(Exodus: 35:1-40:38)

(Haftara: Melachim I 7:40-50)

1. [35:31] “And he filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom and in understanding and in knowledge…” These are all intellectual qualities. What other qualities also make up the spirit of God?

2. [35:34] “And the ability to teach, he put into his heart…” From this pasuk, it would seem that the ability to teach is inborn in a person. Is it possible to learn how to be a very effective teacher if one was not born with the natural qualities of a teacher?

3. [35:35] “And he filled him with wisdom of heart to do craftsmanship…those who do craftsmanship and think thoughts.” Is craftsmanship more a quality of the mind, more a quality of the heart—of emotion, or more a quality of control of the body?

4. [35:35] “And he filled him with wisdom of heart to do craftsmanship…those who do craftsmanship and think thoughts.” What is craftsmanship? Can a person of low intelligence be a craftsman? What qualities must a craftsman have?

5. [Haftara: Melachim I, 8:12] “God has said that He would dwell in the thick darkness.” For King Solomon, God was in the “thick darkness”? For Moshe, He was in a cloud. For Eliyahu, He was in the “still, small voice”. What do these different revelations of God mean?

Commentary

Sometimes a person can’t speak at all, and it seems to him that he is not able to open his mouth in prayer and meditation. He is too attached to material things, or he has physical and spiritual troubles. Nonetheless, at a time like that, he should force himself to call out to God from the place of his trouble….through that forcing, he will be worthy, usually, to experience a spiritual release, and he will be able to pray and to express himself as he should.

–Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, 1772-1810, Ukraine.

This study page is dedicated to the memory of Sarah Bella bat Yitzchak Kummer, Chaim Yosef Yechiel ben Eliyahu Kummer and Eliyahu and Margaret Kummer