Selected Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, 1960-1999 Volume 3   1977-1981 Dvar Torah: Bezalel   Parsha Vayakael  “Behold, I have called byname (b’shem) Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur…” (Exodus 31:2)  The All Mighty chooses Bezalel to be the architect and the builder of the first temple of G-d, the Sanctuary in the desert.  In a sense, the Sanctuary had a holiness that neither of the two Temples in Jerusalem had.  For while in the case of the latter two, the vessels were captured by the destroyers  (and in the case of the second one, the vessels were not even there to begin with),the vessels of the Sanctuary were not allowed by the All Mighty to fall intothe hands of the gentiles.  And so, weask:  Why was it Bezalel who was especially chosen for the great honor of building this holy sanctuary?  Secondly, what does thephrase “Behold I have called by name” (b’shem) mean? Thirdly, why does the Torah bother to give the name of both the father and the grandfather of Bezalel?  Rarely do we find the name of a grandfathergiven EVERY time that someone is mentioned. Why bother to mention Hur’s name? It appears to me that theanswer to these questions holds deep truths. To begin with, let us see who Hur was. We first find him in the chapter dealing with the famous battle of Amalek(Exodus 17).  It is he and Aaron whoholds the hands of Moses as he holds them high – the hands that symbolize thefaith and trust inG-d.  And so, Hur becomes associated with the manof faith.  But there is more, for if thatis all, why is not one of Aaron’s descendants chosen to build theSanctuary?  The answer is that Hur is aman of faith – and more.  He is one who proves it by reaching its zenith – Kiddush Hashem. As the Jews throw off theyoke of the All Mighty and make for themselves a golden calf, it is one man whostands up to protest.  Aaron attempts togain time by portraying himself a one who goes along with the people in thehope that as he delays, Moses will return.  He is a man who has faith and will never,himself, worship anyone but the All Mighty, but he does not stand up toprotest!  One man does that: Hur.  Our Rabbis tell us that it is Hur who risesup to shout that this is wrong, and he is killed by the Jews (VayikraRabbah 10:3)  Hur reaches the zenith offaith – Kiddush Hashem.  It is easyenough to say that one believes and has faith. The ultimate proof of it is that one is prepared to endanger himself forTorah and perhaps even lose his life. That is the essence of faith. That is Hur, the grandfather of Bezalel.  And who was his father?  The Rabbis tell us that it was Caleb, thevery same Caleb who, along with Joshua, was one of the two dissentingspies.   While the other ten, in fear andlack of faith, spoke of the dangers in Canaan and the impossibility ofdefeating the enemies there, it is Caleb and Joshua who stand up and say:  No, we can defeat the enemy, no matter how strong.  Let us have faith in the All Mighty. Again, two men of faith, butagain, one of them takes that faith to its ultimate test.  For the Torah singes out Caleb:  “For My servant Caleb, because he hadanother spirit within him and has filled himself with faith after Me…”[“va’yemale acharai”] (Numbers 14:24). Why is Caleb singled out over Joshua? Because while both were men of faith, it was Caleb who rose to publiclyprotest the majority opinion: “And Caleb stilled the people … and said: Letus go up …” (ibid., 13:30).  It wasCaleb who stood up before the raging mob and who endangered himself, who was prepared to give up his life, if necessary, for faith in G-d.  H reached the peak of that faith. And that is why Bezalel,grandson and great-grandson of the men who reached the peak of faith, is chosento build the Holy Sanctuary.  Because of the merit of his ancestors.  In returnfor Caleb’s being filled with another spirit, G-d says, concerning Bezalel:  “And I shall fill him with the spirit of G-d”  (Exodus 31:3).  In return for the fact that Bezalel’sancestors called G-d by name, sanctified His name, the All Mighty says: “Behold,I have called Bezalel by name.”  Indeed,in the manner that a man measures things, thus is he himself measured. It is Kiddush Hashem, the willingness to give of oneself in order to sanctify and magnify the glory ofthe All Mighty, that is the touchstone of Judaism.  Our failure to understand that, our failureto take risks and to “endanger” ourselves, is the clearest proof of the shallowness of our so-called faith.  Weshall merit building the new sanctuary on that day when we become thedescendants of a Bezalel, a Hur and a Caleb.Written on April 1978Shabbat Shalom to everyone Barbara  Beyond Words can be purchased at Amazon.com   Anyone reading this Rabbi Meir Kahane or Rabbi Binyamin Kahane  article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles and would like to be, please contact me at: barbaraandchaim@gmail.com  To view articles written by Rabbi Meir Kahane and Rabbi Binyamin Kahane go to blog: www.barbaraginsberg-kahane.blogspot.com  Facebook Links: Barbara Sandra Ginsberg Otzma Yehudit for Anglos An English translation of Rabbi Meir Kahane's small Hebrew book "Al Ha'Emuna Ve'al Ha'Geula," is available on Amazon. The English title is "On Faith and Redemption." It was first published in Hebrew in 1981 and was republished three more times after that, in 1983, 1987 and 1993. Amazon has it as an E-Book and also in soft cover.  Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=KAHANE+FAITH+AND&ref=nb_sb_noss   You can find other E-books by Rabbi Kahane on Amazon