וְאַתָּ֗ה תְּדַבֵּר֙ אֶל־כׇּל־חַכְמֵי־לֵ֔ב אֲשֶׁ֥ר מִלֵּאתִ֖יו ר֣וּחַ חׇכְמָ֑ה וְעָשׂ֞וּ אֶת־בִּגְדֵ֧י אַהֲרֹ֛ן לְקַדְּשׁ֖וֹ לְכַהֲנוֹ־לִֽי׃

Next you shall instruct all who are wise of heart, whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom, to make Aharon’s vestments, for consecrating him to serve Me as priest. (Shemot/Exodus 28:3)

וּבְלֵ֥ב כׇּל־חֲכַם־לֵ֖ב נָתַ֣תִּי חׇכְמָ֑ה וְעָשׂ֕וּ אֵ֖ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוִּיתִֽךָ׃

I have also granted skill to every wise of heart, that they may make everything that I have commanded you: (31:6  – parshat Ki Tisa)

In last week’s Torah reading, Parshat Terumah, we have the doubly astonishing phenomenon of there being  – among the recently liberated, itinerant Israelites – men who not only possessed an entire host of precious metals and materials, rare gems, and exotic lumber, but who were willing to voluntarily donate these toward the crafting of the Mishkan/Tabernacle with no expectation of honor or recognition of any kind. The catalogue of materials included gold, silver, copper, tanned rams skins, dolphin skins, acacia wood, oil, spices, lapis lazuli  and other precious stones.

It is likewise astonishing that we never question how recently emancipated slaves  – now wandering the desert – came into possession of such precious, and in some cases highly unportable, goods. Nor do we question where they developed the nobility and character to voluntarily part from their priceless cargo while remaining an anonymous collective, eschewing all glory – no guests of honor, no plaques above the portals, to founder’s  tree in the lobby,  nothing.

We dealt with the second aspect last week, pointing out that these........

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