה, “G’d had given wisdom to Solomon.” Seeing that both Betzalel and Oholiov were true believers, the Torah described their חכמה as being like that of the Shechinah itself, writing that “Hashem had filled them with the spirit of G’d, i.e. “divine-like spirit” (verse 31). When the Torah writes בהמה instead of בהם in 36,1 describing how Betzalel and Oholiov related to their task in fashioning each of the furnishings of the Tabernacle, the extra letter ה at the end of the word בהם was meant to alert us to the quality of the wisdom they needed in order to perform all this work successfully, i.e. G’d-like wisdom. This is not the only time that the Shechinah is alluded to in the written Torah by means of the letter ה, as I have pointed out repeatedly such as on Exodus 15,16. On the other hand, it is possible that the reason the Torah did not write בהם as we would have expected, is precisely to indicate that man is not able to penetrate to the root of wisdom so that the word had to be imperfect, reflecting man’s imperfect faculties. As David pointed our in Psalms 49,13 there are aspects of wisdom in which man is no better than an animal. Such thoughts are also expressed in Psalms 92,7 where David in discussing the majesty of G’d’s works exclaims: “a man cannot know, a fool cannot understand this.” The reason David describes man as איש, a term of distinction, in that line, is that he says that even worthy man cannot understand the greatness of the Lord’s works to their full extent. The translation of the word בער is: “beast-like.” David’s meaning then is that though איש, man, may attain great stature, when it comes to understanding the wisdom expressed in the Lord’s works his understanding is more or less animal-like, i.e. totally inadequate.

According to Tanchuma (Vayakhel 4) the words: “He filled them with the spirit of G’d,” do not refer only to Betzalel and Oholiov but to all the craftsmen involved in working on the project. In fact, G’d accorded such wisdom not only to the human beings engaged in constructing the Tabernacle but even to animals involved in that project were inspired with divine insights. However, only Betzalel’s role was made public.