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 Torah Thoughts
This week we read the Torah portion Ki
Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35). It contains 139 verses and 9 commandments- 4
positive (“do’s”) and 5 negative (“do not”) commandments.
Ki
Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:34), is rich with drama. We read, inter alia, about the
perplexing and troubling incident that occurred when Moses did not return
after 40 days on Mount Sinai at the moment
that the Children of Israel were expecting him. They apparently panicked and
were afraid that they were now bereft of their leader. They felt that they
could no longer be sure of their escape from the treacherous wilderness.
Their entry to the Promised Land was no longer a fait accompli. The golden
calf then came into being, resulting in tragedy and death and a rerouting of
history.
An obvious
question can be asked. How could the Children of Israel
betray G-d and his faithful servant Moses after everything that they had
witnessed in Egypt, at the
Sea and at the foot of Mt.
Sinai? They had
experienced a revelation of G-d beyond what prophets could perceive! The
reverberations of "You will have no other gods before me" were
still ringing in their ears as the golden calf emerged!
The answers to this enigma are multifarious. One
approach is to examine the circumstances surrounding the giving of the Torah.
The Talmud (Tractate Shabbat 88a) describes a strange scene. "G-d
suspended the mountain over them like a barrel." They were offered a
choice: accept the Torah or there will be your burial place. The Talmud does
not mean this in a literal sense. It implies that everything that the people
had experienced precluded the ability to decline- if The Boss spoke directly
to you, would you be able to say no?
G-d designed these circumstances. The fledgling
nation of recently liberated slaves was not used to having the ability to
make choices. They also had few merits to receive the Torah. They thus
experienced the miracles and 'pyrotechnics' in order to counteract the slave
mentality. They needed "shock therapy" in order to change channels
from being Pharaoh’s dehumanized slaves to being G-d's "kingdom of priests
and holy nation."
After the sin of the golden calf was forgiven, a
second set of stone tablets was hewn by Moses. This time, there was no
fanfare, no light-and-sound show. Of course, second time round, the people
had learned their lesson.
There is a
deep lesson for educators and parents here. There is certainly place for
powerful and impressive tour-de-force lessons. Sometimes children or students
need to be led to a certain conclusion by their parent or teacher. But the
educator has to be aware that the effects of 'pyrotechnic' teaching are
short-lived. The student will fall back into his old ways when the
inspiration and stimulation wear off. Humans learn best when the lesson is
on-going and sustained. Sometimes making mistakes, even if they are very
serious, is the only way to truly internalize the lessons we need to learn.
We all need
inspiration, but it is what we do with those moments of inspiration that
makes all the difference.
Haftara
The Haftara that is usually read with Ki Tisa is I
Kings 18:1-39.
The Haftara is set during the reign of the evil King of
Israel, Ahab, and his villainous idol-worshipping wife, Jezebel. Jezebel
tried to eradicate worship of G-d in Israel by murdering prophets and
promoting devotion to her deity, Baal. The Prophet Elijah was on the royal
hit-list.
Ovadiah, the courtier of Ahab, who was covertly
protecting prophets from Jezebel’s clutches, saw Elijah, who told him to
convey a message to Ahab that the time had come for a showdown.
Elijah would face the “prophets” of Baal and Asheira on
Mount Carmel, in the presence of the people of Israel.
The false prophets prepared their altar and brought
their sacrifice, but no heavenly fire consumed their abomination. Elijah
ridiculed them. They cried out and even cut themselves, in their frenzy,
trying to elicit a response from their god.
Elijah instructed the people to douse his altar with
water. In the afternoon, Elijah prayed to G-d. A heavenly fire descended and
consumed Elijah’s offering. The People of Israel saw this and cried out,
“HaShem is G-d.”
The Haftara parallels our Torah portion in that some
of the Children of Israel
were fooled into believing in the divinity of a physical object. Moses and
Elijah both made the people aware of their blunder and returned the nation to
G-d.
Parshat Parah
On the Shabbat after Purim, two Torah
scrolls are taken out for the Torah reading. The weekly portion is read from
the first. A special section is read from the second- the Maftir- the portion
dealing with the laws of the “Red Cow”, the “Parah Adumah”. This was
part of the process of purification from ritual defilement resulting from
contact with a corpse.
This portion is read before the advent of the month of
Nissan. During that month, the entire Jewish People participated in the
Passover sacrifice. They had to be in a state of ritual purity. This Torah
reading reminded the people that they had to start preparing spiritually for
Pesach. Although we presently do not have the Temple or bring the Passover sacrifice, we
read this portion to commemorate the days of yore, and to remind ourselves
that Passover is approaching. By reading this portion, it is as if we purify
ourselves ritually.
Maftir
Numbers 19:1-22
This purification regime was given following the
incident of the golden calf (mentioned in our weekly Torah portion). Idolatry
defiles, just as death does. The “Red Cow” cleanses the “filth” of the golden
calf. Red represents sin and the cow, mother of the calf, represents the
spiritual blemish which “gave birth” to the sin of idolatry. G-d presented us
with a means of purification so that we may remain in His presence.
The process of purification is described as a “chok”,
an inscrutable decree of the King. The ashes of the Red Cow contaminate those
who prepare it and purify those who use it in the end. The wisest of all men,
King Solomon declared that he attained understanding of all the Torah, except
for the Red Cow.
The Jewish people are purified by the ashes of the Red
Cow since it demonstrates their humble trust in G-d. Our Sages explain that
other nations respect laws they understand, but denigrate those that are
beyond their comprehension. The Jewish People recognize that there is a
reality beyond the physical world. Beside the laws of physics, there is a
spiritual system. The physical world really masks the Divine. For those who
attach themselves solely to the physical, death has a finality which brings
in its wake separation and despair. The ashes of the Red Cow remind a Jew
that death is merely a physical parting, but connection to the spirit and to
G-d is eternal and joyous. This recognition leads to purity and proximity to
G-d.
Haftara
Ezekiel 36:16-38
In his prophecy, Ezekiel characterizes the sinful
behavior of Israel
as “contaminating the land” with impurity. Sinfulness is compared with ritual
impurity that requires a cleansing process. As a result of their impurity,
the people are exiled from the Holy Land
that does not tolerate impurity. Exile among the nations is a desecration of
G-d’s name, as the people of Israel
are seen as G-d’s “representatives.” For the sake of His name, G-d will
remove the Jewish People from exile and return them to their Land. He will
“sprinkle pure water” on them and they will be purified. (This is the
conceptual parallel to our Maftir, described above.)
As a result of this purification process, the people
will be inspired to return to serving G-d. Consequently, the cities will be
repopulated, the ruins will be rebuilt and the land will be farmed. Passersby
will remark, “This land that was desolate has become a Garden of Eden…”
May the return of the Jewish People to their Land, and
the flourishing of the deserted wasteland that has taken place over the last
century, signify the purification of the Jewish People and the dawn of the
Redemption.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Baruch Price
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