Parshas Ki Sisa: Putting the Finery Aside

If you were to be given a pop quiz on all the immediate consequences of the cheit haegel, the sin of the golden calf, you would probably say that people died and that Hashem distanced Himself from the nation. Both of these are correct. Most people who learn parsha will recall that the Leviim strapped on their swords and meted out punishment so that “three thousand men fell from among the people” (Shemos 32:28). Furthermore, the people were struck by a plague, although the Torah does not give a specific count of how many died because of it.

The other primary consequence that is generally discussed is Moshe begging Hashem not to destroy the nation. Hashem agrees, but He also tells Moshe that He will send His malachim to help them as they go, “But I will not go in your midst, since you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way” (33:4).

If the second question on this pop quiz was to ask how jewelry is connected to the cheit haegel, there would, again, be little hesitation in responding: the men eagerly gave the family jewelry to Aaron to create the golden calf. Jewelry, however, is also significant among the consequences of the sin. It is written:

“When the people heard this harsh word [that Hashem would not go in their midst], they went into mourning, and none put on finery. Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Say to the Israelite people, “You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now, then, leave off your finery, and I will consider what to do to you.”’ So the children of Israel divested themselves of their finery from Mount Horeb.” (33:4-6).

This small section of the Torah, so easily glossed over by the momentous actions occurring all around it, is rather intriguing. To break it down: Bnei Yisrael express their regret and despair by refraining from adorning themselves. Hashem responds by telling them to “leave off your finery.” They do so.

Just as a minor point, one might be asking what jewelry or finery was left. However, Aaron specifically asked for gold earrings, and there was plenty of other jewelry still left. There is, however, a question of the final verse specifying “their finery from Mount Horeb.” Some commentators explain this as jewelry they wore when they received the Torah while others believe that it refers to jewelry that represents receiving the Torah (for instance the idea that they each received a spiritual crown or set of crowns). It is significant that the Hebrew word used for this finery, as the Chabad website translates it, is “edyam,” the root of which appears to be ayin-daled, which also forms the word for “ed,” which means witness.

This section of verses is a fascinating example of the human propensity for self reflection. Hashem announces that He will not be travelling with the nation. The people assess themselves and recognize that they are not the same as they were at Horeb, they recognize their own spiritual failing and find a physical means of expressing this.

From that perspective, Hashem’s response is, need I say, endearing…like a parent who realizes the limit of his/her anger at the child and tells the child to go away so that he/she may figure out what to do. Pasuk hey (5) is Hashem’s reassessment of the nation based on their own self-assessment. The fact that they recognize their spiritual failing and accept the responsibility of it, and still want to fight for their relationship with Hashem – that is how Bnei Yisrael is stiff necked! That is why Hashem must “consider what to do to you.”

What did Bnei Yisrael leave behind? They left behind the divine glory that they were obviously not ready to own, that we are still, to this day, not ready to own. But that is significant.

Bnei Yisrael went from the 49th level of tumah to receiving the Torah and experiencing divinity in an extremely short period of time. They may have wanted to wear the finery of spiritual perfection, but now, after falling so far during the cheit haegel, they were able to realize – by themselves and approved by Hashem – that this was not where they were able to be. But the fact that they voluntarily removed this ideal from themselves demonstrated the very fact that they wanted the relationship.

Each of us is on a spiritual journey. Each of us wants to attain a real relationship with Hashem. But for those of us who sometimes wish to reach the level of relationship where we could just see an open miracle or two, or just know what Hashem has in store. or witness direct intervention, Shemos 33:4-6 reminds us that we accepted upon ourselves that this was too much, that this was a level on which we could not live. In doing so, that midbar generation removed perfectionism as a spiritual goal. Only Hashem is perfect. Humans cannot live on a perfect level. It is, rather, our stiff-necked journey of trying to get higher, to get closer, without giving up even when one falls, that is important.

Wishing you Shabbat Shalom

Parshas Ki Tisa – It’s Really About Bechira

The incident of the Golden Calf is one of the strangest narratives in the Torah. How could everything degenerate so fast? How could Bnei Yisrael go from hearing Hashem’s voice at Har Sinai to demanding that Aaron make an idol for them, and how could Aaron actually help them?  And one last question might be, why does it seem as if Hashem is surprised; couldn’t Hashem have sent Moshe earlier to correct their mistake?

The Chait Haegel, the incident of the Golden Calf, is a critical moment not just in Jewish history, but in the development of the relationship of Hashem and Bnei Yisrael. In some ways, one could say that it is a crucial narrative to understanding the concept of bechira, free will.

“And Hashem said to Moshe,” Go, descend, for your people whom you have brought from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned away from the path that I have commanded them; they have made themselves a molten calf! And they have prostrated themselves before it, slaughtered sacrifices to it, and said: ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ And Hashem said to Moshe: ‘I have seen this people and behold they are a stiff-necked people’” (32:7-9).

Why does Hashem tell Moshe as if Hashem had not known what was happening? After all, Hashem is omniscient. Hashem was aware of the actions of the people before they were fully aware of their own actions. The intent of the people is explained as the people’s panicking over a miscalculation of when Moshe would return, so all Hashem had to do was demonstrate that Moshe was fine or send Moshe down early. Instead, Hashem let the people run their course.

 Forty days earlier, Bnei Yisrael made a choice that, according to the Midrash, was not 100% a choice. At Har Sinai, Bnei Yisreal accept the Torah when they declared Naaseh v’nishmah, we will do and we will listen. But, according to the Midrash, they accepted the Torah with a mountain over their head, with a threat of destruction. Commentaries who discuss this midrash discuss its impact on the concept of bechira, free will.

 Receiving the Torah at Har Sinai was an exceptional moment in many, many ways. The very nature of the world was altered at that moment. The desert mountain sprouted flowers. Lightening was seen and thunder was heard (a poetic take on the text – sorry).  It was now the time to enter into the era of the Torah, and so, on some level, even bechira was suspended.

 Forty days later – forty days into having accepted the covenant with Hashem – the nature of the world was back in order. The people had full bechira, and, therefore, Hashem could not intervene.  And since the people acted of their own free will, Hashem could, and did, react to their choices (which, of course, put in motion so many other critical moments to the world, as it was designed).

 The Chait Haegel was Bnei Yisrael’s first great misstep, but – as all parents know – one has to let a child make mistakes in order for them to grow. Falling is part of learning to walk.

 There are many questions one might ask on the text of Shemos 32, both because one wants to understand how those who, only a little over a month before, had heard Hashem and accepted the Torah could cry our for and celebrate an idol and because the text itself is filled with fascinating nuances. And in this, too, there is a lesson.

 Life is not simple. No person and no people act from one singular motivation. Hashem is aware of all of the factors that impact each and every one of us, as an individual and as a nation. But Hashem leaves it up to us to choose our responses, to put our choices into action. We do not control the shape of the world, but we have been given the ability to take an active role in shaping our individual lives. 

Parshas Ki Tissa – Removing Our Ornaments

Parsha Ki Tissa is best known for the narrative of the Chait Haegel, the Golden Calf, the infamous low point of Bnei Yisrael in the Midbar. Indeed, the aftermath of the creation of this false leader - for it was meant to replace Moshe, not Hashem – was terrible: Moshe broke the luchos (tablets), the Leviim drew arms against those who fully and truly sought to worship avodah zarah and slew 3,000 men, a plague struck the remaining nation, Moshe left them for another 40 days, and, most significantly, Hashem separated His Presence from the nation. From ultimate high to absolute low. Within all these dramatic events, there is an interesting set of verses that describe the reaction of Bnei Yisrael:

“The people heard this bad tiding, and they became grief stricken, and no one donned his ornaments. Hashem said to Moshe: ‘Say to the Children of Israel, You are a stiff-necked people. If I ascend among you, I many annihilate you in an instant. And now remove your ornaments from yourself, and I shall know what I shall do.’” So, the Children of Israel were stripped of their ornaments from Mount Horeb” (Shemos 33:4-6).

The order of the verses referring to ornaments is fascinating. In verse 4 it says that no one put on his ornaments, in verse 5 it says that Hashem told them to remove their ornaments, and in verse 6 it says that they were thus stripped of their ornaments. Additionally, one might immediately wonder what ornaments, since the men had given jewelry to Aaron in order to make the Golden Calf. There are several responses to this question. The simplest answer is that they gave Aaron their gold, but they still maintained silver, bronze, gems, stones, and etc from which ornaments could be made. In an interesting understanding of the passage, Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsh suggests that this is a reference to tefillin, since they are referred to as having been received at Mount Horeb (another name for Har Sinai), and because the term used for the ornaments is eidyam, which comes from the root for the word witness. Another suggestion, noted in the Gemara, is that the eidayim were two celestial crowns that each person received up on reciting naaseh v’nishma, we will do and we will hear.

In these three verses, a process is happening, and it is a process that we can learn from. Bnei Yisrael has just been informed that while Hashem will maintain His promise to bring them into the Promised Land and will help them drive out the other nations, Hashem has also announced that His Presence shall not ascend with them “lest I annihilate you on the way.” (33:4). The people realize just how badly they have erred, and they are ready to do teshuva (repent). This is the implication of their not donning their ornaments. They did not put on any false fronts, any masks. They did not decorate themselves so as to make themselves appear more “beautiful.”

Hashem witnessed that they were contrite, and He told Moshe to tell them to remove their ornaments, to finish the process. They might not have put on any ornaments, but now they needed to remove from themselves their belief in their “masks,” the ornaments they already wore. Most people put on a persona for the world. Whether this means brash confidence or a constant perkiness or a host of other emotions varies by individual, but the fact is that Bnei Yisrael was suddenly struck by the fact that the holiness that they believed they had attained through all that had occurred was still somewhat superficial, it had not been spiritually “deep” enough.

The final verse of the three begins with the word vayitnatzlu. It is translated as stripped (they were stripped of their ornaments), but it is interesting to note that this word shares the root of the word for rescue (best known for the word hatzala). The Israelites were stripped of their ornaments from Horeb. Perhaps this communal false front that they were stripped of, that they were saved from – that was the source that empowered them to commit the chait haegel – was a belief that in reaching Har Sinai and receiving the luchos, they were inherently at the peak of spiritual understanding. But, as would be proven in events to come, the Bnei Yisrael who followed Moshe out of Mitzrayim were still mired in the warped ways of the culture that had oppressed them. They were unable to reach deeper levels of spirituality because of all they had experienced prior to the Exodus. The repercussions of the chait haegel forced them to look at themselves, see themselves, and remove from themselves any false spiritual arrogance.

Hashem tells the people that if He were to go among them, He would destroy them. This is not a malicious statement. This is a statement of fact. The people believed that they were on a level of holiness that they had proven they had not yet attained, and Hashem’s Presence in their midst would be too great for them. When they took away their pretentions, however, Hashem would be able to judge them for who they truly were.

We, too, are mired in the galus (diaspora) cultures in which we live. It is almost impossible to read parsha Ki Tissa and not start to judge our ancestors, start to wonder how those who had witnessed such miracles could err so grandly. Do we have that right? Do we proceed through our lives with the ornaments of faith but not the midos (character traits) that are meant to go with it? The Jewish people are instructed to be an Am Kadosh, a holy nation, and if it is something that must be instructed then it is something that must be worked at and earned. Let us all work hard at removing our false fronts so that our collective true selves can bring us back to the intimate Presence of Hashem.

Ki Tisa: How Individuals Make the Community

 The current state of the Western world seems to be a conflict between individual and collective identities. In the near past people were clamoring to be honored for their unique individuality, but this is now being overshadowed by identity-based groups demanding influence on both law and culture. It is a 21st century conundrum. Is one’s identifiable community more important than one’s individuality? Parshas Ki Tisa might offer an interesting philosophical outlook on how one’s unique individuality is actually meant to shape one’s community.

Ki Tisa begins with the pasukim (verses): “And God spoke to Moshe saying: When you take a census of Bnei Yisrael according to their numbers, they shall give each man an atonement for his soul to Hashem when counting them, so that there will not be a plague among them when counting them” (Shemos 30:11-12). Verse 12 is interesting in its variation between plural and singular: “THEY shall give EACH MAN an atonement…”

A census, by its very definition, is a measurement of a group of people. It is a necessary bureaucratic procedure. This makes the pasuk’s reference to a plague seem so out of place. How could counting lead to a plague? While we know that this consequence did, actually, occur – when King David took a census by head and the people were struck with plague as recorded in II Samuel 24, one could also understand the idea of plague in a more figurative way. What does a plague do? As we have noticed all too closely in our 21st century pandemic, “plague” affects a community with more than just death. It forces people to separate, to isolate, as they protect themselves and those closest to them. It Is notable, too, that the translation app on Google also translates nun-gimmel-phey as a stumbling block or a bump. Hashem is warning Bnei Yisrael of the potential negative ramifications of a mindless counting of bodies.

The interesting thing about the phrasing of this command is that while a leader is the one who requires the census and will make use of the count, the halacha mandates that the census is performed by the community – They shall give. This enforces the self-reflective nature of Klal Yisrael – how our community actions impact our individual selves and, perhaps more importantly, vice verse.

Rabbi Shimshon Refael Hirsch has an interesting commentary on the implications of “Pekudei” and the significance of each individual’s mindset:

Pekudei Bnei Yisrael are all those who are thought of as Bnei Yisrael, in whom the idea Bnei Yisrael has a concrete bearer. At the moment in which anybody is counted lpkudei Bnei Yisrael, he learns to value himself as a ben Yisrael, the self-appreciative consciousness is aroused to see this idea of his nation incorporated in himself. Then, at that point, the important teaching is addressed to him:- Not by mere existence, by living for himself, has his nephesh, his personality, value and meaning, not by his just being there is he an integral part of the nation, his mere existence does not even give him the right to be there; only by giving, doing, something, is he to be counted, only by giving, doing, does he gain the right for the continuance of his existence, only by contributing his share in accordance with his duty does he obtain a justifiable position as a creature who has been crowned by God with Life, a justifiable position in the community of his nation. Only by contributing something may he be reckoned in the number of the Children of Israel.

This act of being counted by giving an atonement, by becoming a conscientious piece of the Klal, is important. Bnei Yisrael have generations of experience of being judged as a whole based on the behavior of individuals and being judged as individuals based on a perspective of the whole. Sometimes this is for the good and sometimes it is the path to disaster.

The intertwining of the individual and the klal is an idea encapsulated in the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem and the avoidance of Chilul Hashem (sanctifying God’s name and desecrating God’s name). Bnei Yisrael are representatives of Hashem in this world, and how each ben Yisrael (to borrow Rav Hirsch’s usage) represents the nation is significant. Thus we know that when we go out in public, our behavior is watched and judged according to us as individuals AND as a reflection of Klal Yisrael. If I am in a bad mood and lose my temper at a cashier, the cashier attributes that also the “the Jews.” And, on the other hand, when I go out of my way to return a lost wallet, my identity as a Jew is also noted. Each individual member of Klal Yisrael must remember that how they act is accounted to the whole.

Taking a census of the people by counting heads is prohibited perhaps to teach us that such an impersonal count would imply that their own individual actions don’t matter. Pushing to be part of a group without acting for the group is inclusion without merit of action. People grouped together simply because they share a character trait or live in a similar place are not a combination of unique pieces working to make a whole, they are just a group of people. They lack cohesion. They can and will easily shift and disconnect from one another. When, however, the individuals are actively involved in being a part of a community – of sharing the same values and working toward the same goal – this is the atonement that they give. This is how they are truly counted.

Our nation has been dispersed throughout the world, and the world is currently moving into one of its eras in which one’s peoplehood is seen as more important than the individual people. This is when we most must understand that our individual actions have a significant impact on our nation as a whole. When each of us “gives an atonement” – offers a part of ourselves, whether that means through money (tzedakah), time for learning, and/or holding back one’s natural inclinations toward a bad middah (character trait) – then we protect each other and are best able to help Klal Yisrael fulfill its role in this world.

Ki Tisa and the Corona Crisis (Ki Tisa)

This has been a week during which, I think, most people are feeling a sense of chaos, of anxiety … a sense of something unique happening in the world. Not surprising, this week’s parsha, Ki Sissa, is rife with passukim that one can find relevant to our current world situation. There is, significantly, the verse “they shall wash their hands and feet, that they may not die. It shall be a law for all time for them – for him and his offspring – throughout the ages” (30:21) – and see, it is verse 21, an allusion that one person should wash their hands for 20 seconds!

Another interesting piece of this week’s parsha is the worship of the Golden Calf, always a troubling parsha to review. But this week, as we have all watched with concern how the stock market has tumbled, one wonders if a connection cannot be made to a reminder that we must not rely on gashmius, but that we must look to spiritual richness.

Of course, one cannot do a quick review of the parsha and the Corona Virus without noting Moshe’s mask that he wore anytime he went in public!

One last small thought is one I saw in the Sefer Talelei Oros on the pasuk “And I shall remove My palm, and you will see My back, but you will not see My face” (33:23). “The Chasam Sofer points out that there are many things in life that seem totally incomprehensible at the time they occur, but, with the passage of time, their purpose becomes clear in retrospect.”

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“And God said to Mosher, ‘carve for yourself two stone tablers, like the first ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first Tablets that you broke'” (34:1). They broke. A human broke the tablets that God had carved, but Hashem was willing to write on a new set of tablets. Hashem was willing to try again.

Perhaps this is a way to look at the seeming chaos of the current world situation. Even before the Corona virus began to spread, many of us were watching the news, scratching our heads, puzzled by how the world seemed to have lost its sanity. And it is not just a North American thing, although the politics of the United States dominate the news. But in many countries, including Israel, there has been a sense of witnessing a political circus? Most of the people I know are strikingly moderate people who stare at the news and are bewildered by the strange turns the political extremes both sides have taken. And it seems to me that the reason we are having an era of such strong political opinions is because, Baruch Hashem, we are also living in an era of incredible prosperity. Many of the problems of the past have been resolved, if not completely but greatly, and so people find new problems to think about.

The markets have stopped. Politics have been (or should be) put on hold. We have to come together as a world and figure out what we can do, all of us. And because we have been forced to stop, forced to think, we are also looking at an opportunity when, if we are wise, we have the ability for a fresh start. As the Carona virus unfolds, it is easy to focus on fear, but now is the time to focus on the amazing ways we are being shown how Hashem runs the world.

Indeed, we can see it even in the thought that Hashem sends the cure before he sends the illness. Imagine how much harder this massive amount of quarantine would be if we did not live in an age of when we can order food by phone or on websites. Schools are being closed, but thousands of children are using online learning so that their education will not be disrupted.

Alas, this will be a shortened piece with no clear conclusion… but remember in this time of uncertainty that we have been blessed with the guidance of the Torah.

1Kayla Bauer

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Omniscience and Independence (Ki Tisa)

God is omniscient and omnipotent. This is more than just a concept of the Torah; It is a basic fact, for if God was not All-knowing and All-Powerful, He would not be God. But God’s omniscience and omnipotence makes the incident of the Chait Haegel, the Golden Calf, as described in this week’s parsha, all the more perplexing.

The Chait Haegel is one of the most well-known narratives of the Torah, and that makes it easy to read without asking our own questions. This week I was not struck by any particular pasuk but by the overarching development of the narrative. One thing I have always loved about studying Tanach is becoming aware of the subtle but significant use of pacing.

The narrative of the Golden Calf is encapsulated in Chapter 32, which begins with the people assuming that Moshe has missed his expected time of return. It seems as if their immediate response is to request Aaron to make them an idol. He hesitates, places barriers around the act, and they persist until he makes them a molton calf. Once it is built, Aaron proclaims that “Tomorrow shall be a feast to Hashem” (32:5), which is what occurred. These are verses 1 through 6. Verse 7 switches to Hashem and Moshe on the mountain, and it appears that God is only telling Moshe about the incident after it has occurred. Hashem builds an argument against the people that culminates in Him seeming to ask permission of Moshe to destroy them and make Moshe into the founder of a new great nation, which Moshe does not accept.

This was a nice little summary of the narrative, so you might be wondering what the question is. If God is omniscient and omnipotent, why did the scenario unfold like this? As soon as they made the calf, why didn’t God turn His wrath on them. And if He didn’t react immediately, why did He seem to seek Moshe’s permission to punish them?

In many ways, the same question here is a question that has existed since the beginning of humanity, or at least the first day. In the episode of the Golden Calf there is a distinct echo of Adam, Eve, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad. There, too, we can ask, so why didn’t God intervene earlier? And why did God ask Adam where he was if He is omniscient?

Reading through the parsha, one could wonder just how angry God really was. Think of the timeline of Jewish history being reflected in of childhood development. When we arrived at Sinai, we were like toddlers learning to be independent. When little people hit that stage of asserting their independence, they often make mistakes, sometimes big ones. Sometimes they do things that are terrible, but not really unexpected, and we have to feign anger in order to let them know that what they did was unrepeatably wrong – but, inside, we are not nearly that angry because we know that this is a step they need to experience and learn from in order to grow.

God displays His anger to Moshe, not to the people, because He wants to see what Moshe will do. The Chait Haegel, while a sin of the nation, was, in some way, a final Divine test of Moshe’s leadership; and he passed. God wanted to see that Moshe could love His people the way He loved His people, that Moshe would go so far as to fight Hashem (verbally) for their right to survive.

What about Moshe’s anger? After Hashem relents, Moshe heads down the mountain with the two tablets and meets Yehoshua, who notes the sound of war coming from the camp. When Moshe sees the calf and the dancing, he is angered, and he breaks the tablets and etc. The pasukim here are very interesting: “And when Yehoshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moshe:

There is a noise of war in the camp.’ And he [Yehoshua] said: ‘It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing that I hear.’ And it came to pass, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moshe’s anger waxed hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount (32:17-19).

Moshe suspected that the noise was indicative of their blasphemous activity, but he held out a bit of hope that the people were opposed to the calf. When he learns that it is all the noise of joy, his anger comes from disappointment. Perhaps he had hoped that, by the time he returned, the people would have come to their senses and destroyed the calf -- or at least stopped worshipping it.

The entire incident of the Chait Haegel moved the Children of Israel, and Moshe, a step closer to independence. Moshe pleaded that God not destroy them, but he saw clearly that some form of punishment would be needed. The punishment, however, came at the point of a sword, an exceedingly human enacted punishment without any Divine flair to it (unlike other punishments, such as a plague).

The omniscience and omnipotence of God during the incident of the Gold Calf is, it seems, not at all in question. Like many of us experience on a smaller scale as parents and/or role models, sometimes mistakes, even big ones, need to occur in order for a person, or a people, to grow.