Parshat Vayakhel – March 8, 2024 / 29 Adar, 5784
In our society, we are currently facing a labor shortage when it comes to skilled trades. The downturn in skilled tradespeople has been trending for quite a while, but this is certainly an issue that is still absolutely worth discussing. In a world that is so digital, and can sometimes feel hands-off, we still need skilled workers. Let’s look at one aspect of the issue: According to Forbes, The construction industry alone is facing a deficit of more than 500,000 workers in the U.S. That’s in part because we’re losing thousands of baby boomers from the skilled trades to retirement, and there aren’t enough people from the younger generations interested in taking over those jobs. This article goes on to discuss how those in Gen Z, or individuals born between 1997 and 2012 might offer some hope. One of the problems causing the decrease in skilled trade interest lies in a negative perception of the skilled trade as a career, especially when compared to the perception of skilled trades being the antithesis to what is considered a “formal” college education. According to a survey of Gen Z, 74% of respondents claimed that their parents strongly pushed them toward a traditional 4-year college education after high school, while only 5% claimed to be encouraged to pursue a vocational education. Gen Z respondents discussed some of the strong stigma associated with skilled labor and tradework.
While we could get into the specifics of the benefits of a career in a skilled trade, and there do exist many, I want to discuss how the Torah raises up the idea of skilled labor to wisdom and holiness. Enter Bezalel. Bezalel of the tribe of Judah, and also his deputy builder Oholiab of the tribe of Dan are the ones charged with the actual building of the Mishkan, or Tabernacle. Our Torah tells us that Bezalel and Oholiab, and perhaps all of their Israelite subcontractors had been endowed with wisdom and insight to do the work of the building of the Sanctuary. The Torah talks of these holy workers as being wise, insightful, and full of inspiration of the heart. The people of Israel bring so many gifts and materials to help in the building of the Tabernacle. Materials are great, but materials alone do not a Tabernacle make. Without the skilled and holy actions of Bezalel, the Tabernacle remains theoretical as opposed to applied. 19th century English writer and philosopher John Ruskin once said, “When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece.” This marriage of love and skill is exactly what we see in the building of the Tabernacle.
Insight into Bezalel can be found in the meaning of his name, “in the shadow of God.” Bezalel seemed wise enough to understand how to take the array of gifts and ideas that existed among the people and to put them into practical and also holy use. He fused together the many into one–another road to our ongoing discussion of echad, of oneness. Rashi comments that Bezalel already knew some instructions before Moses relayed them. It was as if Bezalel was standing in God’s shadow as Moses was receiving instructions atop Mount Sinai. What does our Torah say about those who build, those who use their hands, those whom we might classify as tradespeople today? The holy builders of our tradition, Bezael and eventually King Solomon are also described as the wisest.
It might sound reductive or redundant to claim that we are all Holy, but isn’t that truly the message here? We need doctors, lawyers, technological wizzes, and financial mavens. We need people who are able to analyze data, and cure disease. We need general education so that people are well-rounded, and our world can continue to thrive. We need artists to enrich our lives with beauty and meaning. We also need a floor to stand on, roads to travel down, hospitals to cure in, and buildings to do business in. We need a mixed multitude of people to enrich our world. The tower of Babel was not successful! We do not need just one goal! We need many goals that can eventually be welded together to create a mosaic of diverse humanity.
Our two talented craftspeople of the week, Betzalel and Oholiav give us some insight into the beautiful diversity of humanity that can come together toward common purpose. Our Talmud tells us that Betzalel is a great grandson of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. This is clearly a distinguished lineage. Oholiav, on the other hand, was from the tribe of Dan, which descended from the handmaiden Bilhah—not Rachel or Leah. When it comes to the Mishkan, it is not about where and who one is descended from…it is about the holy work that is to be done. Torah teaches us that both of these skilled artisans were brought together from very different families to show us that all of us have the ability to excel, to be holy, to be important in our own eyes, and thus in the eyes of God.
May we all be blessed to hear a message of the Torah this week–to hold up the skilled laborer and the trades high. We need builders as the backbone. We always have embraced all people, and God always has. The work we all do is complementary and oh so necessary.
Shabbat Shalom.
– Rabbi Josh Gray