The Builders of Worlds: The Power of Hebrew Letters

In the portion of Vayakhel, it is said, "See, Hashem has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur... and he has filled him with the spirit of Hashem in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works... and He has put in his heart the ability to teach... to fill them with wisdom of heart."

Many characteristics are mentioned here that seem more fitting for a philosopher, whose role is to "think thoughts," than for someone who needs to construct a building.

Sages have said, "Bezalel knew how to combine the letters by which heaven and earth were created." What is the essence of building related to letter combinations?

There is a wonderful Midrash Tanchuma: "When Hashem was creating the world... Hashem said, 'I need workers,' and the Torah said to Him, 'I will present you with twenty-two workers, and these are the twenty-two letters of the Torah.' The 22 letters act like workers, and through them, the world can be built. Why?

Aristotle wrote that the smallest meaningful unit is the sentence. The reason he thought so is that the precise meaning of a word is not certain; it can be understood in several ways. Only its context gives it precise meaning. His words fit foreign languages, where words developed accidentally and arbitrarily. There is no connection between the word "home" or the letters composing it and its meaning of a house. Therefore, when a person uses the word "house," it is still unclear what sense of house is meant: the physical structure? The sense of homeliness? Protection from the rain? Only the complete sentence can clarify and give meaning. However, in the Holy Language, each letter has a meaning, so the precise meaning of a house is clarified from the combination of the letters B' Y' T'. If used precisely, every word is interpreted from its letters.

The 22 letters are 22 ideas. The world is made up of ideas. Just as a technological device is created according to a design someone drew before production, the world is necessarily built on ideas that existed before its creation. When breaking down ideas to "atoms," to the smallest parts, we get letters. The knowledge to combine letters by which heaven and earth were created is the knowledge of the precise meaning of each and every power in creation.

The Tabernacle consists of two opposite parts. It contains a lot of materiality: a lot of silver, gold, wood, splendor. These are material things. But its purpose is to be a dwelling place for the divine presence and spirituality, the holiest place. To know what the correct form of materiality is, to be precisely a dwelling for spirituality, not more and not less, one must understand the ideas behind the material, understand the meaning, symbol, and feeling that every detail creates in the intellectual craftsmanship of construction, and create everything precisely, through the "letters," the most basic ideas that compose everything.

When Haman sought to carry out the decree of killing the Jews, Mordechai was studying the laws of Kemitza (offering of flour). Why the laws of Kemitza? The time was indeed the time of the offering of the Omer, and the Kemitzah of the meal offering was relevant to the day. But why specifically Kemitza from among all matters of the day?

Mordechai was one of the 15 officials in the Temple. While all other officials dealt with physical matters, Mordechai was in charge of the "nests." Nests are bird offerings. But he was not responsible for the technical side, but for a very special area: birds naturally fly, and often nests of different offerings would mix together, or even become mingled with the ordinary. These cases are dealt with in the complex Tractate Kinim. Mordechai was responsible for resolving these questions and doubts. He was sharp-witted on one hand and familiar with reality on the other. The Mishnah also says that those who taught Kemitzah laws received wages from the Temple treasury because Kemitzah was "hard work in the Temple." Why so difficult? Because the Kometz renders the offering permissible. When the priest gathers the Kometz in his hand, he must turn his hand over and take care not to drop even a crumb back into the offering, as the Kometz is sacred, and the offering is permitted by it. For this, he must know exactly the amount that can and must be put into his hand, he must know the limit. Dealing with the offering and Kemitzah is ultimately technical, a skill of hand agility, but the content is spiritual. This was precisely the field of Mordechai's wisdom, and it was by this power that he earned the merit to save the Jewish people. Mordechai also upheld spiritual boundaries, as with Achashverosh's feast, and applied practical wisdom, like listening to Bigtan and Teresh and using things at the right time. He knew seventy languages, as he was a member of the Sanhedrin, and later became second to the king.

This is the wisdom of "thinking thoughts" and being "wise of heart." To know everything, all the ideas from which the world is built, and also how to direct them to both absorb and emit spirituality.