As of late there has been a lot of talk of using Design Thinking in reforming Jewish Education. What is design thinking? Design Thinking has come to be defined as combining empathy for the context of a problem, creativity in the generation of insights and solutions, and rationality in analyzing and fitting various solutions to the problem context. The premise of teaching Design Thinking is that by knowing about how designers approach problems and the methods which they use to ideate, select and execute solutions, individuals and businesses will be better able to improve their own problem solving processes and take innovation to a higher level.
It seems that knowing your students and the context in which they exist is important to design optimal educational experiences for them. But is this a new idea?
Recently I was talking with Alon Meltzer who had some really interesting insights into the development of the character of Bezalel. In the Talmud we learn that Bezalel must have been sitting in the tzel- shadow, listening in on the divine plan, and that is where he got his name (Berachot 55a). In his nature he was an observer.
In Ki Sisa we were introduced to Bezalel. We read:
See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,and I have imbued him with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with insight, with knowledge, and with [talent for] all manner of craftsmanship ( Exodus 31:2)
Bezalel was filled the ruach, Holy Spirit. Rashi quotes the Sifrei to explain:
With his intellect he understands other things based on what he learned. With his intellect he understands other things based on what he learned
According to Rashi, the Holy spirit was his intellectual capacity to take an idea and make it into reality.
In Vayakhel we repeat the building of the Mishkan. There we are reintroduced to Bezalel and his God-given talents. There we read:
Bezalel and Oholiav and every wise hearted man into whom God had imbued wisdom and insight to know how to do, shall do all the work of the service of the Holy, according to all that the Lord has commanded. ’With his intellect he understands other things based on what he learned’( Exodus 36:1)
This seems to echo what Rashi was explaining that he knew how to brainstorm real life solutions.
And then in Pekuday, this week’s Torah portion we read:
Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, had made all that the Lord had commanded Moses. (Exodus 38:22)
Here Rashi explains Bezalel’s ingenuity. He was able to realize that while Moshe was shown the utensils of the Mishkan first, it would be impractical to build them first, so he reversed the order and first built the house, and then the utensils.
Bezalel has insight and wisdom bestowed upon him from God. Then Bezalel takes these designs and prototypes them, constructing things according to plan and everything is ‘as God commanded him’. And finally this week Bezalel goes beyond and reimagines the project, and introduces his own vision in the implementation of the design. Bezalel seems to move seamlessly from observing to brainstorming, to prototyping, and finally to implementing. Bezalel seems to manifest this Design Thinking process. Maybe he can inspire us to rethink Jewish Education.
Said to Myself 
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