Tetzaveh

Following the description of the construction of the mishkan & its vessels, the Torah describes the garments worn by the Kohanim. These garments set them apart from the rest of the people. ואתה תדבר אל כל חכמי לב אשר מלאתיו רוח חכמה , and you shall speak to each of the wise - hearted people whom I have invested with a spirit of wisdom.  

Reb Chaim Shmulevits explains the meaning of חכם לב, wise -hearted ‎, that a person has to prepare himself to have the heart of a wise man.  Once he has that kind of heart, Hashem will give him wisdom. Now, how does one prepare his heart to get wisdom? Shlomo Hamelech, whom we know was the smartest of all men, demonstrated how he achieved his wisdom. 

When Hashem appeared to Shlomo in Givon & asked him to choose one gift, Shlomo chose wisdom. Hashem was pleased with Shlomo that he asked for wisdom instead of wealth or long life etc. Behold I will do as you wish הנה נתתי לך לב חכם ונבון , I will give you a heart that is wise & understanding, Shlomo merited this great wisdom because of his intense desire for wisdom; he was willing to forgo wealth, health & power. 

All he wanted was wisdom. He understood that nothing else in this world matters besides wisdom. So we see what wise - hearted means one who has an intense desire for wisdom.  

 Maybe there is another reason why it's called wise hearted, for even if one is very wise but doesn't use his heart with the brain, he will still make mistakes. 

When Chana came into the mishkan to daven for children, Eli Hakohen mistook her behavior for drunkenness. How is it possible that someone as great as Eli could suspect Chana whom he knew was a tzadekkes. She is counted amongst the seven nevios. She was a great woman; how could he suspect her of being a drunk? Also, her answer doesn't make sense, for she answered לא אדוני אשה קשת רוח אנכי, which Chazal translate to mean, “you are not a master in this thing.  The Shechina is not resting on you so you don't have Ruach Hakodesh because you judged me for bad instead of for good.” Now, how do we understand that is it only those with Ruach Hakodesh that can judge favorably?

We also can't say that she inferred that he didn't have Ruach Hakodesh just because he made a mistake, for we see many times that a navi doesn’t know everything. 

Later, the parsha tells us about the urim v'tumim which was a piece of parchment with Hashem’s name on it, placed in the fold of the choshen.  According to the Ramban, when the kohen gadol asked a question, the letters from the names of the shevatim that were on the chosen would light up, spelling out the words of the answer.  However, sometimes the letters could spell out different words so it was only with Ruach Hakodesh that the kohen gadol understood what the answer was. 

With this, the Gaon explains Chana's answer. Eli knew that Chana was a tzadekkes. However, when he saw her acting strange, talking with no sound coming out, he didn't understand what she was doing. Therefore, he went to the Urim V'tumim to ask what was going on. When the letters ה, כ, ש,ר came up,  Eli put the letters together & read שכרה , drunk. Therefore, he said to her, “how long are you going to stay drunk? Stop drinking!”  

That’s why she answered, “no, you don't have ruach hakodesh, for you don't know how to put together the letters. They really spelled כשרה, like Sara, who was barren, too.  She was a broken woman who was just praying with a broken heart. You put the words together & came up negatively when you could have judged me favorably”. Maybe this is why it's called חכם לב wise-hearted, for it doesn't help only to be wise. One has to use his heart, too, and look at things favorably, ‎ giving people the benefit of the doubt!