(1) Then Solomon convoked the elders of Israel—all the heads of the tribes and the ancestral chieftains of the Israelites—before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from the City of David, that is, Zion.
(40) Hiram also made the lavers, the scrapers, and the sprinkling bowls. So Hiram finished all the work that he had been doing for King Solomon on the House of the LORD:
Michael Fishbane, JPS Biblical Commentary: Haftarot p. 135
"Just as Solomon utilized resources of one Tyrian Hiram (the king) to have wood transported from Lebnon and to have the hewn stones shaped by his masons for the Temple's foundation (1 Kings 5:22-23; 32), he utilized the skill of another (the coppersmith) for the design and casting of the various features of the Temple This was practical politics: one Hiram had the resources; the other, the skill-- and Solomon had "the wisdom" to utilize foreign achievements in the crude and fine arts (porterage and masonry; metalwork and design) for his own religious purposes."
Midrash Tanchuma, Vayakhel 5:1-2
See, he hath called by name Bezalel (Exod. 35:30). Observe what He did for Bezalel. The Holy One, blessed be He, instilled wisdom in his heart, as it is said: And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge (ibid., v. 31). It was with these attributes the Holy One, blessed be He, created His world, as it is said: The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; by knowledge the depths were broken up (Prov. 3:19–20). With these same attributes Bezalel erected the Tabernacle.
(2) The Temple was similarly constructed by means of these three attributes, as it is said: He was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father was a man of Tyre, and he was filled with wisdom, understanding, and skill (I Kings 7:14). Similarly, the Temple will be rebuilt in the future with these three attributes, as is said: Through wisdom is a house builded, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge are the chambers filled with all precious and pleasant riches (Prov. 24:3–4). Therefore, And He hath filled him with the spirit of God.
(י) וַיְהִ֕י בְּצֵ֥את הַכֹּהֲנִ֖ים מִן־הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ וְהֶעָנָ֥ן מָלֵ֖א אֶת־בֵּ֥ית יְהֹוָֽה׃ (יא) וְלֹא־יָכְל֧וּ הַכֹּהֲנִ֛ים לַֽעֲמֹ֥ד לְשָׁרֵ֖ת מִפְּנֵ֣י הֶעָנָ֑ן כִּֽי־מָלֵ֥א כְבוֹד־יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶת־בֵּ֥ית יְהֹוָֽה׃ {פ}
only that do I seek:
to live in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD,
to frequent-b His temple.
“The LORD has chosen
To abide in a thick cloud: (13) I have now built for You
A stately House,
A place where You
May dwell forever.”
“Praised be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has fulfilled with deeds the promise He made-b to my father David. For He said, (16) ‘Ever since I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have not chosen a city among all the tribes of Israel for building a House where My name might abide; but I have chosen David to rule My people Israel.’ (17) “Now my father David had intended to build a House for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. (18) But the LORD said to my father David, ‘As regards your intention to build a House for My name, you did right to have that intention. (19) However, you shall not build the House yourself; instead, your son, the issue of your loins, shall build the House for My name.’ (20) “And the LORD has fulfilled the promise that He made: I have succeeded my father David and have ascended the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised. I have built the House for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel; (21) and I have set a place there for the Ark, containing the covenant which the LORD made with our fathers when He brought them out from the land of Egypt.”
TO BE OF USE, by MARGE PIERCY
The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half-submerged balls.
I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.
I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.
The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.
Danielle Kranjec in Prophetic Voices: Renewing and Reimagining Haftarah
"Vayakhel's discussion of the construction of the Mishkan is paralleled in its haftarah reading, which focuses on the construction of the Temple, with its heavy-beyond-measure bronze implements and decorations and its olden ornaments and component pieces. With no Temple and no Temple service, how do we understand the physicality of these ritual objects transformed along with the service of the heart?
"Perhaps the 'work of the world,' in the words of Piercy, infused with the holiness of a shared vision and commitment to the actions that sustain our people and our human lives on a daily basis, can take the place of that bronze and gold. Perhaps we, who 'jump into the work headfirst,' have taken the place of the artisan Hiram and King Solomon."