Parashat Ki Tissa 5784
We are living in a time when good leadership is hard to find.
27
02, 2024
7
03, 2023
Parashat Ki Tissa 5783
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
The Golden Calf: Not a Tantrum, but a Meltdown
A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tissa and Shabbat Parah
By Rabbi Katy Allen (’05)
Perhaps the golden calf was inevitable,
and perhaps
even necessary.
Egel ha’masekhah, the molten calf (Ex. 32:4),
the meltdown–
the internal or external loss of control
stemming from demands
stress
over-stimulation
disruption
or overwhelming emotions.
Not a tantrum.
Not a tantrum
but the breaking down
that leads to breaking open.
G!d demanded so much,
and all at once
and in no uncertain terms.
Moses seemingly disappeared
just when everyone’s lives
were being overwhelmingly disrupted
stimulated
changed irrevocably.
Has it ever happened to you?
Hamasekhah hanesukhah
the veil that is spread over all the nations (Is. 25:7)
the veil of mourning that covers us all (BDB)
G!d will remove it,
and will “wipe away the tears” (Is. 25:8)
from all our faces.
But first, Read More >
17
02, 2022
Parashat Ki Tissa 5782
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
Do You Resolve Conflicts Aaron’s Way or Moses’ Way?
A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tissa
By Rabbi Rob Scheinberg
What’s the best way to get two people in a conflict to be reconciled with each other?
Avot De-Rabbi Natan – an early commentary to the Ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot) – imagines the conflict resolution strategy employed by Moses’ brother Aaron. When Aaron would see two people in conflict, he would go to one of them and say, “Your friend has just come crying to me, saying ‘Woe is me, that I have offended my friend! Aaron, please go and request forgiveness on my behalf!’” Aaron would sit with him until his anger subsided, and then Aaron would go to the other friend and say exactly the same thing. When the two friends would see each other, they would hug each other, and their conflict would Read More >
4
03, 2021
Parashat Ki Tissa 5781
Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
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12
03, 2020
Parashat Ki Tisa 5780
A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tisa
By Cantor Sandy Horowitz (’14)
In Parashat Ki Tisa Aaron has been left in charge of the Israelites while Moses is meeting with God atop Mount Sinai. As the brother of Moses, Aaron is a likely choice to be given the responsibility of interim-leader. Given what happens however, one might wonder if he was the right person for the job.
Time passes, Moses doesn’t return, God is silent, the Israelites become anxious. In Exodus 32:1 we read, “The people gathered against Aaron and said to him, come, make us a god who shall go before us, for that man Moses… we do not know what has happened to him.” Aaron immediately complies. He doesn’t try to convince the people that Moses will be back soon, or encourage them to keep faith with God. Rather, he asks for the gold from the jewelry of their wives and daughters, and uses it Read More >
21
02, 2019
Parashat Ki Tissa 5779
What is a Half Shekel Worth?
A D’var Torah for Parashat Ki Tissa
By Rabbi Irwin Huberman (’10)
About three years ago, a mysterious envelope with no return address arrived on my desk.
I opened it cautiously, slowly pulling out a blank white folded card which contained half of a twenty dollar bill.
Was this some kind of slur? Was it a practical joke? I paused for a moment, shook my head, and slipped the half bill in my desk drawer and continued with whatever I was doing.
About a month later, I rediscovered the torn bill under a cluster of papers, and later, while making a bank deposit, presented it to the teller.
“What do I do with this?” I asked. “Is there some way I can give it to charity? What is half of a twenty dollar bill worth anyway?
And she coldly replied, “It is worth nothing without the other half.” She then pulled a laminated card Read More >
28
02, 2018
Parashat Ki Tissa, 5778
Society’s Golden Calves
A D’var Torah for Ki Tissa
by Rabbi Irwin Huberman, ’10
While attending a conference last year on future trends in Judaism, one of the presenters – a rabbi – told the story of how he had aroused the fury of one of his congregants.
One evening, as he taught a class on the ethics of technology, his phone began to ping.
Because his device had been tucked in his jacket hanging in the back of the room, he was not able to immediately respond to the text messages.
After his lecture ended, when he had the opportunity to check his messages, he realized that his lack of immediate response had triggered the rage of a usually mild mannered congregant.
“Rabbi, can I ask you something?” the first text read.
“Rabbi, I need your advice on something,” the next message read.
And then a series of messages followed in rapid fire: “Where are you?”
“Why are you ignoring me?”
“What Read More >
16
03, 2017
Parshat Ki Tisa
by Rabbi Michael Pitkowsky
This week’s parashah, Ki Tisa, includes one of the most dramatic episodes in the entire Torah, the Golden Calf. The description found in the Torah has rebellion, passion, emotion, idolatry, and violence, all of the ingredients needed for a good story. I would like to focus on something that happened after the calf was constructed and Moses descended from Mount Sinai.
Moses saw that the people were out of control—since Aaron had let them get out of control—so that they were a menace to any who might oppose them. Moses stood up in the gate of the camp and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come here!” And all the Levites rallied to him. He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: Each of you put sword on thigh, go back and forth from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay brother, neighbor, and kin.” Read More >
25
02, 2016
Parashat Ki Tissa
by Cantor Sandy Horowitz
“And the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made…”
(from The Sounds of Silence by Paul Simon)
In Parashat Ki Tissa, we read about the golden calf, that surrogate object of worship which the Israelites create as they give up on waiting for Moses, who has yet to return from his mountaintop sojourn with God.
For modern readers of the Torah, Moses departed for his Divine rendezvous three Torah portions ago. In all that time the Israelites have been without their leader, while we’ve read about the many laws and instructions being transmitted from God to Moses. If that seems like a long time to us, we can only imagine what it must have felt like for our ancestors — here they are out in the middle of nowhere, having left Egypt with the promise of a future in a homeland that has yet to be conquered. Since Read More >
4
03, 2015
Parashat Ki Tisa
Cantor Sandy Horowitz
“Wanted: Two senior craftsmen to lead team of builders in creating the largest portable dwelling ever made. Must be wise and able to learn from others; only those endowed with the spirit of God may apply. Technical skills a must.”
Imagine reading such a job posting? Say you’re a pretty good builder or engineer with solid management experience, you had decent SAT scores and attended a respectable college; now you’ve found what looks like the perfect job assignment, and they’re asking for things like — wisdom — what gives? Nobody graded you on wisdom in college!
Yet these are the qualifications cited in Parashat Ki Tisa, when God tells Moses to appoint Bezalel and Aholiav not only to build the tabernacle and the ark but all the vessels, vestments and accessories therein.
The task is daunting, and it’s got to be done right, after all, we’re talking about nothing less than God’s sanctuary-in-the-desert. Read More >
