B"H

Friday, Adar1- 21, 5784 / March 1, 2024

In this week's Parsha, Ki Tisa, we read about one of the gravest sins committed by the Jewish people - the sin of the Golden Calf. The Torah tells us, "And the people saw that Moshe delayed coming down from the mountain, so the people gathered around Aaron and they said to him, 'Rise up and make for us gods that shall go before us; for as for Moshe, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'" 

Q.   Why did they think that Moshe would not come back?

A.  Moshe went up Mount Sinai to receive the Torah and was to return on the 40th day.  The day Moshe went up was not to be included.  The people, however, began their count from that day.  According to their count, Moshe didn’t return on the 40th day, so they made the Golden Calf.   

Q.  Why did a calf emerge from the fire?

A.  Before Joseph died, he commanded that his bones be taken out of Egypt, at the time of the Exodus, and be buried in Israel.  After Joseph died, Pharaoh had Joseph's coffin placed in the Nile River.  Pharaoh thought that, without Joseph’s remains, the Jewish people would not be able to leave Egypt. 

When the time for the Exodus came, Moshe went to the Nile and put in a plate with the inscription, "Come up ox," because in Jacob's blessings, Joseph is likened to an ox.  Immediately, Joseph's casket rose to the surface and was taken out with them when they left Egypt.  Someone threw this plate with the words,“Come up ox,” into the fire containing the gold, and a Golden Calf emerged.

Q.  Parshat Ki Tisa has 139 verses.  Yet, in the Shabbat Torah reading the Kohen and Levi (first two Aliyot) take up 92 verses! The remaining five Aliyot together contain only 47 verses!  Why is the majority of the Parsha given to the Kohen and Levi?

A.  The only tribe that did not worship the Golden Calf was the Tribe of Levi, from whom the Kohen and Levi descend.  Our sages divided the Parsha this way, so that the entire story of the Golden Calf will be read for the Kohen and Levi, whose ancestors were not involved in the sin of the Golden Calf!   Calling up anyone else for the reading of this tragic episode would be embarrassing, for it would be a reminder of the terrible sin of their ancestors.

Q. Our sages say, “The Two Tablets were equal.” However, The writing on one of the Tablets was more than on the other, so what do they mean by equal?

A. On one of the Tablets were engraved the mitzvot between us and G-d. On the other Tablet, were the mitzvot between one person and another. Our sages teach us that both categories are equal. We must be as careful with the mitzvot between each other as with the mitzvot between us and G-d.

SHABBAT  SHALOM

Montreal candle lighting time: 5:24 / Shabbat ends: 6:28

UNITED WE STAND IN PRAYER FOR OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN ISRAEL

& FOR THE WELFARE OF THE CAPTIVES. MAY THEY BE RELEASED NOW.