|
In our Torah portion this week, Parashat KiTisa, we encounter the shocking and frightening moment of Moses smashing the two stone tablets of the ten commandments inscribed by the very finger of God. As the Torah states in chapter 32, verse 19, of the book of Exodus, "It happened as he drew near the camp and saw the calf and the dances, that the anger of Moses flared up. He threw down the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain."
It is disturbing to imagine this scene of God's holy commandments being violently decimated. And yet, this need not be the lasting image of our Torah portion. Although the sin of the golden calf led to these first tablets being destroyed, later in this parsha we find that the children of Israel receive a second chance. In the first verse of chapter 34 God declares to Moshe, "Carve for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, and I shall inscribe on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you shattered."
Moses does exactly this. Before long he is descending Mount Sinai once again, his face radiating light, and the new stone tablets of God's law firmly grasped in his hands. This time there will be no destruction, only rejoicing. Despite their sin and their lack of faith, the children of Israel are forgiven and given a second chance. God's attribute of compassion is accentuated as His anger is diminished.
It is reassuring to see that our ancestors were given this second chance. We know that in our lives we also make mistakes and do not always present the best of ourselves. But we can take comfort in knowing that second chances are a part of our tradition. And if even the terrible sin of the golden calf could be forgiven - if even the children of Israel were given a second chance - then certainly we can be worthy of second chances in our lives as well.
Shabbat Shalom!
Cantor Zachary Konigsberg
[email protected]
917-696-0749
| 
