There are some dramatic moments in Ki Tisa - Golden Calf,
God's 13 attributes of Mercy, Moses radiant face when he returns a 2nd
time from the Mountain. I want to look
at some quieter moments in Exodus, Chapter 31.
Bezalel is to me a very interesting
character. He is an artist, excelling
in working with precious metals and stone, wood carving, and in weaving and
embroidery.
In Exod 31:1-3 God says to Moses: I have called Bezalel ben
Uri, of the tribe of Judah...I have filled him with a Godly Spirit, with
Wisdom Understanding
Knowledge
HoK'MoH T'VuWNoH
= BiNoH DaAaT
Wisdom+Understanding+Knowledge which
(from Hebrew) = ChaBaD. What do you
think these three attributes encompass?
[Assumption is, 3 different things.]
One view:
Wisdom=
comprehending basic principles of the Universe. Understanding=deriving ideas from that. Knowledge=applying these in practical way.
This makes sense to me, the three
moving from core ideas to everyday details, and from the cosmic to mundane.
[Rashi's view:
Wisdom
is what you acquire from others;
Understanding
is when you derive new ideas and inferences from your wisdom;
Knowledge
is Divine inspiration.]
These three concepts are also part
of mystical Judaism, forming a special triangle of God's higher attributes.
Who else besides Bezalel has this special trinity of
ChaBaD? Only 3 others in the Bible:
Hiram, King of Tyre.
I Kings 7:14 ...and he was filled with wisdom, and understanding, and cunning
to work all works in brass.
Hiram is Solomon's chief artisan
for the Temple. Hiram is the
artist for the Temple in Jerusalem as Bezalel is for the Tabernacle in the
Wilderness.
The Messiah:
The Spirit of Adonai
will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom
and of understanding, the Spirit
of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge
and of the fear of Adonai. [Is 11:2]
The Messiah will have ChaBaD plus 3
other assets. [This is a famous
chapter from Isaiah that begins: There
shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse....]
God:
Adonai founded the earth with Wisdom, He
establishes heavens with Understanding, through His Knowledge the depths were
cleaved [Prov 3:19-20]
Let's return to Bezalel, the great
artist. Ironically, he must almost like a robot follow very precise
directions in making the Tabernacle and its ritual props. Does it make sense to impose so many
restrictive details on a creative spirit?
Is this like hiring Michelangelo to do a paint-by-numbers velvet
art? [Remember those velvet paintings
of horses and dogs that would go on the wall of the playroom?] What do you think?
Exod 31 says that Bezalel has a Godly Spirit as well as
ChaBaD. Because Bezalel is filled with
a Divine spirit, He is doing God's work and that can extend to God's attribute
as Creator.
Also, creativity is suggested by the
Hebrew phrase for Divine Spirit - RuaH AeLoHiYM. Why?
In Gen 1:2, we read W'RuaH AeLoHiYM..., the Spirit of
God hovered over the face of the waters.
The next verse is And God said Let
there be light and there was light, this is God's first Act of Creation.
Combining Bezalel's ChaBaD with the Spirit of God is
therefore a good fit for a great artist.
[Note also that the Isaiah verse
describing the Messiah also combines the Spirit of God with ChaBad, just as
Exod 31 does for Bezalel].
Very few people can have ChaBaD like Bezalel. But to be filled with the Spirit of God is
something we can achieve.
Who else in the Bible is said to have in them the Spirit of
God?
In Chapter 31, the concept of Spirit of God can arise in a
fourth category. Right after the phrase
is used to describe Bezalel, we have a passage on being Shabbat Shomer, keeping
the Sabbath.
In 31:16-17 we have: [Say in Hebrew] The children of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, throughout their
generations for an eternal covenant, because on the seventh day God
ShoVaT WaYiNoFaSh, [usually translated] God
rested and was refreshed or literally was "re-souled" or "filled with
soul".
What does re-souled or filled with
soul mean here?
A
commentary says on Shabbat this applies to us, that we have an extra soul on
Shabbat - not just God, but us, too.
I think that extra soulfulness can mean the Spirit of
God. The word WaYiNoFaSh is near the
phrase RuaH AeLoHiYM.
We are filled with a Divine Spirit
when we observe Shabbat, we can be like God was on the first Shabbat.
Shabbat is many things - A Bride; a
Queen; a remembrance of Creation and Redemption. Here in Chapter 31 it has a fourth attribute, the eternal sign of
our covenant with God. The covenant
includes many mitzvot.I
think we can extend this idea from Shabbat, as a symbol for the covenant, which
includes all commandments, to say that when we do any mitzvah as God's covenantal partner, we are filled with a Divine
spirit as on Shabbat. Abraham Joshua
Heschel expressed this when he said: No
one is lonely when doing a mitzvah, for a mitzvah is where God and man meet.
["God In Search of Man" p. 312]. Any mitzvah.
So like Bezalel, we can be
filled with soul, with the Divine Spirit when we affirm the covenant, by doing
God's Will. And each Jewish community
affirms the covenant in its own way; each can identify the deeds it needs to do
to be a partner with God and refresh our souls.
We should periodically ask
ourselves: How are we affirming the covenant?
We do Study, Worship, Deeds of Lovingkindness, and we treat every person
with respect to recognize the image of God in each of them.
A final note: ChaBaD relates to the covenant, also, since HoK'MoH
+ BiNoH + DaAaT = 614 = BaV'RiYT, in the covenant.
