Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto’s talks are known throughout the Jewish world. They combine chassidic teachings and philosophy, along with tips for a better life. We have collected pearls from his teachings that are relevant to our daily lives. This week he comments on the Torah section of Vayakhel.
"See God has called the name of Bezalel ben Uri ben Chur of the tribe of Judah."
These passages are dealing with the construction of the Tabernacle. As we know, apart from its special holiness, the Tabernacle was astonishingly beautiful and was made with the deepest wisdom. The beauty and craftsmanship with which the Tabernacle vessels were made were extremely sophisticated. From all the Israelites, Bezalel ben Uri ben Chur was chosen as the expert to take the people’s donations. He knew where to inlay the silver and gold that everyone gave and how to do the work in a special and beautiful way that was appropriate for each donation and appropriate for each vessel.
The lesson we can learn from this is not every tree is suitable to be a chair or a table. There are many pieces of wood that have been built as tables and chairs and they look very beautiful, but people do not want to sit on them because they are not comfortable.
In times long ago, Jerusalem was ruled by a Pasha - a Muslim governor - who was a harsh and evil man who tortured many and made everyone miserable. An elderly man in Jerusalem was an expert carpenter at that time. Everyone knew that the chairs, tables, and couches that he built was of the highest quality. Every piece of furniture that he produced provided the users with ultimate comfort and good feeling.
One day the Pasha came to the carpenter and asked him to make him a beautiful office. "I'll try," the carpenter told him. A month, two months and three months passed and the Pasha returned to the carpenter and asked him if he has already made the furniture. "I still haven't succeeded," the carpenter replied. Another three months passed and the office was still not ready. The Pasha who, as mentioned, was an evil man, came to the carpenter again and demanded to know what was going on. "How do you dare to ignore the Pasha of Jerusalem?!" he asked him with a scowl.
"Look, honored Pasha," replied the carpenter. "I don't just build a table or a chair. I don't just make people's furniture for their house. I go to the forest and talk to each and every tree there. I tell the tree that I want to build a chair for so-and-so, and does it agree? I feel the tree's answer and act on it. Then I go to another tree and tell it that I want to make a sofa for so-and-so, and again ask it if agrees. I feel what the tree responds, whether it is yes or no. That is why the furniture I make are so comfortable, because the trees which I make them from have agreed to be used for that purpose and that individual.
“Now,” the carpenter said to the Pasha, “I've been walking around the forest for several months looking for a tree that would agree to be used as a chair, table or couch for you, but no tree agrees. That's why I haven't built the office for you until now."
Returning to the Mishkan, Bezalel's greatness was that he knew which person was suitable to give the donation from which the table would be built and which person’s donation was suitable to build the altar and menorah, and so on. With the divine wisdom he was endowed with, Bezalel knew which donation was appropriate for which sacred vessel, so that everything would be perfect inside and outside.
Our sages explain that Bezalel achieved this intellectual and spiritual power, his divine wisdom, to know where each donation should go, how to build, and what to build, thanks to the power of his ancestors’ self-sacrifice.
Bezalel was the grandson of Chur, who was killed for opposing idolatry. When many Israelites worshipped the Golden Calf, Chur stood up and resisted and was killed because of it. Bezalel's great-grandmother was Miriam, the sister of Moses, who was willing to sacrifice her life so Moses would be saved and remain alive. Chur was therefore a man who on both sides - on his grandfather's side and on his great-grandmother's side - received the power of self-sacrifice, and it was only through that inherited power that he gained his great wisdom.
A person’s wisdom and intelligence is a gift from God. Sometimes a person’s wisdom and intelligence come from his ancestors’ devotion but it may also come from his own devotion. Such wisdom is not a cause but a result. The cause is the person’s self-sacrifice for which God gives him wisdom and intelligence. There are people who made tremendous sacrifices for the entire Jewish people, or even for a single Jew. The gift that God gives them as a reward for their self-sacrifice, is wisdom, intelligence and knowledge to an extraordinary degree. It is a result of their self-sacrifice.
In order to acquire Torah, a person must be prepared to make sacrifices - "Thus is the Torah way: you shall eat bread dipped in salt and drink a small amount of water" (Avot 6:4). When a person is ready to give up his life for Torah, he will merit to have the greatest insights and perceptions. “Believe that if you make the effort, you will find what you seek” (Megillah 6:2). A person who makes an effort in one place, he may not find what he wants in that place. But suddenly, in another place, he finds it coming to him as easily as a sudden find. However, a person must make the initial effort. A person who does not make an effort, who doesn’t labor in it and isn’t willing to make sacrifices, will not achieve or find anything.
That is why a person should totally devote himself to the important things of life. The power of self-sacrifice for the Torah or for a great deed, or for an unfortunate Jew, will result in the person being given great wisdom and other sublime attainments.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel