וַאֲנִי הִנֵּה נָתַתִּי אִתּוֹ אֵת אָהֳלִיאָב בֶּן אֲחִיסָמָךְ לְמַטֵּה דָן וּבְלֵב כָּל חֲכַם לֵב נָתַתִּי חָכְמָה וְעָשׂוּ אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִךָ

(שמות לא:ו)

“I have also given him (Betzalel) Oholiav, the son of Achisamach of the tribe of Dan, as an assistant. Besides this, I have placed wisdom in the heart of the wise and they will do all that is to be done,” (Shemos 31:6).

It is written in the Gemara in Brachos (55a): Rabbi Yochanon said, “HaKadosh Baruch Hu only gives wisdom to someone who has wisdom in his heart, like as it is written (Daniel 2:21). ‘Yahav chachmah l’chakeemin—I have placed wisdom in the heart of the wise.’” Rav Tachlifa bar Maarava heard this and went before Rabbi Avahu and told it to him. Rabbi Avahu told him: “You derived this from that pasuk, but we learn this idea from the pasuk in Chumash, ‘Uveleiv kahl chacham lev nasatti chachmah—In the heart of every wise-hearted person, I have put wisdom,’” (Brachos 55a).

In other words, there is a machlokes between Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Avahu from where do we derive the concept that Hashem gives wisdom to the wise. Rabbi Yochanan derives it from the pasuk in sefer Daniel, “Yahav chachmah l’chakeemin—I have placed wisdom in the heart of the wise.” Rabbi Avahu learns it from the pasuk in this week’s parsha, “Uveleiv kahl chacham lev nasatti chachmah—In the heart of every wise-hearted person, I have put wisdom.”

Zera Shimshon asks a question in light of the well-known principle that when a certain halacha or idea can be derived from Chumash or from the rest of Tanach, it is preferable to quote the pasuk in Chumash. This being so, why did Rabbi Yochanan quote the pasuk in Daniel and not the pasuk in Chumash, like Rabbi Avahu?

To understand the answer, Zera Shimshon begins with the question of the mefarshim, “What is the purpose of giving wisdom to wise people?” By definition, wise people have wisdom! Why does Hashem give them something they already have? It would be more beneficial to give wisdom to ignorant people!

Zera Shimshon answers—in light of the Gemara in Niddah (69b-70a)—that the citizens of Alexandria asked 12 questions to Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chinana. One of the questions was, “What should a person do to become wise?” He answered, “Increase the time that you learn and minimize the time that you work.” They argued, “Many people have done that, but they were not successful …” He answered back, “Pray for mercy from Hashem.” The Gemara concludes, “Both are needed. It is not enough, one without the other.”

From this Gemara, we learn that to learn with great hasmadah (long hours and diligently) does not necessarily result in becoming a true talmid chacham. He might forget what he learns, misunderstand what he learnt or come to wrong conclusions. In addition to learning diligently, one must also pray to Hashem. Only then, can he be confident that he will become a true talmid chacham.

According to this, the statement “HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives wisdom to the wise” means that Hashem gives wisdom to one “who has the wisdom to daven to be wise.” Hashem answers such a person’s prayers and grants him true long-lasting wisdom.

According to this, that Hashem grants wisdom only to someone who also davened, we can understand why Rebbi Yochanan didn’t bring a prove from the pasuk, “Uveleiv kahl chacham lev nasatti chachmah—In the heart of every wise-hearted person, I have put wisdom.” As a matter of fact, not only is that pasuk not a proof it seems to be a disproof!

This pasuk refers to the time when Hashem commanded Moshe to build a Mishkan and Hashem told Moshe in the past tense, “Uveleiv kahl chacham lev nasatti chachmah—In the heart of every wise-hearted person, I have put wisdom.” This means, “I gave wisdom already, so there will be people who will be able to carry out what I command Betzalel to do.” According to Rabbi Yochanan, how could this be? They surely didn’t daven for the wisdom to build the Mishkan, since at that time they didn’t yet know that a Mishkan was going to be built and that they would be the craftsmen! It is for this reason that Rabbi Yochanan brought a proof from the pasuk in Daniel, “Yahav chachmah l’chakeemin—He gives wisdom to the wise,” that Hashem only gives wisdom to someone who toils in learning and also davens to Hashem to be wise.

However, there is still a question: How can Rabbi Yochanan understand that Hashem gave wisdom to the craftsmen who built the Mishkan, even though they didn’t daven for it?

Zera Shimshon explains that Rabbi Yochanan differentiates between regular chachmah—wisdom and the extra-special chachmah needed to build the Mishkan. Hashem gives regular chachmah only to people that daven for it; while Hashem gave the extra-special chachmah to build the Mishkan even without their asking and davening for it.

What we have to understand now is how did Rabbi Avahu derive that true chachmah can be attained only through hard work and prayer from the craftsmen of the Mishkan, since that they certainly didn’t pray for wisdom to build the Mishkan?

Zera Shimshon explains that Rabbi Avahu derived this from a seemingly extra word in the pasuk. It is written, “Uveleiv kahl chacham lev nasatti chachmah—In the heart of every wise-hearted person, I have put wisdom.” Seemingly, it could have been written, “Uveleiv kahl chacham nasatti chachmah—In the heart of every wise person, I have put wisdom.” Why is it written, “Kahl chacham lev—In the heart of every wise-hearted person?”

The answer is that it alluded to the fact that to attain wisdom it is not enough to only be wise—meaning to learn with hasmadah—but one must also use his heart, to pray to Hashem to sustain the wisdom. Concerning the craftsmen of the Mishkan, even though they didn’t know that they were going to be craftsmen and that they needed an extra-dose of chachmah they davened to Hashem for regular chachmah—not related to the building of the Mishkan—and Hashem gave them the extra-special chachmah needed to build the Mishkan!

To summarize, Zera Shimshon asked: Why did Rabbi Yochanan derive that Hashem only gives wisdom to wise people from a pasuk in Daniel, and not from the pasuk in Chumash,“Uveleiv kahl chacham lev nasatti chachmah—In the heart of every wise-hearted person, I have put wisdom,” which is speaking of the craftsmen who helped build the Mishkan?

He begins the answer by first explaining that the statement, “Hashem only gives wisdom to the wise,” means that Hashem only gives wisdom to people who toil to be wise and who also daven to Hashem to be wise. Since the craftsmen of the Mishkan did not know that they were going to take part in building the Mishkan, they obviously didn’t daven for the wisdom to do it and Rabbi Yochanan couldn’t bring a proof for them.

However—according to this—how did these craftsmen attain the chachmah that they needed? Zera Shimshon answers that the “extra-special chachmah” needed to build the Mishkan was given to them without them asking from Hashem for it, and Rabbi Yochanan is only referring to “regular chachmah.”

Rabbi Avahu derived this idea from the seemingly superfluous word of “lev” in the phrase “chacham lev.”