Clearly, subject and language join to underscore the impact on Moses of being in God’s presence for an extended period of time. Admittedly, she looked different, but then on her long trip the doll had seen many remarkable sights and gone through many searing experiences. Moses’ first trip up Mt. As his tuberculosis worsened, Kafka decided to return to Prague where he would soon die at age 41, but not before buying the girl another doll. But we enter the work week illuminated and restored with a touch of eternity to carry us through the ordeal of the mundane. Otherwise, the LORD will attack them.”, 23 Moses told the LORD, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai because you warned us: ‘Set boundaries around the mountain and consecrate it.’”, 24 The LORD told him, “Go down, and come back up with Aaron, but the priests and the people must not break through to go up to the LORD. One view suggests that God actually touched Moses as he cowered in the crevice of the rock. The other conjectures that as God instructed Moses atop Mount Sinai, Moses absorbed some of the divine sparks that emanated from God’s mouth (Tanhuma, Ki Tissa, no. Sinai. In the New Testament, this day is called Pentecost, which means the … Grace should be visible. The midrash imagines the change to have occurred in one of two ways. 21 The LORD told Moses, “Go down and warn the people so they don’t break through to look at the LORD, and many of them perish. The description interfaces with two earlier passages. 8 All the people answered together: “We’ll do everything that the LORD has said!”. The visible manifestation of his inner state sets him apart from the ordinary or conventional. Moses was changed internally and externally by his experience on Mount Sinai. As the Israelites grow uneasy over the delay in Moses’ return from Mount Sinai the first time, they suspect that he is but an ordinary, fallible mortal (33:1). About two months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai and set up camp. 19:1 On the third New Moon after the Israelis went out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came to the desert of Sinai. Answer: Moses actually went up on Mount Sinai several times to meet God as recorded in Exodus 19 through the end of the book. The labor of a lifetime exudes an aura of equanimity. Today, Mt. Thereafter, Moses would cover his face with a veil, except when he entered the Tent of Meeting to talk with God or when he addressed the nation (34:29-35). This day is known as the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Harvest, or by its Hebrew name, Shavuot. By expressing our reverence in rest, we gain a measure of renewal. Anyone who touches the mountain is certainly to be put to death. How the Five Books of Moses are divided up into weekly portions. My Jewish Learning is a not-for-profit and relies on your help, Commentary on Parashat Ki Tisa, Exodus 30:11 - 34:35. Provided by the Jewish Theological Seminary, a Conservative rabbinical seminary and university of Jewish studies. Like other desert archeological sites, Mt. All Rights Reserved. Moses arrived at Mount Sinai three months after leaving Egypt. Depending on the reckoning, Moses climbed Mt. Then Moses reported all the words of the people back to the LORD. Of the many meanings in this profound parable I wish to focus on the most obvious: that a transformative experience alters us externally as well as internally. 12 You are to set boundaries for the people all around: ‘Be very careful that you don’t go up on the mountain or touch the side of it. Is that not the mark of a great portrait painter like Rembrandt that he makes the face reveal the soul of his subject? The story is told about Franz Kafka that the last time he visited Berlin, he chanced upon a little girl in a park awash in tears. Similarly the noun for “veil” masveh, is unique to our narrative. 37). As the light radiating from Moses’ face attested to his relationship to God, so integrating Shabbat into the rhythm of our lives infuses an extrasensory dimension of existence into our being. At best, the spiritual respite has transfigured our demeanor, like Kafka’s doll. 10 The LORD told Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. God called Moses up Mount Sinai and gave him the Ten Commandments. 18 Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the LORD had come down in fire on it. Exodus 19:1-25. The second time that Moses ascends Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments–that is after the debacle of the golden calf–the Torah uncharacteristically gives us a profusion of details. 9 The LORD told Moses, “Look, I’m coming to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may listen when I speak with you and always believe you.” Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. Janus-like the Sabbath reminds us of the cataclysms by which God created the cosmos, even as it provides us a tad of a foretaste of the peacefulness that awaits us in the world-to-come. Either way, whether by physical or spiritual means, the aftermath of the golden calf effected a lasting transformation in the appearance of Moses. Five books of story, law, and poetry divided into 54 weekly portions. (Jack Wertheimer, ed., The Uses of Tradition, p. 279). If they obey me and keep my laws, they will become my special people.’ Moses went back down and told the Israelites what Jehovah had said. Sinai about eight times to meet with the Lord. Sinai is described in Exodus 19:2–7. It was literally God’s hand that shielded Moses as God passed by to give him a glimpse of the divine presence (33:22). The first ascent. 16 When morning came on the third day, there was thunder and lightning, with a heavy cloud over the mountain, and the very loud sound of a ram’s horn. 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain: “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and declare to the sons of Israel, 4 ‘You saw what I did to the Egyptians, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. This day is known as the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Harvest, or by its Hebrew name, Shavuot. 13 No hand is to touch that person, but he is certainly to be stoned or shot; whether animal or person, he is not to live.’ They are to approach the mountain only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast.”, 14 When Moses went down from the mountain to the people, he consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. The doll had merely gone on a trip and, in fact, Kafka met her as she was about to leave. Sinai still displays the scorched remnants of God's 1300 BC visit to provide Moses with the Ten Commandments. In the New Testament, this day is called Pentecost, which means the fiftieth day after Passover. On a smaller scale, what happened to Moses is replicated inour own lives each week with the observance of Shabbat, a topic taken up twice in our parashah (31:12-16; 34:21). Smoke went up from it like smoke from a kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently. Moses arrived at Mount Sinai three months after leaving Egypt. Transformed by his experience, Moses stands out among mortals, a leader without need of special garments. Pronunced: TORE-uh, Origin: Hebrew, the Five Books of Moses. 17 Moses brought the people from the camp to meet God, and they stood at the base of the mountain. The second time that Moses ascends Mount Sinai to get the Ten Commandments–that is after the debacle of the golden calf–the Torah uncharacteristically gives us a profusion of details. This is the point of the closing narrative of our parashah. He promised that if the little girl would return to the park the next day, he would bring her a letter from her doll. And so Kafka did for several weeks, arriving each morning at the park with a letter for his new friend. Thus when we find ourselves in the presence of a truly great scholar of Torah we thank God in a berakhah [blessing] for having endowed someone who fears God with divine wisdom. Sinai's relics have been well preserved by … When he inquired as to the reason for her distress, she sobbed that she had lost her doll. While the noun keren–meaning “horn”–shows up often in the Tanakh [Bible], the verb karan (same consonants), meaning “to emit rays,” appears only here. Along with the doll came a letter in which Kafka insisted that this was the doll that belonged to his friend. Jehovah called to Moses, who went up on the mountain, and told him: ‘I saved the Israelites. 2 They had set out from Rephidim and arrived at the desert of Sinai where they camped in the desert.
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