Shalom.
This week we are reading parashat Ki Tisa, the ninth Torah portion of the book of Shemot,
Exodus, beginning with verse 11 of Chapter 30.
This week's portion begins with the commandment of the half shekel and, continuing the theme
of the previous two Torah portions, it continues with other instructions and commandments for
the completion of the construction of the tabernacle follow.
In addition to the commandment of the half shekel contribution which every Israelite
is commanded to give towards the mishkan, the tabernacle, Hashem gives Moshe the commandments
of the copper laver, the anointing oil and the incense.
G-d then instructs Moshe to appoint Betzalel and Ohliav as the main architects of the tabernacle.
Following the conclusion of these commandments, the Torah repeats the importance and significance
of Shabbat, and indeed, as we've noted many times, Shabbat and the Mikdash are parallel
concepts of the sanctity of time and place.
There are so many crucial concepts and ideas in this parasha.
But I'm going to focus on only one.
The majority of our parasha of Ki Tisa is occupied with the grievous sin of the egel
hazahav, the infamous and disastrous golden calf, and its far-reaching consequences.
Moshe receives the luchat habrit, the tablets of the covenant, and begins to descend the
mount but the nation, waiting for him at the foot of the mountain, have apparently come
to the disconcerting conclusion that he's late…and for reasons that we'll discuss,
they freak out…they give up on him and decide they won't ever be seeing him again…they
feel lost without him…and without direction.
And so they turn to Aaron, asking him to 'create a god to go before us because this man Moshe
who brought us out from the land of Egypt, we don't know what's become of him.'
Actually – I just translated the word here employed by the verse, in the words 'make
for us a god' Elohim, as 'god,' following the standard interpretation.
But in numerous verses the Torah uses the same word to designate a judge, or a nobleman
or person of influence.
Thus some of our sages translate these words as 'make for us an oracle.'
They just wanted something to follow.
Something to rally around.
As strange as that sounds.
Aaron collects gold from the men - and melts it.
He prepares the calf.
From the men – because the women wouldn't part with their gold; not because they were
attached to their jewellery, but because they were more spiritually pure than the men, and
didn't want any part of this nonsense, this horrible rebellion against G-d.
Forty days after receiving the Torah, while yet at Mount Sinai, is this any way to behave?
Well, the calf is formed.
And someone cries out – not the Israelites, but the mixed multitude – cries out, 'these
are your gods, Israel!'
Aaron announces a plan on a holiday for tomorrow.
Despite the unparalleled severity of this sin, and the concentric circles of repercussions
that it caused and that are felt by every generation to this very day, and, we are taught,
which every generation to this day shares in and carries a measure of responsibility,
still – the nature of the sin remains elusive.
It's clear from the insights of our holy sages that it was not intended as outright,
blatant idolatry.
That was never it.
Notice that ultimately, having punished those who were directly involved, G-d forgave the
nation, and reiterated His plan that He would bring them into the Land of Israel.
G-d was ready to move on.
And we've pointed out in the past, that the sin of the spies' evil speech against
the Land of Israel which occurs later in parashat Shelach of the book of Numbers, was far more
severe in G-d's eyes than the episode of the golden calf…because as a result of the
sin of the spies, He decreed that this 'evil generation' would not enter into the Land
but would die in the desert.
So if wasn't a question of gross idolatry, what was the golden calf really about?
Rewind to that alternate translation of Elohim in this verse…an 'oracle' – a go-between,
a focal point.
Something to focus on.
A talisman?
Put it this way…what do we focus on when we think about Hashem?
Do we need something to focus on or are we able to be comfortable contemplating the fact
that Hashem has no form but is forever and limitless and everything.
We focus on His name.
The Torah reminds us and warns us again and again, that at Sinai we heard the voice, but
saw no form.
This requires immense spiritual maturity.
G-d instructs Moshe: "Go descend, for your people you have brought forth from Egypt have
become corrupt."
Before he descends Moshe prays to Hashem not to destroy the people, and Hashem agrees.
Indeed we are taught that on one level, the whole reason this happened was in order to
teach Israel how to repent, to give them the opportunity to repent colletively.
Moshe descends, he sees the calf and immediately breaks the tablets.
That act, as we've learned before, was ultimately an act of great compassion on Moshe's behalf
for his people, and had tremendous significance for their future, in terms of aiding to solidify
their relationship with Hashem and internalize His Torah, and make it real; we've learned
about this and that's another story.
He destroys the calf and sends the Levites out to kill those who worshiped it.
The princes of the tribes as well as the entire tribe of Levi did not participate in the sin.
Afterwards he returns and again asks Hashem not to destroy the people, saying, 'and
if not, erase me please from the book that You have written;' G-d strikes the people
with a plague but does not destroy them.
Moshe leaves the people and places his tent outside the camp.
He asks Hashem, 'show me Your glory.'
Again, each one of these concepts is very deep but I'm only going to one particular
place today.
G-d agrees to show Moshe only His back, because 'no man sees Me and lives'…and you shall
see My back, but My face you shall not see.'
He instructs Moshe to prepare new tablets and to ascend the mountain, and there He teaches
Moshe the thirteen attributes of mercy.
Moshe asks for mercy for the people of Israel.
Hashem agrees, tells him that the people will enter into the Land.
Afterwards we again find the commandments concerning the three festivals and the prohibition
against idolatry.
Moshe receives the second set of tablets and descends the mountain after an additional
forty days.
'And behold the skin of his face was shining' and when he spoke with the children of Israel
he put on a mask.
That's the story, but the backstory is so deep.
And without the backstory how can we understand anything?
So open up your hearts in the deepest way.
How did this happen?
At the time that Moshe ascended to Mount Sinai, he told the people of Israel that he would
descend at the conclusion of 40 days, at the beginning of the six hour.
The day he went up to the Mountain was the seventh day of Sivan.
They erroneously thought that in Moshe's reckoning of the days, he was including the
first day as part of the total of 40 days…that the count started that first day that he ascended.
But his intention was that he would be away for 40 complete days, day and night, so he
meant that the day he would descend, the fortieth day, would be the 17th day of Tammuz.
So here's what our sages say: on the 16th of Tammuz, the Satan came and confused everyone.
This would be a very bad time for you to shut this off now and stop listening.
You must hear what follows this or you will misunderstand.
What satan?
Just listen for a moment.
The satan said to them: Moses your teacher, where is he?
They said, he went up there.
He said, don't know you, he's certainly dead, the sixth hour has come and gone and
he's not back.
This is the meaning of the verse, (32:1), 'The people saw that Moshe delayed in descending
the Mountain,' in Hebrew, ki boshesh Moshe, literally that Moses delayed, don't read
this as boshesh, 'delayed', but as b'shesh – meaning, 'in the sixth.'
At first they didn't heed him, but then he showed them an image of Moses on this death
bed, suspended between heaven and earth, and that's when they lost it, mass hysteria,
and they said, as we read, 'this man Moses, we don't know what's become of him.'
And that's when, under the instigation and initiative of the mixed multitude who were
up to no good and had an interest in exploiting Israel's spiritual vulnerability, the people
gathered against Aaron and demanded that he fix this problem by giving them a fix…because
rather than on Hashem, it seems they were fixated on 'this man Moses' – you see….so,
things started to fall apart, the people plummeted, skyrocketed downwards from the spiritual high
they were on, the mixed multitude fanned the flames of licentiousness, and even murder…When
Hur, the son of Calev, Aaron's nephew, attempted to stop them, he was murdered.
Aaron reasoned that he must step in and try to at least take the responsibility on himself,
and save the people, and also to at least stall for time, declaring 'tomorrow will
be a holiday,' and thinking that in the meantime Moshe will have returned.
So open up your heart in the deepest way.
Listen to this please.
Our sages speak and teach with metaphor, irony, and the deepest psychological insight.
How are we to understand this story?
Everybody knows that Jews don't believe in Satan.
We don't believe in the devil, clad in red, with horns and hoofs and battling with G-d
for the souls of men.
No sir.
There is only one dominion and sovereignty in existence, and that is G-d Himself.
As Isaiah states (45:7), "I am the One who forms light and creates darkness; who makes
peace and creates evil; I am Hashem, maker of all these."
Very important verse which illuminates a super important concept: Evil exists because Hashem
allows it to exist in order to provide man with a challenge so that he can choose between
good and evil.
Hundreds of books of Jewish philosophy elucidate this point.
Evil is not in competition with Hashem Himself.
It's just an agent that he uses to test man.
And He allows man to turn towards evil if that is what man chooses.
And thus, the Hebrew word satan literally means 'adversary.'
And while many instances throughout the Tanach indicate that the satan is an angel – created
by Hashem, once again, to provide man with a challenge – note though, that the very
first time the word is used regarding Bilaam in Numbers 22:22, "an angel of Hashem stood
on the road l'satan lo – to impede him."
That is, to be a stumbling block.
And for example in Kings I 11;14 we find the verse, "Hashem then stirred up a satan against
Shlomo", meaning an antagonist, "Hadad the Edomite, he was a member of the royal
family of Edom."
So even if the satan is understood to be an angel, Divinely-appointed, it's also a Divinely-appointed
adversary, an antagonist…open up your heart in the very deepest way….as in, we – people
– are our own Divinely-appointed worst enemy, the satan is also the persecutor within.
The satan is also our own psychological limitations, fears and vulnerability, and dysfunctionality.
Indeed the satan is the persecutor within.
So applying this for a practical understanding and application for our lives.
What does this teach us?
A level of understanding of how we continue to suffer from the repercussions of the sin
of the golden calf.
Do you get the insight that this amazing teaching has given us?
The whole contorted, distorted, horrific incident was the result of a simple mistake in the
calculation of one day.
But put more simply still…Torah is teaching us that one of the gravest sins in the history
of our people was the result of a simple misunderstanding based on disappointment; the result of unfulfilled
expectations.
Despite all our best efforts and preparations, our sincerity and our goals and desires and
aspirations, our hopes and dreams….It is Hashem who runs the world and watches over
it.
We don't always get our way and things don't always work out the way we thought they would
or should.
Successfully navigating through the flotsam and jetsam of the human condition takes humility
and a willingness to accept that.
When we are prisoners of our own expectations we effectively banish Hashem from our world.
Not understanding that everything comes from Hashem for the good, causes us to see a distorted
and incorrect vision of reality and causes us to make errors in judgments, really bad
decisions, and terrible mistakes in life.
That in turn causes pain, sadness, depression, suffering and anxiety, anger, pressure.
This is the deepest lesson in the world.
Getting over our need to be in control, to see our expectations fulfilled, can be life
changing.
Like the generation of the golden calf, we sometimes set entire vast processes into motion
based on our own assumptions, hopes and desires, and when our plans and expectations don't
materialize we have a hard time accepting versions other than the ones we wanted.
So we have to make a golden calf.
We have to create a new reality, maybe even a new god, on our terms.
Just as it's hard to internalize the truth that Hashem has no form for us to contemplate,
so too – its part of the same problematic headspace – it makes us feel more at ease
when we think we're in control.
But we aren't.
Deal with it.
I don't want to minimize the circumstances, or levels of meaning, of this central, cosmic,
nuclear event.
There are so many levels of meaning and so much more to learn about this whole subject.
But nevertheless the simplest interpretation of what caused the sin of the golden calf
is that it happened simply because the people thought that Moshe was late.
In other words: The satan in their presence, that fed on their fears and 'showed them
an image of Moshe on his deathbed' – the satan in their presence was their own feeling
of anxiety.
When we decide in advance that everything has to go exactly as we plan, that leads to
anger, sadness and pain, hopelessness, and when we get hopeless, we fall apart, and we
open a door to the dark side of ourselves, the self-destructive tendencies, when things
don't go like we planned, or like we'd like..
True happiness flows from a deep faith, that we try our best, but ultimately, let Hashem
in, man… what happens is what is supposed to happen.
When a person thinks they know exactly what has to happen and when it has to happen, it's
a type of small-mindedness, it's a type of paganity, of idolatry….and this leads
to terrible tragedies and mistakes.
When we increase and deepen our faith that is the biggest blessing in our lives because
that enables us to perceive the hand of Hashem in our lives, in our realty, and to act accordingly,
with joy and contentment.
And you guessed it: This is the lesson of Purim.
Despite appearances, things are as they are because that is precisely how they are supposed
to be.
The climax of the human condition is to recognize, and internalize – to feel – that G-d and
His Presence fill all of existence, all of reality – that G-d, our living and eternal
father and king, keeps us alive in love.
Happy Purim to one and all!
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