Voices for WRJ: Parashat Ki Tisa

I knew when I chose to write this week’s D’var Torah on this portion that it was my birth portion but I did not realize that this year, it would come the week after my birthday. I didn’t know that my birthday would be on Purim and that this was the Torah portion that would be read on the Friday night that has been designated as Centennial Shabbat. A rabbi once told me that we are born to our Torah portions. So, since we often say that there are no coincidences, this was obviously the portion I was meant to write about! Still I have never been one to write traditional Dvrei Torah and this one is no exception. I hope you enjoy it. This is a parashah with some events that I was not aware of and others with which we are very familiar. When the census is taken at Sinai, the Israelite men “shall pay Adonai a ransom for himself on being enrolled (Exodus 30:12).” So we join our sisterhoods and pay our dues and hopefully become donors to other projects that are significant to our local and/or international concerns. In Exodus 30:22, Adonai instructs Moses in the taking of spices. Moses should gather, among other spices and herbs, 500 weight of Myrrh, 250 of cinnamon and aromatic cane… and a hin of olive oil. The Centennial Cookbook Project nearly jumps off the page. In Exodus 31:12 – 17, God tells Moses to explain to the people that they must keep the Sabbath, do no work, and honor God, who labored for six days and rested on the seventh “for this is a sign between Me and you throughout the ages.” The Centennial Shabbat services created by several members of WRJ and their daughters who are rabbis is a beautiful embodiment of this. The next event in this portion is not just significant. It is possibly the seminal moment in the history of the Jewish people. Moses goes up Mount Sinai, stays for 40 days and 40 nights while the people below become more and more agitated, probably afraid that Moses will never return. In The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, it is referred to as “Crisis: The Golden Calf Episode.” In my estimation, this is a bit of an understatement! So with Aaron’s help, the people forge and then worship the Golden Calf. It has always been my contention that Aaron assisted the people to keep them busy until Moses’ return without considering what Moses’ reaction would be. Moses is, of course, as we know, beyond furious and even though “the tablets were God’s work, and the writing was God’s writing, incised upon the tablets (30:16),” Moses “hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain (32:19).” How often have we wished we could walk away from a difficult situation when committee members were intent on sabotaging our best laid plans? However, like Moses we listen to calmer voices and like Moses, when Aaron explains to him how the people wanted an idol so he helped them create one, Moses calms down, realizes that all is not lost and agrees to talk to God and seek forgiveness for the sinful mob. So, God promises to help Moses lead their people “to a land flowing with milk & honey (Exodus 33:3)” and a short while later commands Moses to return up the mountain and instructs him to “carve two tablets of stone like the first tablets that you shattered (Exodus 34:2).” A little shame and blame? Try not to go there! I do not claim to be a Moses but I do promise to do whatever I can to help you as you continue to plan and implement your celebrations for this exciting year. At the end of the parashah, it is said that Moses was physically transformed;  that “the skin on his face was radiant (Exodus 34:30).” I doubt that that will happen to any of us but I do hope that the Centennial Shabbat and the events during WRJ’s Centennial year will help to transform you and your relationships within WRJ, both locally and internationally. I hope your Centennial Shabbatot are spiritual and uplifting and that being in your congregations with your sisters will be a transformative moment for you and those who are there with you. As you light your Shabbat candles, I hope that their glow will radiate to those around you and you will know the joy of being a part of a once in a lifetime occurrence, the 100^th Birthday of WRJ and the opportunity to be “inspired by the past and committed to the future.”