The Architect and Interior Designer of the Mishkan

Truth be told, I would doubt that it's common knowledge for the average layman to know who built the most impressive architectural structures of our time. From the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Sears Towers, the Sydney Opera House, or the Burj Khalifa, the average person simply doesn't know who engineered these spectacular architectural feats. Now, imagine that President Biden, or Emmanuel Macron, or Vladimir Putin were to give a State of the Union Address, or any other type of presidential address, and dedicate a significant portion of it to the identity and lineage of the architect who was to build a new landmark building, his pedigree, specific specialties, professional training, and sub-specialties, both as a craftsman and pedagogue. That, though, is what happens in Moshe's address to the nation about the mishkan, the tabernacle and home for God. 

And Moses said to the Israelites: See, Hashem has singled out by name Bezalel, son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, endowing him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft, and inspiring him to make designs for work in gold, silver, and copper, to cut stones for setting and to carve wood—to work in every kind of designer’s craft— and to give directions. He and Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan have been endowed with the skill to do any work—of the carver, the designer, the embroiderer in blue, purple, crimson yarns, and in fine linen, and of the weaver—as workers in all crafts and as makers of designs.

The Ibn Ezra is most insightful in helping us understand these verses. He shares that not everyone who specializes in what field, is necessarily expert in another - and Bezalel combined with him an amalgam of skills, and abilities that placed him head and shoulders above the rest. 

With that said, it still, perhaps, seems a little enigmatic, or odd, that Hashem felt the need to convey all of the precise details of the handiwork. But, it could be that that was the point. The mishkan was a home that every Jew contributed to, every Jew had a part in. Whoever builds a home, designs or redesigns an apartment focuses, invariably, on the greatest of detail. And it could very well be that that was the message here. This is your home, in so much as it is God's home. It is only God's home because it is in your midst, because you sought it, contributed to it, made a reality. The same way a person who redoes a kitchen focuses on every detail, which faucet, the glaze for the marble, the stainless steel in the new sink, likewise, perhaps, Hashem wanted to inculcate in us that the construction was not only collective, but represented a part of us, and thus Moshe assured us that the caliber was the highest, Bezalel's specialization was on the highest level, in each and every regard. 

Likewise, the rabbis teach that Bezalel was from the greatest of tribes, Judah, which gave birth to the Davidic dynasty; Dan, was of the humblest of tribes, his mother a maidservant in the House of Jacob. The synthesis of the two was a microcosm of the collaborative efforts necessary to build the mishkan. Though Bezalel was the chief architect, using his craftsmanship, and acumen as a pedagogue, writes the Ibn Ezra, he was able to effectively teach, and instruct, which is the reason, I would add, that Moshe praises his teaching abilities, i.e. so that they should feel comfortable coming under his tutelage, and partaking in the intricate and difficult embroidery, weaving, and handiwork implicit in each stage of the process. When you know that you have a teacher you can trust, your ability to learn as a student is so much greater. 

And so, the Ibn Ezra, adds: "I encountered many a scholar, but not everyone could teach; teaching is a faculty unto itself."

Maybe we as a society have to reassess that tongue in cheek saying, "Those who can't do, teach," and in its stead adopt the truth that the converse is equally true, "Those who can't teach, do." As a historical aside, Albert Einstein, contrary to common perception, was considered a very lousy teacher. His classes were attended by as few as two students; a recent article in Kesher Ayin, the Israel Teachers' Association notes that that was because his lessons were not organized, clear, and easy to understand. What he lacked in pedagogy, he compensated for in his sheer and inimitable brilliance; Bezalel, though, had all of the above, which served to galvanize the Jewish people, to realize that their home was being built by the best of the best, the craftsman, and architectural genius exceeded by no other, a fitting gift, seeing that Bezalel's grandfather, Hur, was killed in cold blood in the sin of the golden calf for preserving the sanctity of God's presence among us. 

Shabbat shalom!

Yoav 

 

 ,