Shalom Friends;
This year’s Parshat Ki Tisa vort is being sponsored by Aryeh and Lisa Koenigsberg and family of Ramat Beit Shemesh dedicated lilui nishmas for Aryeh’s grandparents: Chaya Perel bas Arieh and Yissachar Dov ben Yisrael. To the Koenigsberg family, many thanks for your sponsorship and for your continued kindnesses.
You can celebrate a Simcha — a birth, a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, a Chassuna or other Simcha event in your life, or commemorate a Yahrtzeit of a loved one, or for whatever other reason by sponsoring a Parshat HaShevua.
Please forward to your relatives and friends and encourage them to sponsor a Parshat HaShevua. And please be in contact with me with any questions, or for further details.
Best Regards,
Moshe Burt
olehchadash@yahoo.com
skype: mark.burt3
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This author loves to replay this parody on NFL Football as it relates to Hashem, Moshe and the sin of the golden calf (the eigel zahav):
Imagine yourself as an American football quarterback. it’s the BIG game — Superbowl, the fourth quarter of a nail-biter with both teams tied, two minutes left and the game threatening to go into overtime.
Your team emerges out of the huddle (huddle: the eleven players on offense in a circle as the quarterback pronounces the next play) and the quarterback stands over the center, or in “shotgun” formation a few yards behind center, and calls signals.
Suddenly, the quarterback audibles: Noun. Also called automatic, checkoff. Football. A play called at the line of scrimmage to supersede the play originally agreed upon as the result of a change in strategy [or, as football fans and experts observe; during the play itself, dependent upon what the quarterback sees as the alignment of the defense at the line of scrimmage, or the tendencies of the defensive positions during the play]. He changes up on the play called in the huddle. No, we’re not talkin’ about the “Philly Special.”
Now, think back to Hashem and Moshe Rabbeinu atop Har Sinai. What follows is an excerpt from Rabbi Shmuel Goldin’s summary of Parshat Ki Tisa in his sefer “Unlocking the Torah Text” (Sefer Shemos, page 257):
Hashem speaking to Moshe on the summit of Mount Sinai, issues commandments concerning:
An indirect census to be taken of Am Yisrael’s males, twenty years and over, through individual contributions of half shekels;
The creation of the laver [Liyor: wash basin], the anointment oil and the incense to be used in association with the Sanctuary [Mishkan];
The appointment of Betzalel ben Uri ben Chur and Oholaiv ben Achisamach to supervise the construction of the Mishkan;
Shabbos Observance.
At the conclusion of these directives, Hashem presents Moshe with the two Tablets of Testimony inscribed with the Asseret HaDivrot (the Ten Declarations).
Meanwhile, at the foot of Har Sinai, the Jews grow uneasy with Moshe’s prolonged absence. They turn to Aaron and demand: “Rise up, make for us gods who will go before us, for Moshe — this man who brought us out of the land of Mitzrayim — we do not know what has become of him!”
Aaron instructs the people to contribute their gold earrings, which he fashions into a molten calf. He then declares, “A festival for the Lord tomorrow!” The Jews rise early the next morning to celebrate.
Suddenly, amidst Hashem’s teaching of Torah to Moshe, HaKadosh Borchu, in American football terms, calls an audible. Returning to the excerpt from the Parshat Ki Tisa summary, Rabbi Shmuel Goldin summarizes Hashem’s reaction to B’nei Yisrael and the egel zahav (the golden calf) in his sefer, “Unlocking the Torah Text” (ibid, pages 257-258):
Hashem informs Moshe, who is still on the summit of Har Sinai, of the sin… perpetrated at its base. Hashem threatens the nation with immediate extinction, relenting only in response to Moshe’s impassioned pleas.
Moshe descends the mountain with the Tablets of Testimony [the Asseret HaDivrot]. When he sees the revelry… in the camp of B’nei Yisrael, …he throws the tablets from his hands in anger, smashing them at the foot of the mountain. Moshe then burns the calf, grinds its remains into powder which he sprinkles into the water and forces the B’nei Yisrael to drink, takes Aaron to task for his involvement in the sin and directs the Levi’im (who rally to his side) to execute those most directly involved in the transgression.
The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash renders translation of Sefer Shemot Perek 32, posukim 7-10):
“Hashem spoke to Moshe: ‘Go, descend — for your people that you brought from Egypt has become corrupt. They have strayed quickly from the way that I have commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf, prostrated themselves to it and sacrificed to it…'” “Hashem said to Moshe, I have seen this people, and behold! it is a stiff-necked people. And now, desist from Me. Let My anger flare up against them and I shall annihilate them; and I shall make you a great nation.”
Moshe prayed on behalf of B’nei Yisrael, but according to the Ibn Ezra (The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash commentary on Sefer Shemot Perek 32, posuk 11, page 496):
This passage is not in chronological order, for Moshe would not have prayed for B’nei Yisrael while it still harbored an avodah zora in its midst. Rather, he prayed after he had returned to the people and destroyed the Eigel, but Torah mentions it here because the reason he prayed later was in response to Hashem’s implication in the previous verse that it was up to him to save the nation.
The Artscroll Stone Edition Chumash renders translation of Sefer Shemot Perek 32, posuk 11:
“Moshe pleaded before Hashem, his God, and said, “Why Hashem, should Your anger flare up against your people, whom You have taken out of the land of Egypt, with great power and a strong hand?”
In a shiur emailed to subscribers a number of years ago, Rebbetzin Shira Smiles discusses Moshe’s dialogue and pleadings with Hashem following his (Moshe’s) being dispatched from Har Sinai:
We know what happens next. Moshe descends Har Sinai. Hashem urges him to descend quickly, for “your people … has become corrupt.” What follows, besides Moshe smashing the luchot, is a dialogue between Moshe and Hashem that spans several weeks. Hashem wants to destroy Bnei Yisroel and establish a new nation through Moshe. Moshe refuses and prays that Hashem forgive Bnei Yisroel, and finally pleading that Hashem again be actively involved with the people, not abandoning them to His angels.
What is interesting in this dialogue is that the focus is not on the golden calf but rather on the “stubbornness” of Bnei Yisroel. After informing Moshe that Bnei Yisroel made a molten calf, Hashem says, “I have seen this people, and behold! It is a stiff- necked people. And now desist from Me. Let My anger flare up against them.” Later, when Hashem agrees to letting Bnei Yisroel enter the Land, He again says, “I shall not ascend among you, for you are a stiff-necked people.” Finally, Moshe beseeches Hashem, “Let my Lord go among us – for it is a stiff-necked people, and You shall forgive our iniquity and our error, and make us Your heritage.”
It seems that Hashem would have forgiven Bnei Yisroel for the idol worship, but their stubbornness, stiff-neckedness (we would say hard-headedness) was unforgivable. What is it about this trait that is so evil, and, if that is so, how could Moshe then use that trait as the very argument for Hashem to again be in their midst? To understand this dilemma, we must first explore the source of stubbornness and then attempt to find ways to harness it and overcome it.
What does the phrase “stiff-necked” actually mean? Rabbi Schwadron, the Maggid of Jerusalem, explains that you’ve turned your back on someone or something and refuse to look back, to take a second look. This is what Bnei Yisroel did to Chur who tried to prevent them from making the idol. Instead of admitting they may be wrong, they killed him. This obstinacy is what would have sealed our fate had not Moshe intervened on our behalf. But even later in our history, Jeremiah tells us why Hashem has chosen to destroy the Beit Hamikdosh and exile us: It is because you [Bnei Yisroel] said I have not sinned. We hadn’t learned.
Being obstinate is not just a problem for the nation, but can be very impactful in interpersonal relationships, especially between spouses, notes Rabbi Shlomo Hochberg in Step by Step. Admitting, “I was wrong,” and meaning it is much more powerful than saying, “I’m sorry,” which doesn’t pinpoint the problem and therefore doesn’t lead to improvement. If you constantly justify your actions, you simply cannot improve. A particular wrong action is fairly easy to correct, but a character trait like stubbornness is much harder to uproot.
Rashi notes this character trait in an even earlier incident with Bnei Yisroel. They had just witnessed the splitting of the sea and so many other miracles. Yet those experiences did not change them. When immediately after they arrived at Marah and the water was bitter, they approached Moshe with chutzpah, demanding water. This attitude was already a manifestation of kshei oref, stiff-neckedness and an inability to change. Seeing miracles is meaningless unless it becomes a vehicle for change.
What is the source of stubbornness? Rav Yechzel Levenstein explains that obstinacy is a result of arrogance and ego. It is the refusal to accept another’s perspective, the insistence on the “I” – I am always right, I know best, etc. Stubborn people won’t even accept actual evidence placed before them if it will disprove what they believe. Stubborn people will never believe that any criticism is directed at them; it is always directed at someone else.
How does this affect teshuvah? Hashem has given us the gift of teshuvah so that He will forgive us. However, writes Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz in Tiv Hatorah, the obstinate person does not use this gift. Since he cannot accept criticism, he will never change and do teshuvah. His arrogance can often be detected in other areas. When he goes to a shiur, he leaves his cell phone on and checks his text messages, and in shul he may talk to his neighbor. He’s not only hurting himself, but also affecting others because he feels his needs trump all others. There’s nothing worse than not being able to admit I’ve done something wrong.
However, if being stubborn is so bad, how could Moshe then use our obstinacy as providing a reason for Hashem to remain in the midst of the nation? The Tosfos Bracha offers an interesting interpretation of Moshe’s argument. He writes that Moshe agrees with Hashem that we are a stiff-necked people. Ki – even though they are stiff-necked (rather than “because”) please forgive our sin.
But is being stubborn all bad? Like everything else, writes Rabbi Freiman in Shaarei Derech, the trait itself is neutral. Whether it is good or bad depends on how it’s used. It is this trait, this refusal to bend in spite of circumstances and “proof” that has allowed Bnei Yisroel to survive and cling to its religion throughout the Diaspora. This obstinacy is the hallmark and strength of the Jew. As the Aish Kodesh, Rabbi Kolonymus Shapira who was a Rabbi in the Warsaw Ghetto and later was killed in the Holocaust writes, it is in times of great challenge that one needs to insist and remain stubborn in one’s faith. And this is Moshe’s argument. Hashem, we will use this very characteristic to survive as Your people, and for this reason, come with us. As Rabbi Hochberg writes, stubbornness is the tenacious perseverance that is a necessary ingredient of bitachon, of our steadfast faith in Hashem.
It is precisely because of our obstinacy, explains Rabbi Bick in Chayei Moshe that Hashem gave us the Torah. Hashem saw this obstinacy as good, that we would not forsake the Torah, and yet, so quickly after receiving the Torah, they fashioned an idol. Then how are Bnei Yisroel different from other nations? I will destroy them. But Moshe intervenes. He calls out, “Mi LaHashem Eilay – Whoever is for Hashem come to me,” and the entire tribe of Levi comes to Moshe. On his command, they take their swords and kill the idol worshipers, championing Hashem’s honor and proving that they will be stalwart in Hashem’s service.
If obstinacy is such a stubborn quality that it is so difficult to break, how did Moshe succeed in getting Bnei Yisroel’s attention? Shaarei Derech based on Rav Dessler, explains that only by dramatically smashing the luchot was Moshe able get Bnei Yisroel to wake up and do teshuvah. How dramatic does Hashem have to be with us, how many crises and deaths must we absorb before we look inward to see where I personally need to change?
If one really wants to change, one must evaluate each circumstance where stubbornness begins to raise its head, writes Rabbi Hochberg. One should ask oneself if my stubbornness in this situation is a result of arrogance or for the sake of Heaven. One further needs to ask whether your goals are proper and whether they will positively or negatively affect others. After all, it is easy to be self righteous when one is concerned only with oneself. And then, one must ask for Divine assistance. And in asking for Divine assistance for worthwhile purposes and to maintain sanctity and peace it is always appropriate to be stubborn.
We see today, a continuation of the two sides of stubbornness. There is the negative side, not L’Shem Shemayim, the stiff-neckedness of the secular in such areas as seeking transportation of masses, or operating businesses on Shabbos in some cities, the corrupt alliance between a small, self-proclaimed “right-wing” minority political entity turned left with their so-called “Ba’al Teshuva” figure-head prime minister and so-called “religious” minister of religion with a band of leftist entities and an Arab list whose leader has become defacto prime minister by his vetoes of all measures which would protect the sovereignty of the State of Israel. The head of the Arab list, Mansour Abbas threatens the sovereignty and security of the nation through his pressure to permit Israeli citizenship for PA Arabs via “reunification,” to make legal all heretofore illegal Beduin “villages” in the Negev — thereby eliminating Jewish contiguousness (bordering, adjoining, abutting, adjacent) in the Negev as well as in area “C” of Yehuda and the Shomron, to uproot Jewish vineyards, to uproot and destroy the Yeshiva buildings in Yishuv Homesh and much more.
What can justify such an alliance between a sector of Jews and non-Jews in affairs relating to the security, welfare, unity and spirituality of B’nei Yisrael? Obviously the goal is to make Israel a state of all of its peoples to the detriment and endangerment of all Jews — in Israel and worldwide, as well as putting in mortal peril the sovereignty of Israel as a nation of Jews.
On the positive side, there is the collective stubborn persistance of Observant Jews in inculcating tefillah, Torah learning, Halachot and spirituality through the generations through today.
To return to a citing from Rebbetzin Smiles’ shiur, it is by reason of our very stubbornness, obstinancy that Hashem gave us, of all the nations, the Torah and, ultimately, Eretz Yisrael.
Rabbi Goldin concludes (Unlocking the Torah Text, Sefer Shemos, Parshat Ki Tisa, page 288):
If an individual behaves in a way that contradicts the values that Judaism represents, then that individual is not an observant Jew, and even more importantly, what he practices is not Judaism…. For Torah law to take concrete root in this world it must rest in the hearts and shape the actions of those whose very lives reflect its goals.
The partnership with which Hashem challenges us is full and our relationship is, on some level, symbiotic [having an interdependent relationship]. We are the vehicles chosen to bring Hashem’s presence into this world. Just as the law must give meaning to our lives, our lives must give meaning to the law.
May we, the B’nei Yisrael be zocha that our brethren — the refugee families from Gush Katif be permanently settled and be made totally whole — be totally restituted for all that was stolen from them, that the thrice expelled families of Amona be restored to their rebuilt homes, and the oft-destroyed Yeshiva buildings in Homesh be rebuilt, all at total government expense; all due to alt-leftist-agendized, supreme court legalized Yassamnik gunpoint. Baruch Hashem that our dear brother Jonathan Pollard is now free of his parole and restrictions and that he is now in his second year at home in Eretz Yisrael. May Esther Yocheved bat Yechiel Avraham have an aliyah in Shemayim and may her memory continue to lift Jonathan to at least 120 years. May the MIAs be liberated alive and returned to us in ways befitting Al Kiddush Hashem — as with the return in April, 2019, via Russia, of the remains of Zachariah Baumel, as should the remains of the two chayalim from the Gaza War of seven years ago. May we have the courage, strength, physical and mental fortitude to stand up and physically prevent the possibility of Chas V’Challila any future eviction of Jews from their homes and prevent Chas V’Challila the handing of Jewish land over to anyone, let alone to enemies sworn to Israel’s and Judaism’s destruction and eradication. And may we soon and finally see the total end to the Communist Chinese Wuhan lab corona virus pandemic and all like viruses and variants. May we fulfill Hashem’s blueprint of B’nei Yisrael as a Unique people — an Am Segula, not to be reckoned with as with “the nations” and may we be zocha to see the Moshiach, the Ge’ula Shlaima, as Dov Shurin sings; “Ki Karov Yom Hashem Al’Kol HaGoyim”, the Ultimate Redemption, bimhayrah b’yamainu — speedily, in our time”, — Achshav, Chik Chuk, Miyad, Etmol!!!
Good Shabbos!
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Moshe Burt, an Oleh, is a commentator on news and events in Israel and Founder and Director of The Sefer Torah Recycling Network. He lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh.
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