Who’s Got the Talent?

The “hero” of Parshat Vayakel was not a military leader, nor a king or prophet. He was a master craftsman, Betzalel be Uri ben Hur, who was described in the Torah in these words:

And Moshe said to the children of Israel: See, the Lord has called by name. Betzalel ben Uri ben Hur, of the tribe of Judah. He has endowed him with wisdom, discernment and knowledge in every kind of craft… (Exodus 36:30-31)

In midrashim found in the collection, Midrash Tanhuma (Eretz Yisrael 7-8^th century), this description served as an inspiration for a mini-treatise on the intersection between natural talent and divine inspiration:

And he hath filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge (Exod. 35:31). Wisdom is mentioned [in this verse, despite the fact that Betzalel had been endowed previously with wisdom in a previous verse (See Exodus 31:3)], to teach us that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not grant wisdom to anyone unless that person already possesses some wisdom.

The midrash continues with a story to illustrate its point:

A matrona (a Roman noble woman} asked Rabbi Yose ben Halafta: “What is meant [by the verse:] He gives wisdom to the wise (Daniel 2:21)? Shouldn’t the verse say: ‘He gives wisdom to the fool’?” Rabbi Yose 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 responded to him: “I would lend the money to the rich man.” “And why?” he asked. She replied: “For if the he (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. Thus, if the Holy One, blessed be He, gave wisdom to fools, they would spend their time sitting on the toilet, or in a filthy alleys, or in bathhouses, and would not put the wisdom to use. Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, gives wisdom to the wise, who sit among the sages, in synagogues, and in houses of study, and utilize it (the wisdom).” Therefore, it is written: He hath filled him with wisdom (Exodus 35:35) (adapted from Tanhuma Vayakel 2)

Textually, this midrash focuses on the fact that God has previously gifted Betzalel with wisdom, leaving the redundancy found in the above verse open to interpretation. The darshan uses this “anomaly” to teach the idea that God only shares divine wisdom with those who have already developed for themselves a sense of wisdom. Otherwise, according this midrash, the new inspiration would be wasted.

Without delving too deeply into the example raised in the parable shared with the matron, {since it is obvious that for the sages, sagacity was to be found in the study hall,) there is a deeper more universal message to be found here. The development of talent in human beings is a partnership between God and human beings. For human beings to be energized with divine wisdom, they must first work at developing their wisdom or talents. From there, divine inspiration can become manifest.

In another midrash, those who develop wisdom and talent are enjoined to both imitate and invited to become partners with God:

See, the Lord has called by name Betzalel (Exodus 35:30). Observe what God did for Betzalel. The Holy One, blessed be He, instilled wisdom in his heart, as it is said: “And He has filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge” (ibid., v. 31). It was with these attributes that 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 (Proverbs 3:19–20). With these same attributes Bezalel erected the Tabernacle. (adapted from Tanhuma Vayakel 5)

Here, the midrash builds upon the use of similar language in describing God’s creative powers in founding the world and those used to describe Betzalel’s talents and virtues. The point of the comparison is clear. Human beings are to see themselves as challenged to use their creative powers as a means for making the world we live in a microcosmic model of God’s greater creation. This partnership puts great responsibility in our hands. The gifts of wisdom and talent give us the means to imitate God but also the responsibility to do with these gifts only things worthy of God’s imprimatur.