The Melted Darlings
Ki Tisa "When you elevate"
Exodus 30:11-34:35
1 Kings 18:1-18-39
Mark 12:28-33
This week’s portion is Ki Tisa, “when you elevate.” It is nested among similar Torah portions that when strung together, inform readers that within their verses are found prophecies of resurrection. For instance:
Beha’alotkha “In your going up…
Ki Tisa “…when you elevate…
Pekudei “…at the accountings of…”
Indeed, the apostles write of Yeshua’s return when we will be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in His elevation at the accounting and reckoning of the righteous. It is similar to this week’s Torah portion in which the Israelites desired the return of the Holy Presence, but they needed to understand they’d been pardoned for the Golden Calf. After the judgments for the Calf, they needed to feel more than just a restoration to the Divine Presence among them, but a restoration among brothers. Together. In the Cloud. Oddly, this verse from Song of Songs is connected by the sages to the taking of the half-shekel in this week’s Torah portion:
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To me, my darling, you are like my mare among the chariots of Pharaoh. Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments,your neck with strings of beads. (So 1:9-10)
Yes, it seems disconnected, but in Hebrew, a word does connect them. Rayiti in Hebrew is “my darling,” from rayah. Rayah is feminine, but reyah is masculine. The verb is also rayah:
- רֵעַ, ray'-ah; or רֵיעַ from H7462; an associate (more or less close):—brother, companion, fellow, friend, husband, lover, neighbor, × (an-) other.
In the Song of Songs, the Holy One calls Israel His “darling,” His neighbor and companion. In Ki Tisa, Moses orders the Levites to put to the sword their brothers who committed idolatry with the Golden Calf:
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He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend [re-ehu] and every man his neighbor.’” (Ex 32:37)
In the same way that the idolators had destroyed their neighbors and grieved the Holy Spirit so that the Cloud withdrew from the Camp, the idolators would be destroyed by their neighbors and close companions. The key, then, is in the “neighbor,” the reyah. Ra’yah is the verb form of ro’eh, a shepherd, or ro’ah, a shepherdess. It is a homonym to har ra’a, “to see.”
In a nutshell, shepherding is how we relate to one another, being responsible for one another’s well-being, like Rebecca the shepherdess, who was willing to “see” to the needs of Abraham’s servants and even all his camels. The Good Samaritan was the good neighbor. He took responsibility for another human's well-being. In the heart of the Torah, reyah takes its place alongside the Shema, the commandment to love Adonai with all one’s heart, soul, and strength:
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‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor [reyah H7453] as yourself; I am the LORD. (Le 19:18)
Loving one’s neighbor involves being his shepherd, looking out for his or her well-being, establishing a presence in the relationship and providing whatever you can to preserve and sustain life. In some cases, it requires a good neighbor to warn his “sheep” that he or she is wandering into danger.
This is exactly the failure in Ki Tisa. If only 3,000 people were the worst idolators, then there were hundreds of thousands of others who could have been good neighbors and warned the idolators…even physically stopped them…from worshiping, eating, drinking, and performing sexual activities in conjunction with the idolatry. Instead, hundreds of thousands did not live up to their calling to love their neighbors as themselves. As a result, they killed their neighbors.
“The word rayiti is expounded by scholars to also mean “my shepherd.” How could the “darling” Israel hope to shepherd the Great Shepherd Himself?
Primarily, reyah is a relationship of caring for one another. It elucidates another dimension. Rather than the Holy One caring for His beloved’s every need, she becomes a companion, a friend of God like Abraham, by also becoming aware of what pleases Him. What does our Friend desire of His darlings? Their love and obedience…and their love and care for one another. It is the goal of the Torah covenant. First Century Jewish scribes and Yeshua agreed that the genuine relationship of reyah was greater than the sacrificial system that symbolized it...
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One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO ONE ELSE BESIDES HIM; AND TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL THE HEART AND WITH ALL THE UNDERSTANDING AND WITH ALL THE STRENGTH, AND TO LOVE ONE’S NEIGHBOR AS HIMSELF, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (Mk 12:28-33)
The Song of Songs midrash offers this insight into rayiti as “She who sustains [shepherds] Me,” a nation who matures into a relationship with the Great Shepherd of mutual love and care. She pays attention to what He needs and wants, she sustains the close relationship with her obedience. Her joy in His Word and Presence is reflected by her cheeks. The darling’s cheeks are ornamented with the joy of speaking His Word, her relationship with Him.
“Just as cheeks were created for the purpose of speech, so were Moses and Aaron created for the purpose of speech, i.e., the teaching of Torah to the people of Israel. Thus, they are the ’cheeks’ of Israel. A person’s joy is reflected in his cheeks. Accordingly, Moses and Aaron were comely with the Torah they taught and the facial expressions they displayed toward one another.” 1§51
The lack of jealousy between Moses and Aaron is an example of the reyah:
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Like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron. (Ps 133:2)
When a word or phrase is repeated, it's a signal. "The beard, the beard" is intentionally placed to draw attention to their relationship. “Like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron” refers to the Anointment Oil, mentioned in Ki Tisa. In the Psalm, the previous verse states “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together, moreover, in unity.” The midrash asks, “Did Aaron have two beards that it is written, ‘Upon the beard, the beard of Aaron?’ But it is to teach that when Moses saw the Anointment Oil running down upon Aaron’s beard, it was equivalent to him as if it were running down upon Moses’ own beard, and he rejoiced...Moses’ love for Aaron was so complete, that it was as if the oil were running down his own beard.” 1§51
This is the relationship of reyah. When we are so close to our brothers and sisters that their success, blessings, and promotions are experienced as our own, we understand. We are neighbors, not competitors.
We have two cheeks with which to express the joyful countenance of our reyah relationship with the Holy One through the twin tablets of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments describe how we are to relate both to the Holy One and His Darlings. This provides a connection to this week’s Torah portion, the half-shekel census contribution so that the heads of Israel would only be counted indirectly and in relationship to one another. No one person was a whole without another, just as the Ten Words connect reyah to obligations toward Heaven and human beings.
The Holy One wanted to demonstrate to His darlings that he’d pardoned them for the sin of the golden calf. To count them after the the sword and plague (Ex 32:35), He commanded that Moses lift up their heads with a census. It would encourage them, and give them another chance to feel His Presence among them.
The half-shekel was worth ten gerah. (Ezek 45:12) “It will thus atone for their having transgressed the Ten Commandments, which happened when they worshipped the golden calf.” (The Midrash Says to Ki Tisa, p. 303) The silver half-shekels were melted down, and they were used to recast the silver sockets, which were used to support the beams of the Mishkan.
The Alshich comments to this: “The sockets comprised the foundation of the Mishkan. The use of the half-shekalim for their fabrication indicated that the people’s contributions provided a new basis for Hashem’s residence in their midst after sin.”
The combining of each man’s half-shekel became a reminder that the foundation of the Mishkan is brothers dwelling in unity...in obedience and shepherding care for one another. This draws down the Cloud of the Presence.
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We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks, for Your name is near; men declare Your wondrous works. When I select an appointed time, it is I who judge with equity. The earth and all who dwell in it melt; it is I who have firmly set its pillars. Selah. (Ps 75:1-3)
The Mishkan was also called the Ohel Moed, or “Tent of Meeting” for the appointed times. Although the Israelites sinned with respect to a made-up feast, the holy moedim are Divinely synced with the pillars of Creation. In past years, we’ve studied the Mishkan as a re-Creation story. Although the Israelites were judged with equity, their silver was melted to re-establish His Presence.
In Ki Tisa, there was judgment, the sin was forgiven, the silver was melted down to become receptacles for the beams or "pillars," and the Cloud could once again dwell among the Darling Israel.
We will do the Shabbat afternoon live stream at approximately 4:00 pm Eastern on Saturday b'azrat HaShem and do more in-depth analysis.
