Breaking the Law: Ki Tissah
Posted March 5, 2007
By Yosef I. Abramowitz
With the creation of the Golden Calf, we witness a major transgression by the Israelites. Yet they are not the only ones to break the law. Indeed, it is Moses who literally breaks The Law, carved by the finger of God, by smashing the tablets. He later breaks the sixth Commandment by ordering the slaughter of those involved in the calf incident.
Moses goes up to Sinai three times. In the first, he comes down and recites the Ten Commandments before the people. The next two times he ascends, it is to bring down a physical representation of the law. As Moses’ teaching method evolves from the spoken to the physical, the desires of the people also move from proclaiming “we will do and we will listen” to expressing a need for something more tangible to anchor their worship. Read more
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