Vayakhel, Exodus 35:1-38:20, Parshat Ha Shavua for Shabbat, Saturday, February 26, 2022

What gives a person character? How can we define integrity? We live in a time when many of our leaders claim these qualities but often don’t live by them. Hypocrisy is all around us. Elected officials who claim the last presidential election was fraudulent, but not their own election. Religious leaders who criticize others for immorality and hide the horrible behavior among their own clergy. Or business leaders who violate their own human relations policies.

This week’s Torah portion gives us two examples of what character and integrity look like. “And Moses said to the Israelites: See, God has singled out by name Bezalel, son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah endowing him with a divine spirit of skill, ability, and knowledge in every kind of craft,” (Exodus 35:30-31) Bezalel is chosen by God to build the Mishkan, the tabernacle in which God’s presence would dwell. What is noteworthy about this verse is that Hebrew names are always Ploni ben Almoni, that is someone the son (or daughter) of someone.

So why is Bezalel’s grandfather mentioned? In the Midrash Tanchuma we read that Bezalel’s grandfather Hur is mentioned because he was murdered while trying to stop the Israelites from making the Golden Calf. Bezalel could have refused, after all the people had killed his grandfather. But he doesn’t. He puts aside his personal grief, and his anger, for the sake of his people… for the common good. This shows that one sign of character is putting other people’s needs before our own. The other example comes later in our Torah portion. Regarding the construction of the Ark we read, “He overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out;” Again, the Midrash Tanhuma we read,  “From here we learn that a scholar’s “inside” should be as his exterior (i.e., he should not be a hypocrite)”

In other words, our actions should be an external reflection of our values. We should behave in a manner that is consistent with what we say we believe. This is integrity. Human beings are flawed, we fail frequently, but we can still try to be our best selves, to live by Torah values and be our best selves.