Vayakhel - Winds of Moshiach Blowing

You're listening to the weekly partial podcast with Ari Goldwag, recorded with the Sham's never-ending assistance in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel, 5786 2026. This week's parsha is parsha Vayakhel and I'd like to share with you a thought. Usually we get I've looked back at what I've spoken about in previous years. Hashem, we've been doing this a long time. And um often I've spoken about and I will speak about again the concept of Betzalel. Betzalel was the one, the young man, he was 13 years old according to Chazal, who was chosen. He was a grandson of Chur. Betzalel ben Uri ben Chur tribe of Yehuda. And he was chosen to be the one who would oversee and design the different parts of the Mishkan, the sanctuary. And when the possuk talks about him, it says "Ruach Hashem b'shem Betzalel ben Uri ben Chur l'mateh Yehuda." He was called out as this name, he was called out by his name. Interesting. Doesn't say "b'shem Betzalel." It says "b'shem" There's a pause there. Hashem calls out the name. And the concept of a name as we know has to do with essence. The essence of the thing in the Torah when Hashem creates the way that he creates everything is by calling it by its name and then that's the essence of it and it comes into being. Vayo'mer Elokim "Yehi or." When he said the word "or" "Vayehi or." There was light. So so Hashem creates with a word and the word denotes the essence of the thing that's being spoken of. And so when we speak about Betzalel, we speak about his name, Hashem calling out his name, we speak about the essence of who he is. But not just that, we speak about where he comes from. We speak about his father, his grandfather, comes from the tribe of Yehuda. And there's a lot of beautiful midrashim here. We could we could look at a few of them, but I want to focus in on a certain aspect, which is in the continuation of the pasuk. The pasuk tells us that Hashem fills him. Hashem fills up Betzalel. And uh I don't see it in here, so I'm just Oh, Vay'male Osei Ruach Elohim. He is filled with the spirit of God. B'chochma, b'tvuna, uv'daas. With wisdom, with intuition, and with intimate knowledge. Okay, so he is able Right? And this is a very important essential concept that we all need to know. That Betzalel is able how to accomplish this amazing feat? As my fortune point out, Jewish people have been slaves for 100 200 years. And um they were not used to creating things with their hands. Very fine things with their hands. They were used to brute labor. But still, and then no one ever trained No one trained in the arts. But where does it come from? And I like to think about this as a musician. Where does the talent come from? Where does the music come from? Where does the art come from? This is the answer. Ruach Elohim. It's a spirit or wind of God. And that God fills the person with chochma, [snorts] with wisdom, tvuna, intuition, and daas, intimate knowledge. Now, the midrash says like this. B'shlosha eleh nivra olam. These three things, chochma, bina, and daas. These three types of wisdom, which we need to understand what they are. And we need to understand that they manifest There's one more thing I want to say before I continue, and that is that what it comes down to is that when a person, and this is my experience of creating music, it's my experience of of art that it's not that I created it. That's not how it feels. It feels like I found it. I found the music. I'm looking when I'm creating a song, I'm looking for the music. I'm looking for the sound of the music. So So, it's it's like I'm searching for the voice of Hashem or the song of Hashem as it were. And Hashem is I'd like to think filling me with the the wisdom or the intuition to create a song. And here with Bezalel, who is designing a Mishkan, which as our sages say, it's it's a place which encapsulates the entire universe. It's the place, our universe, where we connect to Hashem, the creator of the cosmos. We connect and we serve Hashem in that space. So, it needs to be created with God's guidance, with Hashem's clear instruction. But the way that it works, it doesn't It's not like Hashem speaks and says, "Here, Bezalel, put your hand here." And shows him, per se, a picture of what it looks like. It's just intuitive. It's just he knows what to do. He just knows what to do. And I would say that the person who's inspired is moving out of the way, moving his own ego out of the way, his own sense of how things should be in deference to in recognition of the wisdom, the Ruach Elohim, the the spirit of Hashem, the wind of Hashem that's flowing through him. So, again, the Medrash says the Shloshah Devarim she Halal Lo Nivra Ha'Olam. These three things the world was created with and I I was looking at the words Ruach Elohim, Hashem blesses him with a spirit of God and I couldn't help but think about the second pasuk in Bereishit that says, "V'Ruach Elohim Merachefet al Pnei Ha'Mayim." Bereishit Bara Elohim Et Ha'Shamayim V'Et Ha'Aretz. Hashem creates the heaven and the earth and then there's a Ruach Elohim, the same maybe the same Ruach Elohim and the Meforshim there explain that this was the Mayania. What's a Ruach? It's a wind. Right? A wind moves things. Wind blows through things. It It's the It's that which uh What's the word? I had it for a moment. It's that which propels things forward. The Ruach Elohim is that which propels a person forward. Propels creation forward. It makes creation happen. It's Hashem's active force. Active force within reality. And it's the inspirational force that we feel when we're interested in doing something good. When we're interested in creating something. There's a a force that flows through us. And it's manifest through Chochmah, Binah, and Da'at, interestingly. That's what we're talking about here. And I want to point out that as it As we just said, it's the creative force of the world. And it's the It's that which is present forming the world. The The Ramchal says that the soul is the creative force that forms the body. Right? It's the It's that which propels and compels the the cells within one's body to do their thing. Gives them life. It's the life-giving force, the propulsion force. And there's Hokhmah and there's Binah and there's Da'at. That's one way of talking about it. There's also Keter. And the concept of Keter is an important concept and it has to do with the name. It has to do with the concept of a name. Right, the name of the person is the person at their essence. It's the person who they are. It's the life force of the person. It's Shema'i. The gematria of the word Shemo, shin mem vav is 346. It's the same gematria as the word makor, which means the source. The source for all you are is in your spiritual DNA and it's contained in your name. Your name is the essence, the the core essence of your DNA. >> [sighs] >> It's also the same gematria as the word ratzon. Ratzon is also 346. And the idea is ratzon means will, means desire. It means the thing that Think about it, what is will and desire? It's that which propels me forward. It's that wind. It's the ruach Elohim. It's the mene'a. It's the that which gives movement. But how does it express itself? So first it expresses itself in Hokhmah, Binah and Da'at. That's how I experience it. There there's a wisdom, there's an intuition, there's an applied wisdom, that's what Da'at is, intimate wisdom I call it or applied wisdom. But the idea is that it starts up here, it starts in the mind. And then it comes down to the physical body through the arms, through the legs, through that which the the kelim, the vessels through which the human being expresses and brings out into the world the idea. So Hashem creates the world with these concepts. Shema' Hashem Hokhmah yasad aretz. Hashem established the world with wisdom. Konein shamayim one of Sham established the heavens with tuna. Interesting that the earth which is the more the the physical realm is created with Hakma and the heavens are created with being a with intuition but they tight plus 6 says they're also in Mishlei but they tight which is the the concept of dust which is applied wisdom to highness of coal the the deepest depths were split open. Right? You come to the Grand Canyon. How did it get there? It got there through a Sham's a Sham's dust. Mishawaka not so Mishkan and these three things were that which was that which was used in order to create the Mishkan as well Sham Amalie I say walk like him. I filled him a Sham says I filled with Solomon with a spirit with a wind of God Hakma but tuna with a dust with with knowledge intuition and and applied wisdom. Mishawaka Dwar Malala never never be so Mishkan and with these three things the base of English as well was built Sham Amalie been each other one of whom you might have told me in reference to the one it seems who was hired by Sham Amalie to build the base of English it says about him he was the daughter of a of a sorry the son of a woman who was in Almana a a widow from the tribe of Naftali by Amalie Hakma but tuna with a dust and he was filled with these three aspects of Hakma being a dust. Mishawaka Now we often hear that the base of English the holy temple, is going to come down from heaven and it's going to land, as it were, and it's going to land on the Temple Mount, on Har HaBayit, and maybe it will squash the Dome of the Rock, or maybe the Dome of the Rock will get incinerated by a ballistic missile, hopefully soon. But in any event, we think of it as something that falls from heaven, which there are sources that say that. However, the Rambam says that part of the job of Mashiach is to actually build, physically build the base hamikdash, the holy temple. Right? But here the measure says when Hashem is going to stand up, as it were, to build it in the future, livno, it will be built with these three, shemama, chachma, bina, and da'at, vetuna ikoynom. We see with da'at chadam imalu. Posuk says in in Mishlei, of course written by HaMelech who built the base hamikdash, that it's with wisdom that the house is built, with intuition it's established, and with da'at the rooms are filled. The rooms are filled with applied wisdom. Very interesting. So, but the idea here is that no matter how the base hamikdash is going to be built, by whether it's by Hashem himself, as it were, or or by a human being who is filled like Betzalel with this great wisdom of chachma, bina, and da'at, either way, it's going to involve these three aspects. And it has to have all these three aspects. Broad wisdom, chachma, which we spoke about previously is related to the concept of sight, which is big picture. Bina, which is related to sound, which is applied in a certain way, it's one word after another word, that's to do with hearing. And thus is how it's brought down and it actually unfolds. That's filling up the rooms. The Vamalyosai Kola Kokma Zemi Nai, where did all this wisdom come from? Where Where does Betzalel get his great talent? Min Hakadosh Baruchu, comes from Hakadosh Baruchu. From the Holy One, as it says in the Ruach Elohim. The spirit of God. Ken Atam Yeshua, Shuba Meosif. We find this as well in regards to Joshua. It says about him, he came from the tribe of Yosef. Okay, so this is something this level of Chochma, Bina, and Daas is something that we find Betzalel has, he's from Yehuda. We said earlier in the Medrash, which we didn't read together, but Medrash said that it had to do with his familial ancestry. Had to do with the fact that he was from Yehuda. Yehuda is a king. Ata Yeduha Melech. Right. Yehuda is the king. David Hamelech comes from Yehuda. Betzalel comes from Yehuda. And the king has that ability to lead others, to guide others, to recognize the the unique abilities of others in their service of Hashem. That's what his job is. That's what a Jewish king is meant to do. Okay, so Betzalel has that. And Yehoshua had that as well. Yehoshua was the leader of Klal Yisrael, who led Am Yisrael into battle, into the land of Israel, conquering, killing out the seven nations of Kenaan that were here in Israel at the time. And how is he able to do that? Yehoshua Bin Nun Malei Ruach Chochma. He was filled with the spirit of wisdom. Ken The the measure also tells us about another leader of Israel. It was at a time when the Jewish people were under the dominion of Moab, the Moabites. They were oppressing the Jewish people and Hashem gave them Othniel Ben Kenaz. Othniel was the brother of I think uh Caleb. Am I right? I'm not sure. And he he came to be Messiah so he came and became a leader and he was able to conquer the Moabites and bring about I don't know if it was 40 or 80 years of peace. The verse says, how did he do that? He had a spirit of Hashem. What is the concept of the spirit of Hashem? What is the concept of Elohim? The concept is the person is moved moved into action moved not by his own ego, not by his own mental ability but it's all moved by a heavenly spirit by Hashem. All of the miracles that happened to Israel were were done in the merit of the blessing that Moshe gave to the nation. It's very interesting here. The measure says clearly saying that Joshua and Othniel Ben Kenaz so we kind of moved on to a to a new concept here. It's important to understand and notice that the power that they had to overcome the enemies of Klal Yisrael. That power was inspired by not just inspired by but moved by moved through them because of Hashem's ruach, because of Hashem's divine spirit. And where did it come from? How did it come? And I'm going to bring it back to the Mishkan in a moment cuz it's important to understand how this has to do with the Mishkan and Betzalel. It came from the bracha of Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu gave a bracha to Yehuda ben Yaakov. What does it say? B'shasham mitzarav mitzar of tiah. Yehuda has this power, the power of leadership, the power to overcome because Hashem gives him strength and help to be able to overcome his enemies. Right? And if we think about it, it's very interesting. Whenever the Jewish people would go out into battle, they would bring along the Aron Habrit. They would bring Excuse me, the ark of the covenant. That was their power. That was their spiritual power. As long as they were being moved As long as they were being moved by the ruach Elohim, the godly spirit within them, they would have success in battle. Right? As long as we say b'ezrat Hashem netzach, as long as we're saying that it's Hashem who's helping us to succeed, we can succeed. In fact, the Medrash in the Yeshayahu perek sameach, and I spoke about this in the Mashiach podcast, but it's worth mentioning now, especially in light of current circumstances, the Medrash tells us that Mashiach ben Yosef has power over the evil Persians. He's the one who is motivated and inspired and moved by the ruach Elohim. Hashem manifests through Mashiach ben Yosef. Hashem says to Mashiach ben Yosef, "Do with the Persians and with the world as you wish. All the nations are in your hands." That's what the measure says in Yeshayahu Samech. Check it out. But, that is the power. The power and we talk about Beit Hamikdash, Beit Hamikdash is built when? After the battles. After the battles are won, the war of Gog u'Magog. When is the When is the second Beit Hamikdash built? After the battles. We just experienced Purim. It's after those battles, Esther's child, Esther's son is the one who tells the Jewish people build that Beit Hamikdash. And it's after the battles. We have to In order to build a Mishkan, in order to have that sanctuary, which is about our relationship with Hashem, we have to first do battle. We have to first succeed in battle. And how do we succeed in battle? Sh- Shin Daber Achashverosh al Yehudah she nasah me ruach hakodesh u'misgaber bah. Hashem put He gives a ruach hakodesh. Hashem places within him a holy spirit. And we find also by by Esther Hamalka that she is walking towards batil bash malchus. >> [clears throat] >> And the pasuk says that Esther Hamalka, she put on her royal garments. And the Gemara says, "Tilbash malchus means that she wore the malchus, the royal spirit of Hashem." Hashem inspired her and was moving her towards Achashverosh's inner sanctum. When we are inspired by moved by the ruach Elokim, greatness comes. Right? Esther's about to walk into her history by walking into Achashverosh, saving her people. Yehudah has that as well. The Yehuda that he gets his greatness, he gets his leadership, he gets the ability to stand up and David Melech not only does he fight the wars of Klal Yisrael, he's the one who lays the foundations of the Beis Hamikdash. Right? Where does that power come from? Comes from the Ruach Hakodesh that's misgaber by that is strong and within him. R' Chanina says Ruach enosh. Chanina says that's what it says in the pasuk. There's a spirit that moves the human being. Klal Yisrael Bezalel Mishkan Shakai. All of the bina, all of the intuition that he had, this ability that he had to create this unbelievable structure, this unbelievable location in space where Klal Yisrael would connect to the master of the world, the creator of the universe. All that power came of course from Hashem himself, from Shakai. And if I'm not mistaken, it says Ruach Elokim be chochma. She chochma chochma Torah. Interesting. Uh this sounds like out of our reach, right? How do you get How do you get Ruach Hakodesh? Can we all have Ruach Hakodesh? The answer is yes. Anybody can have Ruach Hakodesh. The The Sefer Shaar Hakdusha says and I've mentioned it a number of times, Shaar Hakdusha says anybody can have Ruach Hakodesh. How do you get Ruach Hakodesh? Here it is, my friends, shaliach chochma Torah. Bezalel was wise in the wisdom of Torah. When you are trying to understand Hashem's will, when that's what you're going after, when that's what you're looking for, when that's what you're pursuing. If you're a chochma in Torah, so then you're going to be moved by the Torah. When you learn a word of Torah, when you hear a dvar Torah, when you hear a partial podcast, it moves you. It makes you want to change. Makes you want to be better. Makes you want to be more aligned with Hashem's will. It's one of the fact that he was filled with intuitive understanding. It refers to the fact that he knew Halacha. He knew what it says in the Shulchan Aruch. This is what a Jew does. This is how a Jew behaves. What is applied wisdom? It means the Gemara. Right? The Gemara has to do with how do you figure out what is Hashem's will? Right? That's what Talmud means. Trying to understand, trying to plumb the depths of Hashem's will. Hashem says to the Jewish people, "I say in this world, so our experience of Hashem's ruach is through wisdom. It's through matters of the mind. You want access to Hashem's will, you got to study Hashem's will. You got to if you want to have ruach, you want Hashem to be moving through you, motivating you, your actions are motivated by Hashem's will, you got to learn. You got to have that wisdom. You have to have your mind has to be has to be directed. And we choose that direction. Of all the the us to love for you. Which is very interesting. The Medrash finishes off by saying something mysterious. The Medrash finishes off by saying that in the future, it's not just going to be that Hashem looks at us, fills us with this movement, this godly movement, this godly propulsion through wisdom. There's going to be something else. That that Ruach Elohim is going to to give us life. >> [snorts] >> Right, this the came in Ezekiel, I'm pretty sure are speaking about the fact that there was a valley of dry bones. And the valley of dry bones Hashem says to Ezekiel, "You see these bones? Can they come to life?" And he says, "I don't see how they could come to life." And Hashem puts his spirit into them and they they flesh goes onto them, sinews, skin, and they come to life. And it's a moshel the Ezekiel are a moshel for the fact that Klal Yisrael will seem to be spiritually dead before Mashiach comes. Before the Messiah arrives, we'll we'll seem to be so far from Hashem. If you look and read about how the what the situation was 100 years ago in the yeshivas, the enlightenment movement had really taken hold and the Jewish people were in trouble. But from the the spiritually dead dry bones, Hashem blows his Ruach Elohim and and takes away the death and gives us life. And that's a spiritual life. That's what we're talking about here. There's a wisdom and there's an a knowledge and understanding, but there's something that's even more fundamental, my listeners saying. And that's life itself. To be alive, to be spiritually alive. To to care about ruchniyus, to even Right, what do we even call spirituality? The word spirituality is a spirit. The word ruach means spirit. It means that which moves within us and motivates us to be spiritual. Spirituality means ruchniyus. The word ruchniyus, which is spirituality, is from the word ruach, which means this power of the wind. The ability of spirituality to move us, to wake us up, to give us life, >> [snorts] >> to take away all the all of the spiritual death that's around us, from the cultures around us, from from the the things that the in the physical realm that motivate us, whether it's parnassa, whether it's other things that we want wealth, we want all these kinds of physical aspects. Hashem is saying, "I'm going to blow through you with my wind. I'm going to blow through you. I'm going to inspire you. I'm going to make you want to have a real connection to me. I'm going to give you real life." And nasati ruhi bakhem vekhisem, I will put my wind, my wind, the ruach Elohim, that same wind that was at berashit, that was in Genesis, right at the very beginning. The whole menia, the whole propulsion of the world was because of this ruach Elohim, this spiritual wind blowing through the world saying, "Connect to me." Hashem was saying, "Connect to me." That's what the world is about. Connect to me. Come back to life. Create for me a sanctuary, Hashem says to us. That's that's the mission of the hour. Create a sanctuary. Create a place where Hashem can dwell. I want to bless you and ask you to bless me. Hashem should help us to hear this message, to sense the wind that's blowing through us. This is the time to recognize that the wind that's blowing klal Yisrael, moving us into battle. That wind is Hashem's wind, and the success comes because Hashem is helping us to succeed. And that's preparing and paving the way for a Beit Hamikdash. Hashem should help us to merit to see that Beit Hamikdash being built. But, what is the essence of it? The essence of it all is should bless us to be able indeed to experience the real life that comes when his wind blows through us. Thank you so much for listening. A wonderful shabbos. >> This podcast was made possible [music] through the gracious donations of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.arigoldwag.com [music] or search on iTunes Ari Goldwag.