FEBRUARY 24 • 2022 | 39
MAZEL TOV!
Sasha Edyth
Shepherd,
daughter of
Melissa and
Aaron Shepherd,
will become a
bat mitzvah on Saturday,
Feb. 26, 2022, at a
Havdalah service at Tam-
O-Shanter Country Club.
Rabbi Joseph Krakoff will
lead the ceremony. She will
be joined by her older sister
Alexa. Sasha is the grand-
child of Helene and Edward
Kaplan, and Susan and
David Shepherd; she is the
loving great-granddaughter
of the late Betty and Sol
Steinlauf, Evelyn and Ben
Shepherd, Edyth and Adoph
Lebovitz, and Hilda and
Morris Kaplan.
Sasha is a student at
West Hills Middle School
in Bloomfield Hills. For her
mitzvah project she made
and sold jewelry, then
donated all the proceeds
to American Diabetes
Association’s Camp Midicha
to help send diabetic kids
to camp. Sasha found this
rewarding because her sis-
ter is a Type 1 diabetic.
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SPIRIT
Honoring Teachers
A
fter the plans are all
laid out, it is time to
get to work. That’s
what Parashat Vayakhel
tells us.
For several weeks,
we’ve been hearing about
the plans for building
the mishkan, the portable
sanctuary that the Jewish
people will carry with
them on the trip to the
Land of Israel. Even the
incident of the Golden
Calf, which we read last
week, couldn’t derail the
plan. And now it is time
to get building.
After the most successful
fundraising campaign in his-
tory (check out the parasha
for that), we learn that God
has appointed two people to
be the lead craftsmen and to
work with the people. God has
singled out Bezalel, “endowing
him with a divine spirit, skill,
ability and knowledge in every
kind of craft.” Oholiab will be
Betzalel’s assistant in leading
the work.
Our tradition describes
Betzalel’s skills as even super-
seding those of Moses when
it comes to certain aspects of
building the Tabernacle. His
name, Bezalel, meaning “in the
shadow of God” gives us a sense
that he had special access
to artistic inspiration.
In particular, Moses
seems to have had a diffi-
cult time envisioning how
the Menorah should look.
God even showed him a
vision of the Menorah,
but Moses still had trou-
ble. Eventually, God told
Moses to go to Betzalel
who made it with ease.
Perhaps less noticed,
but crucial nonetheless,
is the fact that Bezalel
is described as a person who
can give direction and can
teach. Bezalel was able to share
his skill and ability with oth-
ers. This isn’t always the case.
People with extraordinary skill
can often create exquisite work,
but not all of them have the
ability or willingness to share
their process with others so that
they can also make the most of
their own skills.
Some might even wonder
if teaching is the best use of
Bezalel’s time and energy.
After all, this is a person at the
top of his field, so to speak.
Wouldn’t it be better to leave
Bezalel to his work so that he
could focus on this project?
After all, Bezalel wasn’t even
working on his own behalf;
this project was for the good
of the entire people.
Ultimately, the Torah tells us
that part of Bezalel’s unique-
ness is his ability to teach oth-
ers how to create. Teaching is
part of his greatness.
These past few years have
been extremely challenging
ones for teachers. These people
have shown great strength and
creativity in sharing what they
know with people of all ages
under challenging conditions.
We owe a great deal of gratitude
for their teaching even under
normal circumstances, but
especially now.
Ultimately, perhaps it wasn’t
his artistic craft that informs
Bezalel’s name as one who is
“in the shadow of God,” but
his ability as a teacher. Seen
that way, all teachers learn
their craft from God, the orig-
inal Teacher.
Rabbi Steven Rubenstein is rabbi
of Congregation Beth Ahm in West
Bloomfield.
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi Steven
Rubenstein
Parshat
Vayakhel:
Exodus 35:1-
38:20; I Kings
7:40-50.