Greetings Friends! Truly hope you had a great Purim. It is such a fun and meaningful holiday. Here in Mason City we had several students from Postville come and read the Megillah Esther. Meanwhile, after the City Council Meeting I made my way to Tifereth Israel for that reading and party. Always great to see friends and family there. Speaking of services: Our Erv Shabbat Service will be on Friday the 10th of March at 7:00PM and then our Midrash (Study Session) will be on Shabbat (Saturday) starting at 10:00AM. Hope to see
you in shul!
Ki Tisa
This week we read from Parsha Ki Tisa (Ex. 30:11 - 34:35). The words Ki Tisa are Hebrew for "when you take" as we read in the opening verse: "Hashem spoke to Moses, saying: When you take a census of the Children of Israel, according to their numbers, every man shall give Hashem an atonement for his soul when counting them..." What is going on? The Torah teaches that it is forbidden to count Jews in the ordinary manner so, when it is necessary to conduct a census it is done by having the people, rich and poor, contribute a half shekel each. And, then, the shekels were counted. There is another very wise thing that is going on here. Those shekels went directly to the upkeep of the Tabernacle. A holy deed. But there is more. When everybody gives the gift is greater and it truly raises the national goals of Israel. When everybody is in that means there is unity among the people and that bodes well for the nation.
Fit For Duty
We now read about the actually creating the Tabernacle and all it contained. Hashem tells Moses (Ex. 31:1) that He has chosen a thirteen year-old for that job. G-d gave Bezalel all the gifts necessary to create the task starting with a "G-oly spirit". I will suggest to you that this should be a requirement for any person who goes about their daily task. Do you do what you do with mindfulness of what Hashem would desire?
This week I spoke with a woman who had given up going to church. To be sure she is a faithful person. She acts with faith in her business and with kindness toward all. However when her church, during the pandemic, said that masking was "optional" she left and has not gone back. She asked me, "Michael, where is the kindness and the compassion for others in that act? Where is personal responsibility?" It's a good question. Do you put everyone at risk because some don't believe a mask will help save lives? What about that decision was...G-dly?
Also in this Parsha we are told that we must observe the Sabbaths (Ex.31:12). But why is it written in the plural? The sages say this refers to the two aspects of the Sabbath: "Remember" which refers to the positive commandments of Shabbat and "Observe" which refers to the negative commandments of Shabbat. The positive commandments are that we should pray, rest and enjoy. The negative commandments that we must not desecrate the day by creating...things.
Moses Didn't Believe G-d
There is a remarkable passage in this week's reading, "It happened as he [Moses] drew near the camp and saw the calf and the dances, that Moses' anger flared up. He threw down the Tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain." (Ex. 31:19). The great scholar Rabbi Abraham Twerski, of blessed memory, says this was the day Moses did not believe G-d.
There is a Midrash which states that when G-d said to Moses, “Go, descend – for your people that you brought up from Egypt have become corrupt,” Moses held on to the Tablets and did not believe that the Israelites had sinned. He said, “If I do not see it, I do not believe it,” for the Torah says, “It happened as he [Moses] drew near the camp and saw the calf and the dances,” hence, he did not break the Tablets until he saw it with his own eyes.
The Midrash continues: “Woe unto those people who testify to what they did not see. Is it possible that Moses did not believe it when G-d said to him, `your people have become corrupt?' But Moses wished to teach the Israelites proper behavior. Even if one hears something critical from a trustworthy person, one is not permitted to accept his word and take action on it if he does not see it himself”
What's Going On?
The resolution to this is that Moses did not believe G-d because he knew that G-d did not wish that he believe Him. Moses knew that G-d desires only what is proper, and because it is proper not to believe anything negative about others unless one sees it oneself, G-d did not want Moses to believe Him. Moses did not act “as if.” His example and teaching were factual.
There is a similar incident when G-d told Moses to go to Egypt to deliver the Israelites from their enslavement. Moses said, “I must first ask permission from my father-in-law, Jethro” (Ex. 4:18). How dare he refuse to follow G-d's command until he received Jethro's permission? Rabbi Chaim Shmulevits explains that Moses understood G-d's will, that because Jethro was hospitable to him when he fled from Pharaoh, G-d would not want him to depart without seeking his permission.
The Lesson
The Torah forbids speaking lashon hara (defamatory speech) and rechilus (talebearing). The Chafetz Chaim says that one who accepts lashon hara or talebearing is as sinful as the one who spreads them. In fact, even when one does see an apparent wrongdoing with one's own eyes, one should still give the person the benefit of doubt and assume that there must be compelling reasons for the person's action (Ethics of the Fathers 1:6).
If we observe Hillel's principle, “Do not do anything to others that you would not want done to you,” we can avoid both speaking and listening to lashon hara and talebearing.
Thanks for reading and Shabbat Shalom!
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