(30) And Moses said to the Israelites: See, יהוה has singled out by name Bezalel, son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, (31) endowing him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft, (32) and inspiring him to make designs for work in gold, silver, and copper, (33) to cut stones for setting and to carve wood—to work in every kind of designer’s craft— (34) and to give directions. He and Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan
Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 9
When the Holy One, blessed be God, told Moses to build the Tabernacle, all the Israelites brought their contributions. Some brought silver, others brought gold or copper or onyx stones or unset stones. They brought everything eagerly. The women asked themselves: "What contribution can we make to the Sanctuary?" They arose, took their mirrors, and brought them to Moses. When Moses saw them he became angry with them. He said to the Israelites: "Take your canes and beat them on their shoulders. What purpose do these mirrors serve?" The Holy One, blessed be God, called out to Moses: "Moses, do you mistreat them because of these?! These very mirrors produced offspring in Egypt. Take them and make a basin of brass and its base for the priests, that they may sanctify the priests from it," as it is said: And he made the laver of brass, and base thereof of brass, of the mirrors of the serving women that did service (ibid. 38:8), for they had produced all the hosts. Therefore it is written: And the brass of the offering was seventy talents (ibid., v. 29), that is, the offering of the wives amounted to seventy talents.
Rabbis Lawrence Kushner and Kerry M. Olitsky, Sparks Beneath the Surface
In the building of the Tabernacle, all Israel were joined in their hearts; no one felt
superior to his fellow. At first, each skilled individual did his own part of the
construction, and it seemed to each one that his own work was extraordinary.
Afterward, they saw how their several contributions to the “service” of the
tabernacle were integrated–all the boards, the sockets, the curtains, and the
loops fit together as if one person had done it all. Then they realized how each of
them had depended on the other. They then understood that what they had
accomplished was not by virtue of their own skill alone, but that the Holy One
had guided the hands of everyone who had worked on the Tabernacle. They had
merely joined in completing its master building plan, so that “It came to pass
that the Tabernacle was one.” (Exodus 36:13). Moreover, the one who made the
holy ark itself was unable to feel superior to the one who had made only the
courtyard tent pegs.
Rachel Adler, Engendering Judaism
A contemporary Jewish praxis would reduce our sense of fragmentation. If we had a praxis rather than a grab bag of practices, we would experience making love, making kiddush, recycling paper used at our workplace, cooking a pot of soup for a person with AIDS, dancing at a wedding, and making medical treatment decisions for a dying loved one as integrated parts of the same project: the holy transformation of our everyday reality...
We cannot simply resurrect the old premodern praxis, because it no longer fits us in the world we now inhabit... the old praxis can be preserved intact only if we schizophrenically split off our religious lives from our secular lives and live two separate existences with two different sets of values and commitments. But the obligation to be truthful and the yearning to be whole are what made us progressive Jews in the first place. To be faithful to the covenant requires that we infuse the whole of our existence with our religious commitments. How is that to be done in our specific situation?