Parshat Ki Tisa: The Weekly Parsha Story Illustrated by AI

Hello everyone. Today I'm going to tell you about one of the most dramatic events in the Torah. You're probably curious, right? So, let's get started. Hashem asked Moshe to conduct a special census of the Jewish people. But it wasn't just any census. Hashem told Moshe, "When you want to count the Jewish people, do not count them directly. Instead, ask each person to give a half shekele. That's how we'll know how many people there are." Why? Because counting Jews directly is not good. It might cause eye and harah, the evil eye. So instead, count the coins and you'll know how many Jews there are. When the Jewish people brought the money, what did they do with it? These coins were used for something very special to purchase the offerings for the Mishkan for the entire year. This way, every Jew was a partner in the work of the Mishan. What a wonderful idea. Afterwards, Hashem taught Moshe how to prepare the special anointing oil. It was like a magical perfume that contained a unique blend. With this oil, they anointed all the vessels of the Mishan and the priests. It was absolutely forbidden to prepare it for any other use. And now the incense. Wow, that was something special. 11 different ingredients were mixed together to create a wonderful scent unlike any other in the world. Also, the incense was forbidden to be made for personal use. It was intended only for the Mishkan. And then Hashem chose a special person called Betsel, the son of Uri, the son of Wh. He received special wisdom to build the Mishan and all its vessels. He worked together with Oholav. They were the main craftsmen who taught everyone else how to build the Mishkan and its vessels. Hashem reminded Moshe how important it is to keep Shabbat. Even when you are building the Mishkan, said God, you must not work on Shabbat. Shabbat is holier than anything else. And then comes the dramatic moment. While Moshe was on Mount Si for 40 days and 40 nights, the Jewish people were down below. And they began to worry, "Where is Moshe? Why is he delayed?" They asked in fear, "What will happen if he doesn't come back?" The Midrush says that they saw Moshe in the heavens as if he had passed away. They thought Moshe wouldn't return. And they decided to do something terrible, the golden calf. They came to Auron and said to him, "Make us a god. Aaron tried to delay them, but they insisted and threatened him. Aaron saw that if he didn't make them an idol, they would kill him. He asked them to bring the jewelry of the women, hoping that they would refuse to give it, and there would be nothing to build the calf with. But the men gave their jewelry. They threw the gold into the fire, and suddenly a calf came out. Up above, God said to Moshe, "Go down quickly. Your people have sinned." Moshe descended quickly and in his hands were the Lahat Ha Brit two- stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were engraved. When he saw the people dancing around the calf, he stopped in shock. He threw the tablets to the ground and broke them. Moshe took the calf, burned it, ground it into fine powder, scattered it on the water, and forced the sinners to drink it. Then he called out, "Whoever is for God, come to me. Anyone who values the honor of Hashem, join me. The tribe of Ley stood by him and together with Moshe, they killed 3,000 of the Jews who had sinned with the golden calf. I'll tell you that those who sinned weren't really Jews, but rather from the arvrav gentiles who saw the Jews leaving Egypt and wanted to join them to escape. They were the ones who sinned. Moshe didn't give up. He went up the mountain again and asked Hashem, "Forgive them, and if not, erase me from your book." Hashem agreed to forgive, but said that from now on, an angel would accompany the people instead of him. Moshe wasn't satisfied with that. He asked, "Please show me your glory." He wanted to understand how God governs the world. Hashem agreed to show him a bit of his glory and explained to him the 13 attributes of mercy, the way he forgives sinners when they repent. Moshe went up the mountain again for 40 days and returned with new tablets. This time when he came down, his face glowed with a wondrous light. He had to put a veil over his face because the people couldn't look at him. Afterwards, Hashem commanded the three pilgrimage festivals, Pesak, Shàuote, and Sukkot, and reminded them of the prohibition against idolatry and the commandment of the Shabbat. He especially warned not to associate with idol worshippers so that we wouldn't learn from their ways. After all this, what happened? We'll tell you about that in the next episode.