“And Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that Hashem had commanded Moshe.” (Exodus 38:22)
Rashi notes on the verse above, that Betzalel, the architect of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), made everything as Hashem had commanded Moshe to do, which included instructions that Hashem gave Moshe that Moshe never relayed to Betzalel. Regarding those instructions, Betzalel knew on his own what Hashem had wanted.
Rashi explains the nature of these instructions. Moshe had commanded Betzalel to first make the furnishings of the Mishkan and only afterwards the Mishkan itself. Betzalel then inquired of Moshe that the order should have been reversed, “But isn’t it common practice to first make a house and then to put the furnishings in it?” Moshe responded that he thought that is what he heard from Hashem, but clearly he was mistaken, and what Betzalel said is what Hashem must have told him. (See Berachos 55A for further details)
The Maharal in his Gur Aryeh asks how it is possible that Moshe Rabbeinu, the Master of all Prophets, could err so profoundly and forget a portion of his prophecy. Further, did Betzalel actually doubt or question the truth of Moshe’s prophecy? We must perforce conclude, that Betzalel did not express such doubts. Rather, Betzalel blamed his own limitations as the reason for not being able to understand what Moshe had said - i.e., “Forgive me Moshe, I seek to understand what Hashem had said, because in my limited understanding of the matter, the house is built before the furnishings that go into it.”
We see from here, that sometimes, in order to maximize what one can learn from one’s teacher, there are two elements that should be present. The first element, is that notwithstanding how great one’s teacher may be, one should not be intimidated by his teacher and refrain from asking a question if one does not understand what the teacher has said. The second element, is that the student should not decide that his teacher must have erred – rather, one should humble oneself and assume that his own limitations are preventing him from understanding what the teacher has said. Through these elements, Betzalel was able to maximize what he heard from his teacher, Moshe, and glean the truth of what Hashem actually told Moshe to do.
