This week in the eventful Parsha of Ki Tisa, Moshe goes up to the top of the mountain to confer with Gd. When he doesn't return on time the people become uneasy. Once again, we, readers who read this each year, can see how this is people broken by slavery and trust in Gd and in Moshe still eludes them. Although they have accepted the yoke of the commandments, they still need the presence of a visible leader who is a strong reassuring presence.
When Moshe's return is delayed, Aaron, perhaps stalling for time, or maybe to placate this confused mass of people, begins the process of smelting a calf of gold to worship. As Moses descends, holding the tablets inscribed by Gd in his arms, he hears the sounds below and witnesses the apostasy of the people and then Moshe does a very human thing. He loses his temper and hurls the tablets to the ground.*
וַיִּתֵּ֣ן אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה כְּכַלֹּתוֹ֙ לְדַבֵּ֤ר אִתּוֹ֙ בְּהַ֣ר סִינַ֔י שְׁנֵ֖י לֻחֹ֣ת הָעֵדֻ֑ת לֻחֹ֣ת אֶ֔בֶן כְּתֻבִ֖ים בְּאֶצְבַּ֥ע אֱלֹהִֽים׃
When He finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the Pact, stone tablets inscribed with the finger of God. Exodus 31:18
וַֽיְהִ֗י כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר קָרַב֙ אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וַיַּ֥רְא אֶת־הָעֵ֖גֶל וּמְחֹלֹ֑ת וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֣ף מֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיַּשְׁלֵ֤ךְ מִיָּדָו֙ אֶת־הַלֻּחֹ֔ת וַיְשַׁבֵּ֥ר אֹתָ֖ם תַּ֥חַת הָהָֽר׃
As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.
The Golden Calf was a dreadful mistake, a breach of trust and belief that sorely tested Gd's patience,(Moshe's as well!) but is the breaking of the tablets an ending point in The People's relationship to Gd or a beginning? Torah is full of points of separation and then reparation so perhaps it is both a break and a new beginning. The first set of tablets was written by Gd, but the second set, written after a messy and violent reconciliation, are written this time by Gd and Moshe together.
In Shemot Raba 46:1 an interesting commentary appears to help console Moshe following the broken tablets*. Was Moshe regretful of his actions?
Moses said: Israel had someone to plead on their behalf; who will plead on my behalf? He began regretting the breaking of the tablets. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Do not regret the first tablets, as they were only the Ten Commandments alone. But on the second tablets that I am giving you there will be halakhot, midrash, and aggadot.
Here the rabbis tackle the question of how Moshe felt after his outburst. Here is his consolation, where the second version of the law included both the Written and the Oral Law. The first tablets were incomplete and the second was a completion. Without the Oral Law this post would be much shorter because there wouldn't be commentary to add! Gd gives and humans contemplate and interpret. A partnership.
Perhaps from this Midrash we can learn that mistakes, even terrible mistakes happen to people, to communities and to nations and despite the dreadful implications that result from those many human mistakes, life continues onward with the possibility that mistakes can be a bridge to something different, or even better. In 2025 this a comforting thought on so many levels.
The video that follows is an introduction to the Japanese art of Kintsugi, which takes pottery which has been broken and carefully and with quiet intention, places the pieces back together and seals them with liquid gold. This creates a new version of the original pottery. The first version was beautiful and its second creation is something new, special and also beautiful. The mistakes remain visible and even highlighted, but highlighted in gold. I hope that you will view this short video about the art of Kintsugi and consider how it connects to the breaking of the tablets, and what beauty can come from broken pieces.
So with this lengthy explanation of Kintsugi and the breaking of the tablets, the shortest of poems.
Broken doesn't mean the end.
Gather the pieces.
Seal the cracks.
Get up!
History is still being written.
Sending you wishes for a festive Purim and a Shabbat Shalom.
Leann
*Where did the broken tablets end up? This midrash attempts to explain.
It is said in Bava Batra 14b, “There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there,” which, according to the opinion of Rabbi Meir, teaches that something else was in the Ark besides the tablets themselves?"
לֻּחֹ֔ת
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