By Rabbi
Yisroel Shusterman
This
week’s Parsha Perspective is dedicated by Mr. Binyomin Philipson in
memory of his late mother Mrs. Ellen (Elka bas Zisel) Philipson OBM
This week’s Torah
portion Ki Sisa (Shmos [Exodus] 30:11-34:35) tells the story of the
Golden Calf, the worst national sin in the history of the Jewish people.
Frankly, if I were the editor of the Bible I'd have left that part out. How
humiliating to the Jews! Just weeks after the greatest revelation of all time,
the giving of the Torah at Mt Sinai, when they saw and heard G-d up front and
personal, they go and bow down to a cow?! How fickle can you get? But the Torah
is unflinchingly honest and records this most unflattering moment of ours in
all its gory detail.
Why?
Perhaps the very
important lessons we need to draw from this embarrassing episode are, firstly,
that people do sin, human beings do make mistakes, and even inspired Jews who
saw the divine with their own eyes can mess up - badly. And, secondly, that
even afterwards there is still hope, no matter what.
In the very same
Torah portion we read how G-d tells Moses to carve a second set of tablets, to
replace the first set he smashed when he came down the mountain and was shocked
by what the Jews were up to. (Sort of "You broke them, you fix them" -
like the fellow who fell asleep during the rabbi's sermon and the rabbi tells
the shamash to go and wake the fellow up. The shamash responds,
"Rabbi, you put him to sleep, you wake him up!") The Torah does not
intend to diminish our respect for that generation, but rather to help us
understand human frailty, our moral weakness and the reality of relationships,
spiritual or otherwise.
G-d gave us a
perfect Torah. The tablets were hand-made by G-d, pure and sacred, and then we
messed up. So is it all over? After all, what could possibly be worse than
idolatry? We broke the first two commandments and the tablets were shattered
into smithereens because we were no longer worthy to have them. It was the
ultimate infidelity.
So Torah teaches
that all is not lost. As bad as it was - and it was bad - it is possible for
man to repair the damage. Moses will make new tablets. They won't be quite the
same as G-d's, but there will be Tablets nonetheless. We can pick up the
pieces.
It’s been said about
the significance of breaking the glass under the chupah (wedding
canopy). Besides never forgetting Jerusalem and praying for her full
restoration, this ceremony teaches a very important lesson about life to a
bride and groom who are about to embark on their own new path in life. What
happens immediately after the groom breaks the glass? Everyone shouts
"Mazel Tov!" The message is clear. Something broke? Nu, it's not the
end of the world. We can even laugh about it and still be happy. Nisht
geferlich. Lo nora. This too shall pass. A very practical, peace-keeping tip
for the new couple.
It is possible to
pick up the pieces in life. Whether it's our relationships with G-d, our
marriage partners, our kids or our colleagues, we can make amends and repair
the damage.
If the Jews could
recover from the Golden Calf, our own challenges are small indeed.
(Excerpts
from Chabad.org - by Rabbi Yossy Goldman)
May you have a meaningful and
uplifting Shabbos
