Ki Tissa

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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 >

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 >

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 >

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 >