Rashi explains that chochmah, wisdom, refers to the knowledge one receives from others. Tevunah, which is defined as insight, is the product of the ideas one develops from his own wisdom. In the context of the construction of the Mishkan, daas, which is translated as knowledge, refers to the Ruach HaKodesh, Divine Inspiration, with which Betzalel was imbued. Accordingly, daas, knowledge, is on a higher cognitive level than tevunah, insight. This does not, however, appear consistent with the sequence which appears in the Shemoneh Esrai. We recite thrice daily, Ata chonein l’adam daas, u’melameid le’enosh binah, “You graciously endow man with wisdom and teach insight to frail man.” Chaneinu meitcha deiah, binah, v’haskel. “Endow us graciously from yourself with wisdom, insight and discernment.” Furthermore, one who lacks daas is considered among the most unfortunate people, as Chazal say, Mi she’ein bo daas, “One who does not possess daas”… They go on to list this person’s insufficiencies which result from a lack of daas. Yet, the Torah lists daas last, with Rashi interpreting it as Ruach HaKodesh. This seems to indicate a fairly high level of cognition. How are we to understand this?
Horav Aizik Ausband, zl, explains that the term daas originates from the idea that one person knows more than someone else. Thus, knowledge is understood as a breadth of understanding that goes beyond that of others. Therefore, the level of daas and its concomitant meaning change with the subject matter. When comparing the daas of an adult to that of a child, the adult’s ability to distinguish between Shabbos and weekdays already attributes to him – although it does not necessarily speak highly of – his level of erudition. Since he is only being judged in comparison to a child, he needs to know very little to know more than the child. Betzalel’s daas, however, is being compared to that of the rest of the nation. He stood above them, since he had achieved the level of Ruach HaKodesh.
