Rabbi's Sermons

Shabat Shalom!

Yesterday we celebrated Purim. Which was your costume? Personally, I normally do not cover my face, but wear a costume, so my face still looks the same, without any makeup. When I was a child, my mother, of blessed memory, used to disguise me as a Mexican Charro, a seller, a baker, but she never covered my face with a mask, nor did she use makeup. This year I used my Mexican sombrero. My friends often tell me that this is not a real costume, as the idea is to cover your face as well. And I wonder, is it really necessary? Why is covering your face required? Is it necessary to stop being what you are, or to show your real face? Interestingly, Purim usually falls just before this week's portion, Parashat Ki Tisa. Judging by what it is written at the end of the Parasha, Moshe also had to disguise himself, and this time, with a special mask, with a veil, which almost constantly covered his face. We read this in chapter 34: “²⁹ And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses knew not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. ³⁰ And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come close to him... ³² And afterward all the children of Israel came close, and he gave them commandments, all that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³ And until Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil on his face. ³⁴ But when Moses went in before the Lord to speak with Him, he took the veil off until he came out. And he came out, and spoke unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. ³⁵ And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone; and Moses put the veil upon his face again, until he went in to speak with Him”.

Moshe lived from that moment in disguise, covered by a veil, perhaps, similar to the Arabs’ Hijab, or the Burka of the religious Muslim women. And all this, because his brother, Aharon, and the people could not bear the appearance of his radiant face. Lovers of science fiction, and especially, of the UFO phenomenon, often identify this supernatural glow on the face of Moshe, as clear evidence of a close encounter of the third kind, with beings from other worlds. But had it been so, shouldn't his whole body have shone? His hands, arms, leg, as well. That was not the case but only his face. Hence, we wonder, what had really happened to Moshe? This glow on his face, where did it come from, and why?

To answer this question, it is necessary to go back a bit in the text and analyze it. In chapter 32 of this portion, it is described how Moshe ascended the mountain. But this time, the description is very different from discussion of the events which occurred on Mount Sinai in previous chapter 20, during the delivery of the ten commandments. In chapter 24, it is described how long it took Moshe to receive the Law: forty days and forty nights. This quarantine delay have caused a serious crisis in the community, which have generated great mistrust in the people, to the extent that the idea arose in the mind of Aharon himself, to create a golden calf, to quell a possible uprising. As history is known, this created a despair in God before a stiff-necked and stubborn people, a people which God had decided to destroy. Thanks to Moshe's confrontation with the Eternal, in the defense of the people, which he, himself, led from Egypt to the desert, the design was canceled. All this difficult event, ends when Moshe breaks the first tables, carries out a terrible massacre of three thousand people, and finally, Moshe climbed Mount Sinai again, to write another two tables during forty more days and nights.

If we analyze it, there are two ways of making a pact with the Divine: on the first occasion, a great mistake had been made, and the result was a terrible rage, a desire for destruction, blood, fire, and an intolerance of human weaknesses. The second time Moshe returns, after having had a contact with the Divinity for additional forty days and forty nights, the result is a brilliant light on his face, which was so radiant, that it was unbearable for others and had to be covered by a veil.

The Midrash relates, that the Ark of the Covenant, which the people of Israel carried with them during their forty years of wandering in the desert, is where the second complete tablets are found, but also, fragments of the first tablets. Therefore, the Ark of the Covenant kept tablets and fragments of tablets, even later, when the Ark was placed in the Temple. And the question arises: What would the fragments of the tables be needed for? Why carry them all the way to the end? What value did the broken pieces have?

The breaking of the first tablets was no accident, as Mel Brook’s movie humorously showed, nor was it ordered by the Eternal; it was Moshe's decision! The fragments of the tables, therefore, represent – weakness. The weakness of Moshe, who decided to break the tablets in a moment of rage and despair, and perhaps, also, the God’s decision, to destroy a stubborn people. Those are moments of weakness, in which quickly and often wrong solutions are typically sought.

The act of the golden calf represented for Moshe -“the straw that broke the camel's back”, and a total loss of his temper. This is demonstrated by Moshe's battle cry: "Mi laAdonai Elai! Who is with Adonai, follow me!"; and the following massacre of three thousand people from Bnei Israel. This outburst of rage and the search for - “not who did it, but who pays for it”, has had terrible consequences. I can imagine Moshe carrying his sword, running down the mountain and into the camp, along with the Levites, yelling in furious rage: "Mi laAdonai Elai!". I can imagine him losing all control, his face flushed and the glared at him with a desire to kill. It is clear, that the sole purpose in Moshe’s mind, was to strengthen the identity of his people. But at what cost!

Something similar can happen to us too! Perhaps not to the same extent, nor with the same madness or desire to kill, but it can happen, or perhaps, unfortunately, it may have already happened to you at some point in your live. The truth is, that weakness is usually just a trigger, that initiates moments of rage, the button that detonates an explosion of hurtful words and even physical violence. Having moments of weakness and the loss of confidence in ourselves, is when we look for enemies. We look for the "other" that we can attack to strengthen our own identity and feel safe again.

What was it that threatened Moshe so much? The statue of the golden calf? Or that it was a calf? Or that the calf was called "God of Israel"? And if at the end of the day it was just a symbol, and a wrong representation of God, couldn’t he have pointed it out with contempt and punished Aharon who was at the end, who had the idea in the very first place?

On this second occasion, Moshe returned to the camp with a radiant face, but one that he cannot show to anyone else. It is a face that he must hide, like in Purim, but this time, constantly and in front of anyone. Moshe descended with a mark on his face, with a mark that forced him to separate himself from others, to stop showing his face, his identity. The light on his face is a sign that recalls the horror that he and his people experienced the previous time he came down from the mountain, the lack of control and the weakness to bear it. The fragments of the tablets will always be there as witnesses. Moshe and the people will not be able to deny what happened, because the fragments of the tablets will accompany them on their way. Both parties, chose to continue to carry those fragments with them, even though they remind them of a night of shocking events: despair, rage, horror and blood.

This is a poignant social statement: a society must carry with it the recognition of its weaknesses. A person must carry with himself the recognition of his/her weaknesses. Only from this consciousness, will come light. Only the one who looks at the broken fragments, result of their own anger, the wounds that his acts created, can boldly look at his own reflection in that mirror. And only a society that carries its fragments with it, that recognizes them, that remembers them, can build on them, rehabilitate and grow.

And the mask? The mask is sometimes necessary, because we can reach the opposite extreme, being arrogant and proud of ourselves because of that intense light and say to ourselves: "Congratulations to me! - for recognizing my weaknesses and for being able to control myself". The radiant light can be covered, leading us with modesty, and learning from our weaknesses, with humility.

In two weeks we will begin the month of Nisan in preparation for Passover. Some people visit the Mikvah for a ritual bath, to purify themselves of their impurities, to cleanse themselves of their weaknesses, to eliminate everything that destroys us spiritually, everything that weakens us. I invite you to recognize the fragments of the tables in our own souls. Recognize our weaknesses, to reach a source of light, to fully celebrate the renewal of the covenant between God and Bnei Israel, so that we may be truly free, full of light and glory.

Shabbat Shalom!

March 14^th, 2021

Rab David Laor