Ten Minutes of Torah

with

Rabbi Chaim Weiner

 

 

Vayakhel - Pekudei – 5767

 

 

שמות לא:ו

 

 

(ו) וַאֲנִי הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי אִתּוֹ אֵת אָהֳלִיאָב בֶּן אֲחִיסָמָךְ לְמַטֵּה דָן וּבְלֵב כָּל חֲכַם לֵב נָתַתִּי חָכְמָה וְעָשׂוּ אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִךָ:

 

 שמות לה:לד

 

(לד) וּלְהוֹרֹת נָתַן בְּלִבּוֹ הוּא וְאָהֳלִיאָב בֶּן אֲחִיסָמָךְ לְמַטֵּה דָן:

 

 

Exodus 31:6

 

Moreover, I have assigned to him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan;  and I have also granted skill to all who are skilful, that they may make everything that I have commanded you.

 

Exodus 35:

 

And to give directions, he and Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan.

 

 

 

 

Rashi (Exodus 35:35):

 

Of the tribe of Dan. Of the lowest of the tribes, of the sons of the maidservants. Scripture compares him to Bezalel with regards to the building of the Mishkan, who was of the greatest tribe, to enforce the words of scripture:  The noble are not preferred to the wretched. (Job 34:19)

 

 

QUESTIONS

 

  1. According to Rashi, why are we told that Oholiab was of the tribe of Dan?

 

  1. Can you explain why Rashi makes this comment on Exodus 35, and not on Exodus 31. Rashi usually makes a comment at the first occasion that a problem appears in the Torah.

 

 

 

 


 

ANSWER TO LAST WEEK’S QUESTIONS:

 

1.      What is the reason for the daily offering according to Sefer Hachinuch?

 

The daily offering is intended as a form of character training. By making the service of God our first concern in the morning and our last concern in the evening, we learn to always put our responsibilities to our Creator first.

 

2.      Explain the underlined words.

 

Sefer Hachinuch is a follower of Rambam, who had a ‘behaviourist’ understanding of human psychology. He believed that a person can change their character by repeating an action over again and again. If you want to train yourself to be kinder, you can do so by consciously ‘forcing’ yourself to do kind things. By doing this over time your character will change. The underlined words are a classic statement of this principle.

 

 

 

 

______________________________________________________________

 

No ‘Ten Minutes of Torah next week as I will once again be abroad.

 

Ten Minutes of Torah was prepared by Rabbi Chaim Weiner, based on the methods of Prof. Nechama Leibowitz. Rabbi Weiner studied and corresponded with Prof. Leibowitz for several years.

 

 

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