Parshat Ki Tisa: Breaking the Tablets by Rabbi Yossi Goldin

okay good morning everybody hope everybody is having a wonderful week um I am still here so uh I'm happy to see you but I apologize that that means that unfortunately my father has not yet been able to return um it looks like this week and next week I will I will be I will be giving the shear and then hopefully my father should be returning uh two weeks from now there ratem um so um I'm looking forward to the opportunity to learn together today with you and uh and next week and then hopefully after that my father will resume his uh his weekly classes okay so um what I want to do today is um as as those of you who have been with us the last few weeks know um as even although my father's class had been a study on sa for bous we've been we've been studying together par sha um learning things connected to the par sha and generally we would we have been doing things connected to the upcoming para I would like to break break from that today and talk a little bit about this this past week's paraa um last week was election day so we didn't have the opportunity to learn together um and there is a a topic that I'd like to I'd like to explore with you today that I think also you'll see as at the end very much connects to some of the experiences that we're going through as a as as a nation that I think is important for us to think about and therefore I wanted to kind of really focus it's still Tuesday so usually on Tuesday still considered at least in some areas of Al considered to be connected to this past Shabbat so we'll be talking a little bit about this past week Shabbat the paraa of Kisa and one of the most probably dramatic events and probably also one of the most enigmatic events of the par or of the Torah which is the breaking of the L moshe's smashing of the of the of the uh of the and I'd like to just take a step back read a little bit about as we always do the read the text itself try to understand what's going on and and and also try to understand why most M did this how Moshe could do this and hopefully gain through that uh a a more meaningful understanding of what happened we'll begin at source Number One Source number one um just to set the stage I didn't bring all theim but to understand what's happening is have have begun to have built the agah the golden calf and they've begun to serve the idol there's different interpretations as to exactly the nature of the sin of the of the golden calf we're not going to get into that this week um but the simple understanding seems to be that they that they are serving the serving it as an idol in some way turns to Moshe and Mos at the height of hasem turns to MOS says Moshe your nation is is sinning you need to go down and need and you need to confront them Moshe then D to even says that he he might he might destroy the destroy the Jewish people mosha davs on their behalf convinces not to destroy the Jewish people and mosha then goes down with the L to see what's what's going on and that's where we find ourselves in Source number one and Moshe turns and goes down from the mountain and the two uh the two of testimony the two tablets of testimony are in his hands they are that are written from both sides they're written on both sides and these are the handiwork of a and the writing is written by engraved on the we're going to see by the way some Tred ask basic question which is why is this relevant right now why is this description of the in terms of how they're written in fact some of the point out it should have actually been been mentioned a few a few or a couple peric earlier when the Torah was describing engraving the why here as mosha is now carrying it down does the does the Torah go into specific detail regarding the nature of the and they try to and the try to understand something significant from that so keep that in the back of your mind MOS comes down the mountain hears something happening and he says to Moshe there's a fight there's a there's a war there's different interpretations on as how to really understand Moses's response but Moses's response basically seems to be MOS yosua it's not what you think this isn't a war it's not strength it's not this there's something there's a there's something going on and we need to go figure out what it is as they get closer to to to to the camp and sees theel and he sees the celebration that is accompanying the AEL m gets upset and he throws from his hands these and they break at the bottom of the mountain now the word v is a little bit of a funny word okay and um I mean in modern Hebrew we would say okay does mean refer to some kind of throwing but a question that's unclear at least from the text over here is whether mosha did this deliberately did it just kind of fall because like it was Heavy okay so there's a little bit of of a of of a of of a vague description at least in the Torah at this point in time Moshe somehow for some reason gets rid of these and they fall and they break but exactly what causes that and how deliberate it is is not yet clear from the text that mha then takes the which had been made Burns it in the fire and then he crushes it until it's totally fine he puts it into the water and he gives them to drink and again mosha then continues to deal with the aftermath of of the so at first glance the Torah is a bit vague Regarding why MOS I mean M the Torah says he he saw he saw what happened and he got upset he got angry but why exactly is Moshe break break breaking the L meaning what happened why if anything again remembering what the are remembering that the are this is the holiest thing that has been created this is the first thing that has been given that has been written by God and given to man why is mosha breaking that the the tablets and I would take it even further what gives him the right to break the tablets what gives him the right to do that why is he allowed to to do so so taking it even a step further in when mosha recounts this event to am Israel the description is a little bit different and we're going to look at source number two we take a step back where mosha recounts the events of theel and God's response to Moshe Moshe recounts the following scenario Source number two which is you angered and he got upset at you and he wanted to destroy you when I went up to the mountain to receive the two tablets of stone the tablets that are symbolic of the Brit of the Covenant that hem had cut with you had had created with you I sat there for 40 days I didn't eat I didn't drink gave me these written with the hand of God upon these are all the things that hm had told you on the mountain and then over the course of those at the end of those 40 days and 40 nights hasem gives me these two hair you should go down quickly because the nation that you have led out of has been destructive has destroyed themselves almost they have turned away from the path and they have created for themselves a now again the word here we know means a mask here it seems to be some kind of molten image the implication seems to be a that's the simplest understanding which which we'll go with for now is basically saying to mosha they've done bad look at what they've done you left them and look at what happened I've seen that hasem says to mosha I've seen the nation they are a stubborn Nation leave me alone and I will destroy them says to leave me alone I want to destroy them and I want to create a another great nation from you describes what happens he says I turn and I came down from the from the mountain and the mountain is still full of flame I'm holding these two I look at what happened and I see that in fact you have sinned to you have made an eagle a molten Eagle you have in fact turned away from the had had had prepared or had had commanded you and I grab these two and I throw them from within my two hands the let and I break them in front of you so what's different here what's different than the description here it seems very clear that it was very very deliberate okay very deliberate I grab them I pick them up with my hands and I throw them down okay which only I think really raises the question which is again what gives mosha the right to do that what gives Moshe the right to be able to take these things that R by and just break them even if he thought it was appropriate okay confounding upon this issue is or compounding on the issue is sorry is is is is is a well-known gar that Rashi himself quotes that we'll see right now based on Source number three Source number three is when a kadosh commands Moshe to re to re to build to create the second says to MOS I want you to carve out two new like the first ones and I will write on these new that you're going to carve out what was written on the first ones that you broke okay now why does it say again at the end of the we all know that it had been broken so there's a well-known gar rash quot the G the is Source number four we learned in mhe there are three things that Moshe on his own valtion did and in the end agreed or he was actually agreed with what he had done number one he separated from his wife because of the fact as say that he didn't know when would appear to him because of his special relationship with number two he broke the number three when it comes to the preparation Froman Torah he added one extra day in prepar is to prepare for the receiving of the we're not going to focus on the other two but the here talks about the the breaking of the says says the continues the the says that you broke says so Not only was he justified but Praises him for it says this is what you were supposed to do you did the correct thing it was done on his own valtion God didn't tell him to do it but yet after the fact Hashem says for breaking for breaking the L now not only is this you know a very very important point but this medish this idea this idea that mosha did the correct thing is the one medish that Rashi brings and quotes at the very very end his last pish at the very very end of the Torah the last commentary the thing that Rashi ends with is this specific point the Torah at the very very end of is describing the of mos and the Torah says that MOS that there was no other nvi like mosu that connected that spoke to the Torah describes the last talk about the different the different things that Moshe had done on behalf of Isel or for of different and the Torah ends with the words is all the beautiful things that hasem had done in front of the eyes of am Isel look at source number five says Rashi what does it mean all the different Miracles and all the incredible things he had done says rash he made sure to break the in front of them there was something deliberate about breaking them in front of them as it says doesn't just say I broke them he says I broke them in front of you there was something that that MOS was doing here and agreed with it that you broke okay so again what we've seen so far it's just to the tone the beginning inos it's a little bit unclear exactly why Moshe broke the it's even vague as to whether it was deliberate in say for it appears to be very deliberate mosha seems to clearly be saying that he deliberately broke the L he knew exactly what he was doing and he did it on purpose although we don't yet have a hint as to why we don't know what what what the basis was we even have indication that agreed to it based on this med which Rashi thinks is so important that he brings it as the Pinnacle the end of the Torah at the end of his perish on the Torah so the questions but the questions are still there number one why did he do it number two okay we it seems like according to the mic interpretation that Hashem agreed but again what gives mosha the right to do this what gives mosha the right to take something which is so inherently holy written by God and to break it yes comment or or a question yes listening to it doesn't it sound like this has nothing to do with what actually happened okay so I would I I I would I would shift a little bit the way you're describing it I agree with I agree with the point number one point number one they were struggling with this okay I think I think all of them of first are going to struggle with this question question number one how can mosha do this okay how can mosha do this and by the way we're going to see some interpretations some of daa don't follow the midic interpretation that we've seen perhaps because they just couldn't they couldn't get themselves to believe that Moshe would per purposely break the L number one as to therefore say that they made it up I don't know again whenever we're dealing with midashim we know that MIM some MIM are true some MIM are just meant to teach us lessons and there are different midic interpretations as to what mosha is doing here and I think we have the the ability to see to see each of them now not necessarily determine what's correct and what's not correct but to try to learn lessons from each of them and and see and see the beauty in them so I think I think you're right I think you're right in the sense that this was a challenge this was something that everyone was struggling with and there and and then the different inter interpretations that are developed are meant to teach us different lessons about what we can learn from this even though we may not really know exactly exactly what happened yes a little bit of a hint though AEM says go down see what they're doing he was pushing him into the situation doesn't mean he's breaking he was pushing them in the situation but but but of course he was now again it's I also laugh whenever I see the line rmem says to Moshe go down the the nation that you took out of MIT look what they did I think of like you know the parent that says to the to the F right one spouse says to the other look what your son did right okay it's almost like what you didn't take them out of but but agree it's almost as ifes was saying you're standing up here on the mountain look what's going on down there and that's clear mosha needs to deal with it how he deals with it though is not necessarily you know so clear yes um I think that um he broke the lopho so that Hashem would not destroy the people parallel to Hashem destroying the Bas of mikdash so he would we're going to see that that's actually a beautiful interpretation that's given by by by the Mish uses a different Parable a different a different Mas but the idea that he was doing it actively to help the Jewish people to save the Jewish people is one of the interpretations that is given in the midash beautiful so we're going to hold that off for a second okay before we start to see different interpretations I want I want to also add one other question that I want us to be thinking about we're only going to get to this at the end of this she but I want us to be thinking about the back of our minds what ultimately happens to these broken L anyone know yeah where they put they're put together with the new in the Aron in the now if I had if I had been the one to commit this kind of a sin okay some some horrific sin and as a result something very valuable got broken that reminds me of this sin what would I want to do with with with with those objects I'd throw them away I'd hide them I'd stick them under the bed i' put them not I wouldn't put them next to the second l in the Aron KES in the holiest place in is so the question we have to ask ourselves is okay once we understand what happened here why does not only command B Isel not to hide it or throw out the broken L but to almost treasure them to put them in the holiest place to remind them good so let's let's hold that we're going to get to at the end Hashem made them Hashem made them mosha broke them mosha broke them but if any has is gonna make new ones why I why do I need so so again mosha GNA do the lettering on the new ones there's new ones the correct so they are Eternal they're again you're right but that but but that that only raises the question of what gave mosha the right to do meaning you know as you talk about how powerful they are you're right and again I want us to just think about that and I think we're going to get back to that and some of the things that you guys are I see some people mentioning I think are true but I think they'll become even more valuable once we once we really understand answer the first two questions and understand why perhaps Moshe did what he did and then perhaps we can understand why wanted him to keep those L yes what's be behind your question when you say what gave rosha the right to to uh to the L what what what you thinking so so my my understanding is similar what some of the people were suggesting here which is that if something was given by God written by God carved out by God I would think that Moshe would have to keep that with the hold on to that with the utmost care and and for him to make a decision to say something so Godly and to break it seems at least in my to my mind something that's pretty dramatic and would need justification everything is made by God okay okay and you're and you're you're pointing towards I'm saying you know just the same don't what separates the the luos made by God from another piece of stone made by you're raising a very good point you're raising a very good point and in fact it's going to be one of the interpretations that we're going to see which is that that according to the m that was the lesson that that Moshe wanted to teach the the Jewish people we'll get to it we'll get to it thank you yes a couple more and then we're going to move on yes you may get to this later I not looked ahead at all but as great as mosha was we know mosha was a human being and we know that mosha had a temper also you know good point good point okay it could be and we're going to see that some people say that that's what happened there are some interpretations that say that you're right that and we're going to see it the ramban actually suggests that mosha just he couldn't contain himself yes I'm actually take the opposite course that he did out of temper but actually that he did it in a calculated way because he wanted to eliminate the essence of why this was wrong to protect the B Israel from being punished excellent good okay so both both of these ideas are similar and it's also similar to what you were say suggesting very very good we're going to see a lot of these interpretations have have have are are are have hint are hinted to or discussed in some in some some of the M that we're going to see today let's let's delve in and see the different range in fact this issue this question of how could mosha do it or why did Moshe do it is so bothered or was such a challenge that there is a huge range of interpretations amongst the maim to answer this question okay the first ones I want to discuss are those who actually don't follow the classic midrashic approach don't suggest that mosha did it deliberately but rather they suggest that it was almost something that mosha just mosha couldn't help himself for one of two reasons look at look at look at the rashan source number six Source number six the says the following when Moshe saw the agel he just he got weaker he almost as if like from an emotional perspective he got so upset and he got weak and so therefore what he did was he almost it was almost as if like he was carrying that down full of energy all of a sudden he sees what's happening and all of a sudden he just like he lost everything he had and the L became much heavier than they were before and he and they were about to drop and he just barely describes this photo was able to throw them a little bit to avoid them falling on his feet it was almost as if mosha got there he was so bothered by what he saw that he just emotionally lost all energy and the L were about to fall so what's the throwing that's described the throwing that's describing is she was able to just exert a little bit of energy to throw them away so that they wouldn't land so that they wouldn't land as he says it's like when somebody's carrying something extremely heavy and they can't and they don't have you know sometimes when you're carrying something on your shoulder you need more energy to pick it up and put it all and and but sometimes what you just do is you just kind of like throw it off so MOA all of a sudden it got much heavier than it was and just kind of threw it a little bit away so that it wouldn't so it wouldn't land on his feet and that and that's what it is so according to this interpret and it's interesting the rashbam is specifically not taking the interpretation that he did deliberate deliberately but says the says the I saw this I did see this in a different Med not the classic medish we saw before that said that he did he did it deliberately there is a medish that gives this description what is the medish that describes this event in the way that the rasham describes it this is a p some of us may have heard this idea before Source number seven that's a quote from the Torah mosha was going down says the med these these tablets were Supernatural Supernatural to the effect that the words on the tablets were carrying the tablet and they were even carrying Moshe so it wasn't heavy because mosha was just like almost floating on air that's the way the way I Envision it the tablets were carrying Moshe the the the coak the spirituality that was in these tablets carried the tablets themselves and carried Moshe what happen when they when they face the sin of the agel and not just theel but the celebrations this is a relatively famous idea the words that were on the tablets magically flew off and once they flew off what was carrying these tablets and Moshe is no longer there all of a sudden whoa it got very very heavy so once the words flew off of the tablets now mosha is dealing he's back in real life he has his very H heavy tablets that he can't even hold and he just has to drop them because they're too heavy he no longer is able to to to carry them and he throws them away and they break as the Torah describes that Moshe got upset and they fell down now the imagery here is beautiful the imagery of the words flying off the tablets is something that that many different interpretations are we're not going to get into some of the details here I think the simplest understanding of it is is that when they were first coming down there was a spiritual coak there was a spiritual power to these tablets when faced with the the the sin of the of the golden calf the spiritual aspect this kadua you want to call it the Holiness you want to call it the Special nature of the disappeared and all of a sudden mosha was faced with this physical with this physical object that he couldn't hold and it fell down says the rashbam that's what I'm basing myself on says the rashbam that's what I was descri I read this pzer and I'm basing my interpretation on that now the rashbam gives a little bit of a Different rash's Twist is not about about any words flying off the page or not any words but but it's the same idea the same K the same direction where we're suggesting that this was not deliberate it was a basically mosha was faced with a new reality one he got to the sin of the golden calf and as a result mosha had to throw it off and he was no and he wasn't able to hold on to the hold on to the tablets okay so that's interpretation number one yes but which one it has to be always said which one was the uh that mosha felt weak and because of that the letters went or because the other one that they went and then it's a good it's it's a good question I don't know I I would would be surprised if it's a combination meaning what caused the letters to fly off the met doesn't sell us so if the met doesn't tell us we don't really know the simple understanding seems to be that when that whether it was Moshe feeling weak and as a result the fly the letters flew off or the letters flew off then Moshe it could be a combination of them I I don't I don't know the answer it's interesting that the sorno doesn't focus on the letters he just focuses on mosha feeling weak the medish focuses more on the letters flying off again I think I the way the way I understand it is simply that when faced with the reality that what what they had in front of them things sh the re things shifted and that and that caused Moshe that caused everything to get weak whether what came what came first I I I don't know I don't know yes it that point seems to be you know more with the uh with the telling ofos the telling of the story correct correct yes what you're pointing out is yes 100% this interpretation seems to seems to fit much better with the way that the Torah is written in shamos where it doesn't seem to imply that mosha did it deliberately rather just kind of fell 100% and not only that it seems to be go be contrary to the way that the medis describes things the gar agreed now why would the rashbam do that it could very simply be that he was that he he was struggling with this exact question how could mosha do this on purpose and therefore he chose something which maybe fits less into the text inim and is more in line with saer shos because of that I'm want to speak for the rash B but it could be that we faced with that challenge of how could we understand how MOS could do this it could be he chose something that was a little bit less in line with and more with with seos yes does any of go in the direction of the sporno that Moshe was feeling weak meaning just like um yakob was in and couldn't n so like mosha sort of got into a bit of yush like why are these people that's a good question I I haven't seen that I haven't seen that um I I do think that when the I do ual weakness again I do think that when he when I I think I think that most of us experience them sometimes together meaning I would the Sno describes it as says Tash he got weak I do believe that for many of us sometimes a spiritual weakness or spiritual frustration can also lead to a physical weakness and I think that's what's Happening Here meaning I think it stemmed from a disappointment a frustration I don't know if it was yush I don't know meaning again we know that mosha was pretty confident he goes back to Hashem and says you know don't destroy them but at the same time there certainly was some kind spiritual weakness that caused the physical weakness which is what caused him to so I think I think they're I think they were going hand in hand that's that's that's how I understand it yes when you talk about a spiritual weakness it seems that it would have been cataclysmic for mosha to perceive this because he's at the High Point absolutely and that destroys everything and it must have depleted him and an enormous correct correct I mean I think that would be natural you're saying considering where he was and I would even say more than that considering where he left the people when he left although it was 40 days ago mean I I I I yeah it's almost as if like you have the leader who's been in his own little world old little chamber for a while comes out and all of a sudden he sees yeah 100% I would see I could see that being a big 100% okay but that but that's in what's interpretation number one interpretation number one is that mosha did this not of his own Val but that reality shifted and because of that reality shift mosha just simply threw it down the ran takes a bit of a of a middle interpretation he also suggests that Moshe He suggests that Moshe did it deliberately but not necessarily with anything specific in mind look at source number Source number eight says the ran says the first the ran points out something we mentioned when we first went through the PUK that when the Torah describes how this was the hand of God it was written on both sides and it was says the raan all that doesn't belong here it belonged earlier when when the Torah first describes the giving why does it mention it here now says the ra it's to stress that even though it was the hand of God and even though it was written in a supernatural way and even though despite all of that nevertheless mosha still broke them it's to contrast that reality that's what that's what ran we're to see says the same thing as well why did he do this look at the look at the ran he got upset he was angry he he faced this new reality he couldn't hold himself he couldn't he couldn't hold himself back you had mentioned that mosha just got so angry that he just he comes from from up up up up in Haren he comes down he sees what the people are doing he sees not only are they serving the the the the golden calf but they're celebrating it everything that's going on he's so frustrated he just can't hold himself back he just whatever he has in his hand he takes it and he throws it down so again this is a middle interpretation in that it is according to this interpretation Moshe did do it on purpose but it wasn't necessarily a premeditated thought out action which we're going to see according to other interpretations it was it was something that mosha was doing in reaction to what he was seeing right that's what I was about to say he he had that would be probably the hardest hardest hard thing to do forever but he had to do it to save the possibility that we would still be here in three 2,000 years later in other words he okay but that but that's already assuming that there was some logic or some thought that that's assuming something meaning could be we're going to see that soon well again according to ramban right now the simple understanding that ramban was just simply that he just he couldn't help himself he was so disappointed that's what I just said basic I said basically what he said okay we'll see I think what you're suggesting is something moral and Li we're going to see in some of the other ref for him soon which is that there was actual logic that Moshe was thinking this through and saying there's there's a reason to throw this down and we'll see why that might be but the ran it might just simply be he he was he he wasn't thinking that he came he was holding the LOD he got so upset he just you know he reacted yes conne I was in so it seems like very and very connected explain what you mean message explain what you mean that that why so why breaking the specifically because of it's reflection of that broke the connection ah okay because they broke the connection so his act of breaking was in reaction okay good we're going to see someone who says something yeah okay very nice very nice okay so this is what we have so far we've seen two interpretations one interet ation was that he did it just physically he he couldn't hold them anymore as a result of of seeing what was happening the second interpretation was that he was just so angry he couldn't help himself it was done on purpose but it wasn't necessarily premeditated which again might be the ramban trying to fit both safer shamos and safer D together to have that have both both texts fit fit with each other uh well but premeditated by by by premeditated I mean something that was maybe thought through as he was walking down the mountain you'll see what I mean meaning the ran seems to just be assuming that was reactive you know what maybe pred is the wrong word I would say proactive as opposed to reactive meaning he's doing it for something specific as opposed to just reacting in the way in the in the way in the way that it does Yes except for K who had told him what was going on so good you're raising a separate question told him what was going on so number one why does it bother him so much and number two if he's going to break the why doesn't he break from up top then asked that question we're gonna get to that soon says na why didn't he just break it up on top why does he break it down down below and says because he wanted to show something excellent okay we're we're going to get to that okay now there are a number of different midrashic interpretations that are all the way on the other end that are under the of the impression and this is really a majority of the M of the impression following in what we had seen before that this was something that mosha did on purpose for a reason it wasn't reactive he had a specific reason in mind what would that reason be we have a whole range of maam whole range of mam so look at look at source number look at source number nine Source number nine will bring two of them some of them are connected to some of the ideas that some of you have met mentioned once the words had left therefore he broke them this is this is the part that we want to get to because Moshe saw that they had sinned therefore he broke the and here what the Met is going to say is he did it to protect the nation to protect am Isel sh is it uses a parable of a king or of a prince who married a woman or he didn't marry he took a woman he was going to marry her he wrote her he gave it to the servant to say or to her servant and said please hold on to this for the woman after some time A shamra A Bad Name some word got out that she had committed adultery she had cheated on this SAR What did the what did the servant do he ripped up the he ripped up theba and said now that there's Noba I can claim or she can claim that they were never married and if they were never married she didn't commit adultery it's better that she be judged as a as a as a single woman than as an somebody who is married Moshe did the same thing says Moshe these L are symbolic of this breit between God and if I don't break these then are now going to be basically brought to trial against for committing adultery for serving against hem right after they had just had this incredible event the Torah says that if a person serves Idols you're going to be destroyed so what did he do sh he broke the they didn't know what was in it it was coming saying gone Isel didn't really understand they didn't really know it's not their fault okay so according to this interpretation mosha was very deliberately breaking the L in order to protect am is that's one interpretation next interpretation a similar one where he's trying to protect but in a little bit of a different way and it's actually reminds us of something we learned a couple of weeks ago we're in Source number nine the second paragraph realized that was in deep trouble what they did and he decided to throw his lot in with them if they're going to get punished I might as well get punished too so what did he do he broke the he said to God if you're upset with them be upset with me they sinned and I sinned I broke it so according to this he broke the in order to get in trouble in order to be with if you're gonna forgive them forgive me Al and if you're not going to forgive them don't forgive me we're one says Moshe I'm the leader I am with my people if you're going to forgive them forgive me if you're not going to forgive them don't forgive me it's like you know that person who just kind of throws himself in with his with with with his group and says I'm with with them whatever happens to them I want to be then that's the sign of of a leader so that's those are two other interpretations according to the midash where Moshe was deliberately trying to save benel there's another mic interpretation that this is hinted that and this is also mentioned by Rashi as well that says that no he broke them deliberately but it wasn't to save am Israel it was actually to um it was actually to to to show that they were guilty of of of something wrong look at source number 10 shos Raba it was a condemnation of them when did theel Source number 10 call he said it says in the Torah that anyone who is not Jewish isn't allowed to bring a Corban P or anyone who serves is not allowed to do who have just served how could they accept the Torah so according to this interpretation MOS was actually condemning B Israel he said you don't deserve these L these L aren't for them it wasn't to try to save them it was to basically show they don't deserve this and he took the L and he threw them down and said this isn't for you okay so again we see such a huge range of midrashic interpretation regarding this question because in the text itself it's really unclear others suggest and we're going to see two other interpretations that again it wasn't just that the goal here wasn't to make a statement but it was actually to educate and that's the and the the in Source number 11 as I mentioned before he one of the questions he raises is why did mosha not break the L up at the top if if if they didn't deserve it let's say this interpretation we just read right now he he should have broken it up top why why did he do that number one number two he asked the question why does the Torah stress and describe the in detail as mosha is bringing them down and there he says to show the power of what mosha was about to do that even though these were written by God and they were Miracle they were written in a miracle and they were on both sides despite all of that nevertheless Moshe didn't hesitate to do what needed to get done in order to educate the people if you look at source number 11 we'll read some of it inside we're in Source number 11 the first paragraph the place describing all of the really belongs earlier on on the second line it's to show that Moshe did this m was smart he didn't break when he was still up in the mountain K says the Moshe specifically took this incredibly powerful incredibly important thing and waited until he was right in front of the nation and broke it to wake them up to show the gravity of what they had done this wasn't to protect them it wasn't to condemn them it was basically to say guys look what you just doing look what you're doing they it was to basically shake them a little bit to shake them up and say I am taking this god-given God created object and breaking it because you guys need a wakeup call you need to understand the gravity of what you have done and the N goes on to say that it's actually interesting according says the na not only did mosha not break it up at the top of the mountain when Moshe went down all the way down the mountain and saw them doing what they were doing he didn't break it down amongst the people he went back up on the mountain not at the top of the mountain at the bottom of the mountain but in a place where he would be the most visible and able to get the point across so it says the nativ moshe's goal was to shake up the people to help them realize what they had done the gravity of their sin and daa you're right it was a huge decision and it was a grave decision that Moshe made but it was necessary because of the sin that the people had committed and therefore says the naiv this needed to go hand in hand and that's why he did he did what he did yes way you assume that the people understood the gravity and they knew what he was carrying and how precious oh okay so there's two things right do we can we assume that they knew what he was carrying I I would think so meaning I thought you meant did they learn their lesson that is you know I don't know but um um can we assume that they I mean I think it's safe to assume that they knew what it was um why I don't know that's just my I mean I mean you're right there's nowhere in the text where the Torah says that certainly after the fact they're going to understand it when the second ones are written and the second ones are broken um but you're right I don't know that's my my my initial inclination and answer to your question is I would think they would know what it was or at least involved in this whole thing and he comes down with something well they knew he was coming down well again we have to remember they had just received the Ten Commandments they were familiar with the assar of Neu they were familiar with the concept were they familiar with the fact that he was going to come down in two tablets and the written I don't I don't know I don't know that's the part that I'm not sure about they knew that there was something called that sarro they had received them from God again repast is so they're familiar with the whether they were familiar with how it was going to be coming down I don't know my own vision of it is also that again it's also kind of building off MIM was that there probably was some Aura to the to the to these tablets which probably indicate but again Accord one M flew away so I don't know it's my own you know my own understanding of it but it's a very very good question yes is it a fact that he came down saw what was going on and then came up a little bit and then that's that that's the na points out well that kind of negates this idea that spontaneously that when he saw what was going on that he broke it it's like okay it's a good it's a good question I have to look at the text again I haven't looked at the text meaning native makes that point the native makes this point that he he was not at the top of the mountain he was not amongst the people but he specifically went back up to the to the to to to an area on the mountain whether or not that's clear in the text I'd have to look at the text again and and see that or it could just be that it was an interpretation I my my assumption is it's probably somewhat open to interpretation where exactly he was whether he was on his way down whether was he was he at the bottom of the mountain was he amongst the people I don't know and it see does make that specific point that would be pretty significant because that would really kind of highlight the specific point well yeah yes it would highlight whether or not it was a spontaneous act or was a deliberate act although we could alth although we although we could argue that he went down saw it was happening and then went back up he was going to give his message to the people at that point might have might have still been spontaneous again spont spontaneity can can take different types of forms but I think you making a good point that this point of the N would would need to be investigated in the text itself yes I thought the reason he did it was to mitigate me what do you mean what she saying because Hashem said he's going to wipe the people out and begin again with you MOS so and and mosha said don't do that so that's I think that's I think more than that's I think more than the medis that we were talking about well that's what I think that's what I think more what the medis was talking I don't know if that's what the NV is suggesting here but that's more what the medis when the medis said listen I'm going to throw it down too put me in with them I'm with them whatever whatever is going to happen to them has to has to happen to me I think yeah I think it's it's it's a good suggestion I don't know that's that's what the nativ is saying okay yes last one and then we'll move on point that you just were just discussing one is please say there's two points that you were just discussing one is why did Moshe not react on at the top of the mountain when he first told by it's not like he didn't believe God God told him exactly what they were they were going to do and uh and mosha on the other hand begs for forgiveness up there and then goes down and something triggers it something different when he comes down and it seems clear if you look at the pursuit describing when K first tells MOS what what's happening and what mosha first sees it and though you lot lot of times the people point to say but I I don't I don't think that's that really solves the problem I think the difference is is there's there's the word that is used in a lower description when he is down at the bottom compared to when he was with with is that they were enjoying themselves indicating that indicating the that that when KES told mosu at the top of the mountain exactly what they did the reason that he didn't he didn't react so terribly is he was using the following argument he was saying KES they're like children I was away they didn't see their father they didn't know what to do they felt lost they had to do something and the most closest thing they knew what to do was what they were taught to do in and that is to V I think that could be I think that could be I don't know if it's I don't I I I my initial reaction would be that it was more what you were saying earlier about inir that hearing about it is no different to seeing it but I think your point about the m is is is a good point I would say normally say but talking about the bo true the second thing the second thing is is that uh is that uh the strange thing in one of the one of the uh M that you mentioned is that when he threw it down he threw it a little away from so he wouldn't hurt his feet that's farno is he caring about his feet I mean and even if it's even if it even ifal thing to do why did he bother mentioning it the farno this this this farno I think the reason I think what I think the reason why thisno is mentioning it is because he's using he's trying to according to the fno it fell he didn't actually throw it it fell but yet but the but the text describes it as as throwing so Theo is trying to struggle with on the one hand it didn't he didn't throw it deliberately it kind of just fell but on the other hand the text describes is throwing so I think the sorno says that he basically just threw it a little bit to push it kind of push it away from that that's his description yeah I think it's natural I think it's natural to protect yourself you could say instead that he did that purposely but that the feet repres symbolically means the very basis of yah polias of believing in in in in the K was it was at risk not just not that anything that's that's very ni Jewish I don't think that's I don't know if that's what meant but and and very much so when mosha first comes down they don't believe in because I'm sorry we're just just because just because of of of of time I want to just uh quick I mean all these Ops keep coming back to the same thing that when we're looking at this event we're not looking at facts we're looking what the is saying he can't discuss it as did he see it didn't he see it did he correct these are messages correct that's true well that that's true if I think most of the Torah I think that's true I think I think I think what you're raising I just it's an important point and then I want to we'll just try move move to end the sh so you have some time before before the next sh I think what you're whenever you learn Kash especially when you're learning stories in Kash you have to you have to you have to learn them on two levels my father is fond of saying this all the time number one there's stories that actually happened and sometimes there are important questions as to what exactly happened we can never we should never use mid to the point that we forget to we fail to remember that these were human beings again they might have been human beings who achieved a certain level but they were people moshe's kind of different a different a different a different level but in general the Tor is describing events that happened to people and that level of the Tor should never be forgotten so we're always asking that question of what happened we might not we might not conclusively answer it we might learn five different interpretations of what happened but there all different interpretations that are important and are and are relevant and at the same time the Torah is not just a story of what happened it's also a text that's meant to teach us lessons to teach us morals and teach us a way of life and we're always going to be struggling and trying to understand the stories on both levels and that's what we're doing here we're trying to understand what actually happened and what message maybe we could learn from it so I'm going to say briefly the the the the the suggestion of the m and then one final point the MMA suggests and he comes up with he brings numerous different proofs to this idea he says that Moshe deliberately broke the L to teach them a very very important lesson and that lesson is there is no such thing says M as something which is inherently holy Holiness and kadus only come from God and by the way this is he he says it very very strong and there are those who will disagree with certain aspects that he says he says there's no inherent difference between is and and there's no inherent difference between one object and another object any object that has kidus that has Holiness that Hol only comes from and if a person is following the Torah and doing things in the right way then certain parts of our physical world are imbued with Holiness if we don't if we fail to keep the Torah then even those objects that had been written by God created by God May on some level lose their Holiness because they're no longer able to be used in the service of God says the M the people had trouble with this the whole sin of the golden calf was because they were looking for a physical manifestation of Holiness in this world mosha wasn't there anymore they didn't have anything to hold on to and that was why they did the sin of the golden calf Moshe needed to take the lot which were written by God and created by God and break them to show Even This which was written and carved out by a if you're going to send to God and you're not going to follow his way and follow his path then you have no that then even these lose their Holiness and so there was a deliberate message that mosha was trying to teach the people when he took those L and broke them which is Holiness only comes from service to when we're following A's path if we lose our way even those things which to us seem to have inherit Kusa lose that Holiness and that was the message that Moshe want to teach by breaking by breaking the I want just get back to one minute our final question which was okay after all these different interpretations why do they still keep the L the broken why didn't they just I know get rid of it so I think what many of you were were suggesting before and one simple understanding is because of all these messages because there's so many different ways that we can understand the message that mosha was teaching in order for them to remember each of these messages whether it was the M about the lesson of Holiness or whether it was the to understand the gravity of their sin to remind them not to sin again therefore said take these broken L put them next to the so that you'll never forget what caused you to sin and the lessons you learned from that however I want to share with you another interpretation another answer answer makes suggests a beautiful idea he says this wasn't meant to remind them to prevent them from sinning again it was to remind the people that you should not run away from your mistakes you should not run away from your mistakes some when we when we have a past of something that we've done or we're ashamed of very often our initial inclination is run away hide it it doesn't exist says MOS says mhe take these broken which symbolize the greatest sin the greatest sin that you've ever done and put them right next to the L because sometimes it's the journey towards those whole that enable you have to go through the broken L to eventually receive the full there's a famous uh there's a famous saying in the name of the kutbi that there's nothing as whole as a broken heart that sometimes when a person is broken when a person is in crisis when a person goes through a challenging time whether it's a sin that they commit or whatever it is that ultimately brings them back now why do I think this is so important why am I pushing to stick this in right before we finish we as a nation are broken and although the right now and although our Brokenness is not necessarily coming from specific sin or mistakes that we've made it is important to understand that when a person is going through a process of Brokenness sometimes that Brokenness although we wish it never happened and we would never wish that it we wish it doesn't continue and it ends nevertheless it's important to realize that moments of Brokenness moments of pain sometimes are opportunities to create something greater and I want to just read this with you because I think it's very beautiful this was a this was a quote that a short article that Sian RAV Mayer had had had written it was in it was in the Torah tidbits shout out to OU I think it was last week okay and it fits in exactly with this theme about creating things from broken pieces sh negri sharri mother of n negri who fell in battle and Tora sent me the two pictures below and wrote as follows several days ago this is Source 13 I attended a mosaic Workshop in order to create a mosaic it is necessary to shatter whole tiles into pieces with a hammer I came to the workshop in a highly emotional state and released all of my pain in Breaking the tiles and then while shattering the Iles and afterwards in gluing the pieces together I felt How Deeply significant and healing it was to have found a workshop like this following the loss of Mya my reality was shattered and I am Gathering up the pieces but I am not just Gathering them up I am making a new creation out of them I really and truly believe that this is what is demanded from me it's a Divine demand and also a demand for myself to take a broken heart my broken reality and create life a new and different life but life if they would show us a woman breaking tiles with a hammer and tell us that is she is creating something we would raise an eyebrow after all she is destroying not creating but without seeing the continuation of the story how she glues The Broken Pieces back together we would only see destruction I truly believe this is Sian R ra mayor talking that this is what all of us are going through together at this time the shattering has been so great we might think that everything has been destroyed but we must create something new with God's help out of the broken pieces our story will continue I'll end with the following thing points out and this isn't the time that we're in right now but he points out that the name of the month El is rash vot for good and also for it's also foron that inside the Aron KES there always was the complete L as well as the broken tablets because when a person is able to grow from his sins or from tragedy that beholds him and creates something greater that is what we're ultimately looking to do in our lives