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By Rabbi Shloimie Lindenbaum
ראו קרא ה’ בשם בצלאל וכו’ (פרק לה פסוק ל)
Moshe announces that Klal Yisroel themselves can see that Hashem appointed Betzalel as the master architect of the משכן. R’ Moshe Feinstein asks, how were they able to see this? He answers that when Hashem bestows a person with a set of skills and talents, it is with the intent that he uses them for the good of Klal Yisroel and for Hashem’s honor. Therefore, by recognizing that Betzalel had all of the abilities required to build the משכן, it was clear to everyone that he was the one intended by Hashem to direct it’s construction. R’ Moshe adds on that we see from here that any gifts that we have from Hashem, in any area of life, are given to us so that we can use them to fulfill His will. By recognizing are talents and abilities we can understand in what way Hashem wants us to contribute to His nation and His honor.
ויכלא העם מהביא (פרק לו פסוק ו)
The Torah tells us that after there was enough material to build the משכן, Moshe told everyone to stop bringing donations, and the פסוק states explicitly that they then ceased from bringing. The Chasam Sofer explains that the reason for the פסוק to affirm that they stopped is to tell us that even in their stopping they were fulfilling a mitzvah. Meaning, that which they stopped the donations was not with a sigh of relief that they were free of the משכן tax, rather they would have gladly continued to donate to the cause. The only reason that they stopped bringing materials was because Moshe told them to. They thereby fulfilled the command of Hashem through Moshe even by discontinuing the donations.
