פרשת ויקהל - פקודי תשט"ז - "ועשה בצלאל ואהליאב..."

And Bezalel and Oholiab shall work, and every wise-hearted man, in whom the LORD hath put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD hath commanded.’

And I, behold, I have appointed with him Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and in the hearts of all that are wise-hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee:

And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office.

On a similar note, Rabbi Yoḥanan said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, only grants wisdom to one who already possesses wisdom, as it is stated: “He gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to they who know understanding” (Daniel 2:21). Rav Taḥalifa, from the West, Eretz Yisrael, heard this and repeated it before Rabbi Abbahu. Rabbi Abbahu said to him: You learned proof for this idea from there; we learn it from here: As it is written in praise of the builders of the Tabernacle: “And in the hearts of all who are wise-hearted I have placed wisdom” (Exodus 31:6).

And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab, and every wise-hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it.

’Speak unto the children of Israel, that they take for Me an offering; of every man whose heart maketh him willing ye shall take My offering.

And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, wherewith to make it. And they brought yet unto him freewill-offerings every morning.

And they took from before Moshe. Everything that was donated on the first day was brought before Moshe and the artisans took what they needed that day and the following morning. Then on each succeeding morning more material was brought to Moshe’s tent and he instructed that it be brought directly to the craftsmen until they came and informed him that more than enough had been donated already. The people are bringing too much. This is related in order to praise the people for their generosity and the craftsmen for their integrity by not taking the excess materials for themselves. Moshe was also deserving of praise for preventing the people from bringing more, in contrast to most national leaders who are happy to extract from the people whatever they can.