Parashat Ki Tisa 5781: What Have We Learned in a Year?

(יא) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (יב) כִּ֣י תִשָּׂ֞א אֶת־רֹ֥אשׁ בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֘ל לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם֒ וְנָ֨תְנ֜וּ אִ֣ישׁ כֹּ֧פֶר נַפְשׁ֛וֹ לַיהוָ֖ה בִּפְקֹ֣ד אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בָהֶ֛ם נֶ֖גֶף בִּפְקֹ֥ד אֹתָֽם׃

Exodus 30:11-12

(11) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (12) When you take a census of the Israelite people according to their enrollment, each shall pay the LORD a ransom for himself on being enrolled, that no plague may come upon them through their being enrolled.

שמות ל״ב:י״ט

(יט) וַֽיְהִ֗י כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר קָרַב֙ אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וַיַּ֥רְא אֶת־הָעֵ֖גֶל וּמְחֹלֹ֑ת וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֣ף מֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיַּשְׁלֵ֤ךְ מידו [מִיָּדָיו֙] אֶת־הַלֻּחֹ֔ת וַיְשַׁבֵּ֥ר אֹתָ֖ם תַּ֥חַת הָהָֽר׃

Exodus 32:19

(19) As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.

משך חכמה על שמות ל׳׳ב:י׳׳ט

(יט) ויהי כאשר קרב אל המחנה וירא את העגל ומחולות ויחר משה וישלך מידיו את הלוחות וישבר אותם תחת ההר – הענין, כי התורה והאמונה המה עיקרי האומה הישראלית וכל הקדושות א״י וירושלים כו׳ המה פרטי וסניפי התורה ונתקדשו בקדושת התורה, ולכך אין חילוק לכל עניני התורה בין במקום בין בזמן והיא שוה בא״י ובחו״ל [לבד מצות התלוים בארץ] וכן הוא שוה בין לאדם הגבוה שבגבוהים, משה איש האלהים להשפל שבשפלים, ואם יעבור אחד מהמה על אחת ממצות ה׳, דת אחד לו עם השפל שבשפלים, ומשה לא קראו התורה רק סרסור, אבל אין התיחסות התורה לו והתורה היא מחויבת המציאות כי קוב״ה ואורייתא חד וכמו שהוא מחויב המציאות כן התורה....
וע״ז צווח משה ככרוכיא, האם תדמו כי אני ענין ואיזו קדושה בלתי מצות ה׳, עד כי בהעדר כבודי עשיתם לכם עגל, חלילה גם אני איש כמוכם, והתורה אינה תלויה בי, ואף אם לא באתי היתה התורה במציאותה בלי שנוי חלילה, והראיה כי ל״ח שנה שהיו נזופים במדבר לא היה הדבור מתיחס למשה ...
וזהו ויהי כאשר קרב אל המחנה וירא את העגל ומחולות...הבין טעותן ויחר אף משה וישלך מידיו את הלוחות... ואם הביא הלוחות היו כמחלפים עגל בלוח ולא סרו מטעותן, אולם כאשר שבר הלוחות, ראו איך המה לא הגיעו אל מטרת האמונה בה׳ ותורתו הטהורה.

R. Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, Meshekh Hokhmah

The matter is that the Torah and faith are the essence of the Israelite people and all the sanctity of the Land of Israel or of Jerusalem etc. are all details and branches of the Torah and are sanctified with the sanctity of the Torah and for this reason there is no difference in any matter of the Torah that depends on place or on time and the Land of Israel is equal to outside the land (except for the small number of mitzvot that depend on the land). And so too there is equality between the most exalted person such as Moshe the man of God and the lowest of the low. And if one of them should violate a command of God, there will be one one law for the highest and lowest. Moshe was not the one who authored the Torah he was merely the intermediary, but there is no special attribution of the Torah to him. And the Torah is a necessity of existence because the Holy Blessed One and the Torah are One and just as God is a requirement of existence so too is the Torah....

And for this reason Moshe cried out, "do you think that I am the important one and that there is any sanctity except from the mitzvot of God such that in my absence you made a golden calf?! Heaven forbid! For I am a human being just like you and the Torah does not depend upon me and even had I not returned from the mountain teh Torah and its existence would not have changed." And the proof is that for 38 years God did not speak to Moshe...

And this is why Moshe smashed the tablets when he approached the camp and saw the calf and the celebrations. He understood their error and was angry. If he would have brought the tablets they would have replaced the calf for the tablets and would not have deviated from their error. However, when he smashed the tablets they saw how far they themselves were from a pure faith in God and God's Torah.

שמות ל״ד:כ״ט

וַיְהִ֗י בְּרֶ֤דֶת מֹשֶׁה֙ מֵהַ֣ר סִינַ֔י וּשְׁנֵ֨י לֻחֹ֤ת הָֽעֵדֻת֙ בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁ֔ה בְּרִדְתּ֖וֹ מִן־הָהָ֑ר וּמֹשֶׁ֣ה לֹֽא־יָדַ֗ע כִּ֥י קָרַ֛ן ע֥וֹר פָּנָ֖יו בְּדַבְּר֥וֹ אִתּֽוֹ׃

Exodus 34:29

So Moses came down from Mount Sinai. And as Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant, since he had spoken with Him.

אור החיים על שמות ל״ד:כ״ט:ד׳

ובמדרש (שמו''ר פמ''ז) ר' יהודה בר נחמן אמר כשכתב משה התורה נשתייר בקולמוס קמעא והעבירו על ראשו ומשם נעשה קרני הוד ע''כ, ודבריהם ז''ל סתומים וחתומים, ואולי שיכוונו לומר כי מצינו שמדת הענוה למעלה מכל כאומרם ז''ל (שהש''ר פ''א) מה שעשתה חכמה עטרה לראשה שהוא היראה דכתיב (תהלים קי''א) ראשית חכמה יראת ה' עשתה ענוה עקב לסנדל' דכתיב (משלי כ''ב) עקב ענוה יראת ה', ומצינו שהעידה התורה על משה (במדבר י''ב ג') שעניו מאוד מכל האדם, וכשאמר ה' לכתוב הדברים מצינו לו שלא כתב עניו אלא ענו חסרה יו''ד ואף זה מן הענוה, ובשכר זה זכה לקרני הוד כי הפליא ברצונו יתברך גם ה' הפליא חסדו לו בשנותו מכל האדם, והוא מה שרמז רבי יהודה באומרו נשתייר בקולמום קמעא והוא אות יו''ד שהיה צריך לכתוב ולא כתב לרוב ענותו וממנה זכה כנזכר:

Or HaChaim on Exodus 34:29:4

Shemot Rabbah 47,6 discusses the source of the light Moses' face emitted, and Rabbi Yehudah bar Nachman claims that after Moses had completed writing down the Torah there was a little ink left over on the quill. Moses touched his forehead while holding the quill. The ink which spilled on to his forehead turned into the rays of light. This is a most enigmatic Midrash. Perhaps the rabbis wanted to teach us that the virtue of humility transcends all other virtues. Compare Shir Hashirim Rabbah 1,9 where "wisdom" is described as fashioning a crown for its head, and that "crown" is understood to be "reverence" for G'd, as per Psalms 111,10: ראשית חכמה יראת השם, "the 'head' of wisdom is fear of the Lord." Thereupon "humility" made a heel for its sandal as it is written (Proverbs 22,4) "the heel" i.e. the consequence of humility is fear of the Lord." We note that the Torah testified (Numbers 12,3) that Moses was the most humble man ever. When G'd asked him to write these words, Moses found himself unable to spell the word עניו as it should have been spelled and he omitted the letter י. Moses was rewarded for this act of humility with the rays of הוד, glory. Seeing that Moses had excelled in pleasing the Lord over and beyond what could be expected of him, G'd in turn performed kindness with him over and above what Moses could ever have expected. We believe that when Rabbi Yehudah bar Nachman in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai spoke of "left over" ink, he referred to the ink which had been intended for writing the letter י in the word עניו.

Letter to ASBI, March 13, 2020

ערב ש׳׳ק לפרשת ״ וְלֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בָהֶ֛ם נֶ֖גֶף״
Dear Anshe Sholom
Just a few hours ago, we shared plans for a modified protocol for our shul to remain open this Shabbat in a way that honored the public health challenges inherent in gathering in large numbers as a community.
Minutes ago, we received advice from the Orthodox Union to help congregations decide how to operate in this time. Their guidance comes in the aftermath of decisions taken by Modern Orthodox communities in Bergen County, Manhattan, Riverdale, Long Island, Greater Boston, Los Angeles, and elsewhere to shut down their shuls.
According to the criterion that have been shared, reflecting an emerging consensus within our community, it is appropriate to close the shul indefinitely for all public gatherings, including shiurim and minyanim.
The mikvah will remain open under new guidelines which will be shared in the coming days.
The keilim mikvah will be shut until we find a way to operate it consistent with newly emergent best-practices, which we hope to implement prior to Pesach.
The shul will be open on Sunday morning, March 15 (8:30 - 11:30 AM), for people to retrieve tefilin and other personal items.
The shul has already begun planning how it will operate to serve as a Jewish resource for our community for the duration of time when we cannot gather in person. We will share that information with you in the coming days and look forward to your ideas too.
Closing the shul for tefilah is a painful decision to make. Last spring, after the attempted firebombing of our shul, I remarked that the shul was “the beating heart” of our community. My grief at the knowledge that our building will stand empty over Shabbat is intense, but the Torah’s prioritization of human life and human health is clear.
In this week’s Torah portion, we are given instructions about how to count and evaluate our community safely, in a way that will not bring about a plague וְלֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בָהֶ֛ם נֶ֖גֶף בִּפְקֹ֥ד אֹתָֽם. The Torah wants each individual to be valued and treasured and not seen as a statistic or as a number. Based on these verses, many have the custom, for example when counting towards a minyan, to avoid counting “one, two, three…” but instead to say “not one, not two, or not three.” Although we will not convene a minyan at our shul, we are facing the same essential challenge this week.
We are making choices to step away from one another, physically, out of a conviction that the life of each and every member of our community - and, indeed, the lives of each human being created in God’s image - who is placed at risk by this pandemic, is of ultimate and sacred value.
To paraphrase the Talmud in Pesachim,כשם שקבלתי שכר על הדרישה , כך אני מקבל שכר על הפרישה - just as we received reward for seeking out one another to join together in prayer and Torah study, so too may we receive reward for temporarily separating from one another to protect the most vulnerable members of our community.
Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Wolkenfeld