The gemarra says that one of the things HaShem announces Himself is the arrival of a leader of the community. And as a proof of this, the gemarra brings the pasuk (31;2) of HaShem announcing the arrival of Betzalel to construct the mishkan. Though Betzalel constructed the mishkan, where do we find that he had leadership qualities? An answer given is that one must look 4 psukim later – haShem designates a partner for Betzalel in the mishkan construction – Oholiav. Now Betzalel was from the pretigious tribe of Yehudah. This tribe led the way in the journeying and it was to be from them that future kings of Israel would descend. On the other hand, Oholiav was from the tribe of Dan. This tribe travelled at thevery end of the camp and picked up left behind lost articles of other tribes to return them.
Consequently, the test of Betzalel was that he should have an ability to work with others who were not necessarily from his ‘crew/calibre’ to complete the mishkan work together. This is where we see leadership qualities in Betzalel; that one can work with others and not just want to grab the glory and limelight for themselves. This proves that the leadership is leshem shamayim and not for selfish self-image/ego purposes and motivations.
As Rabban Gamliel says (Avos 2;2) ‘anyone who is involved in communal matters should do it leshem shamayim, for the merit of the avos helps them and their righteousness endures forever…’
