(ל) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל רְא֛וּ קָרָ֥א יְהֹוָ֖ה בְּשֵׁ֑ם בְּצַלְאֵ֛ל בֶּן־אוּרִ֥י בֶן־ח֖וּר לְמַטֵּ֥ה יְהוּדָֽה׃ (לא) וַיְמַלֵּ֥א אֹת֖וֹ ר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֑ים בְּחׇכְמָ֛ה בִּתְבוּנָ֥ה וּבְדַ֖עַת וּבְכׇל־מְלָאכָֽה׃ (לב) וְלַחְשֹׁ֖ב מַֽחֲשָׁבֹ֑ת לַעֲשֹׂ֛ת בַּזָּהָ֥ב וּבַכֶּ֖סֶף וּבַנְּחֹֽשֶׁת׃ (לג) וּבַחֲרֹ֥שֶׁת אֶ֛בֶן לְמַלֹּ֖את וּבַחֲרֹ֣שֶׁת עֵ֑ץ לַעֲשׂ֖וֹת בְּכׇל־מְלֶ֥אכֶת מַחֲשָֽׁבֶת׃ (לד) וּלְהוֹרֹ֖ת נָתַ֣ן בְּלִבּ֑וֹ ה֕וּא וְאׇֽהֳלִיאָ֥ב בֶּן־אֲחִיסָמָ֖ךְ לְמַטֵּה־דָֽן׃
WHY DID GOD SINGLE OUT BETZALEL? WHY DID GOD GIVE HIM WISDOM?
Midrash Tanchuma, Vayakhel 2
(1) And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge (Exod. 35:31). Wisdom is mentioned, despite the fact that he had been endowed previously with wisdom, to teach us that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not grant wisdom to anyone unless he already possesses some wisdom. A lady asked R. Yosé the son of Halafta: “What is meant by He giveth wisdom to the wise (Dan. 2:21)? Should not the verse say ‘He giveth wisdom to the fool’?” He replied: “My daughter, if two men came to you to borrow money, one of them being poor and the other rich, to whom would you lend the money?” She answered: “I would lend the money to the rich man, of course.” “Why?” he asked. And she replied: “If the rich man should suffer a loss, he would still have sufficient money to repay me, but if the poor man lost my money, how could he possibly repay me?” He said to her: “Let your ears hear what your lips have said. If the Holy One, blessed be He, gave wisdom to fools, they would still sit in privies, in filthy alleys, and in bathhouses, and would not put the wisdom to use. Hence the Holy One, blessed be He, gives wisdom to the wise, who sit in the chambers of the elders, in synagogues, and in house of study, and they utilize that wisdom.” Therefore it is written: He hath filled him with wisdom (Exod. 35:35).
Berachot 55a
With regard to Bezalel’s appointment, Rabbi Yitzḥak said: One may only appoint a leader over a community if he consults with the community and they agree to the appointment, as it is stated: “And Moses said unto the children of Israel: See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah” (Exodus 35:30). The Lord said to Moses: Moses, is Bezalel a suitable appointment in your eyes? Moses said to Him: Master of the universe, if he is a suitable appointment in Your eyes, then all the more so in my eyes. The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him: Nevertheless, go and tell Israel and ask their opinion. Moses went and said to Israel: Is Bezalel suitable in your eyes? They said to him: If he is suitable in the eyes of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and in your eyes, all the more so he is suitable in our eyes. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: Bezalel was called by that name on account of his wisdom. When the Holy One, Blessed be He, said to Moses: Go say to Bezalel, “Make a tabernacle, an ark, and vessels” (see Exodus 31:7–11), Moses went and reversed the order and told Bezalel: “Make an ark, and vessels, and a tabernacle” (see Exodus 25–26). He said to Moses: Moses, our teacher, the standard practice throughout the world is that a person builds a house and only afterward places the vessels in the house, and you say to me: Make an ark, and vessels, and a tabernacle. If I do so in the order you have commanded, the vessels that I make, where shall I put them? Perhaps God told you the following: “Make a tabernacle, ark, and vessels” (see Exodus 36). Moses said to Bezalel: Perhaps you were in God’s shadow [betzel El], and you knew precisely what He said. You intuited God’s commands just as He stated them, as if you were there.
Sanhedrin 69b
And when Bezalel made the Tabernacle how old was he? He must have been at least thirteen years old, as it is written: “And all the wise men that carried out all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work that they did” (Exodus 36:4), and one who is less than thirteen is not called a man.
Rabbi Elizabeth Behar, "Z'rizut- Alacrity: With Joy in His Heart" in Block, Rabbi Barry H.. The Mussar Torah Commentary: A Spiritual Path to Living a Meaningful and Ethical Life (p. 136). CCAR Press.
Bezalel was charged with precise and specific instructions to create the Tabernacle in which God would be able to take residence among humanity. This would be the first time God would be residing with humans since the Garden of Eden. Such an immense and ambitious vision must have seemed daunting and nearly impossible. The overwhelming responsibility might have left him eager to avoid the assignment. It requires no great leap of the imagination to empathize with the challenge Bezalel faced. I can’t do it. I don’t have the necessary resources. What if I mess it up? What if I can’t get the help I need? But Bezalel persevered with joy in his heart. The Rabbis understood that despite his fears, Bezalel chose courage every day. He chose leadership and openness and humility and joy. He did not cower away from the grand mission, but instead he attacked it with alacrity, all the while knowing that the greatest undertakings bring the greatest rewards.... There was something so special about Bezalel, that the people specifically desired him to lead. The Gemara imagines Bezalel to be merely thirteen when he leads the other artists to direct Moses to stop the people from offering further donations, since they were inundated with materials. He did not quash their enthusiasm, but harnessed it from the beginning until its completion. Z’rizut is the trait motivating us to get up and get going with cheer and joy.
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, The Path of the Just, Ch. 6
The angels were praised for this good trait [zerizut]. As it is said regarding them (Psalm 103:20), “(They are) mighty in energy, doing as He says, listening to the voice of His word.” And, as it is written (Ezekiel 1:14), “The chayot [heavenly beings] dashed back and forth like lightning.” In truth human beings are just that—humans, and not angels. It is therefore impossible for us to have the might of the angels. Nonetheless we should strive to get as close to this level as we possibly can. King David used to praise his own share of this trait by saying (Psalms 119:60), “I hurried—did not delay—to keep Your mitzvot.”
Alan Morinis, Reading For Alacrity, The Mussar Institute
Rabbi Luzzatto tells us that laziness is characterized by heaviness:
And see that the nature of a human being is very heavy. [V’tireh ki tevah ha’adam kaved meod.]
Rabbi Luzatto, like many Mussar teachers, associates laziness with our physicality. If we were pure spirit, we’d be light and active. But because we live in bodies, we are tied to the physical world and, controlled by the force of gravity, and are pulled down. These are facts of nature that Rabbi Luzzatto does not deny, but he cautions: “If you abandon yourself to this ‘heaviness’ you will not succeed in your quest.” The Hebrew word for “heavy” is kaved. This word also shows up prominently in the story of Moses’s attempts to get Pharaoh to release the children of Israel from Egypt. There we read that Pharaoh refused to pay attention to Moses’s entreaties because his heart was kaved, usually translated as “obstinate” or “stubborn.” Here, too, we get an image that helps us understand what it is to be “heavy”: it means to run counter to the way of spirit.
Questions:
1) What do you make of the dichotomy Luzzato suggests between laziness and alacrity? Are the two opposites?
2) What is the connection between enthusiasm/alacrity and zeal? What is the difference between them?
3) Luzzato refers to a kind of heaviness that weighs us down. Does that resonate? How do you push through it?
Rabbi Elizabeth Behar, "Z'rizut- Alacrity: With Joy in His Heart"
Alaracity helps us to push through the initial urge of facing a hardship and enables us not to allow laziness to creep in as a result. Giving ourselves to a project, like Bezalel, prompts us to tackle our goals and recognize opportunities as they present themselves. It is our obligation to begin building a sukkah as soon as Yom Kippur has ended, so that the upcoming mitzvah will not be put off and therefore overlooked through laziness.
The Ramban offers an interesting take: When the slaves left Egypt, they had been crushed under the work of mortar and brick. They had acquired no skill set or knowledge with which to create or build a fine structure including melting of metal, cutting precious stones, sewing fine cloths, or carving wood. Still, when Bezalel saw the people’s generous, charitable hearts that moved them to give, he concluded that the same spirit would also inspire their courage to engage in skills new to them. This is the true genius and leadership of Bezalel: his ability to see the potential of his people and then convince those same people of their own worth and abilities. He was able to harness the energy of the people to construct a Tabernacle on earth linking the mystery of the heavens above to the physicality of the present.