Vayakhel-Pekudei 5778

On Nepotism

The Torah writes (Exodus 35:30):

And Moses said to the children of Israel: See, the L-rd has called by name Betzalel the son of Uri the son of Chur of the tribe of Judah

Rashi (ibid) adds:

HUR was the son the Miriam (Sotah 11b; cf. Rashi on Exodus 24:14)

The Talmud (Sotah 11b) adds that Chur was a son of Miriam and Caleb:

... And the one who says that it is referring to houses of royalty is referring to David, who also comes from Miriam, as it is written: “And Azubah,” the wife of Caleb, “died, and Caleb took to him Ephrath, who bore him Hur” (I Chronicles 2:19) and, as will be explained further, Ephrath is Miriam ..

(see also the Mizrachi who discussed difficulties with ages of the people involved)

Daas Zeikinim (ibid) explains why this is problematic:

“see! He has called upon, etc.” What does the word: ראו mean here? When Moses had told the people that Betzalel would be the chief architect/craftsman, and that he would be constructing the Tabernacle, there was murmuring among the Israelites who charged Moses with nepotism and assigning every position of importance to members of his family. He therefore repeated here that these men had not been chosen by him but by G–d, personally. In fact, Moses, personally, had originally thought that he himself had been charged with the whole task, seeing that G–d had said to him: ועשית , “you will make,” etc., chapter 25,17, and subsequently. The plural impersonal mode had been reserved for the construction of the Holy Ark (Exodus 25,10). G–d explained to him then already that on the contrary, not as he had thought, he would not build the Tabernacle but a descendant of Chur, who had given his life trying to stop the Jewish people from making a golden calf would be charged with that task. By doing so he would help atone for the murder of his grandfather and for the sin of the golden calf. This is why the Torah traces Betzalel’s ancestry to Chur, i.e. Betzalel son of Uri, son of Chur.

The Talmud (Berachos 55a) writes that Moses asked the people for permission:

... The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to him: Nevertheless, go and tell Israel and ask their opinion. Moses went and said to Israel: Is Bezalel suitable in your eyes? They said to him: If he is suitable in the eyes of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and in your eyes, all the more so he is suitable in our eyes. ...