Lara King – Year 9

Ki Tisa

This week’s parashah is Ki Tisa. In this parashah, Moshe is on Har Sinai receiving information from God about the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. Little did he know, the Israelites have been worshipping the Golden Calf as they thought that Moshe wouldn’t return. 

When God discovers the Israelites have been worshipping this Golden Calf he threatens to destroy the errant nation, but Moshe begs and pleads on their behalf. You see, when Moshe descends from the mountain carrying the Aseret haDibrot, seeing the people dancing about their idol, he smashes tablets, destroys the Golden Calf, and has the primary culprits put to death. He then returns to God to say: “If You do not forgive them, blot me out from the book that You have written.” Whilst God forgives them, he says the punishment for their sins will be felt for generations to come. 

So now, God prepares a new set of tablets and Moshe once more ascends the mountain, where God re-inscribes the covenant on these 2^nd tablets. On the mountain, Moshe is also granted a vision of the divine 13 Attributes of Mercy. Moshe is so full of joy and radiance that he must cover his face with a veil, which he removes only to speak with God and to teach his laws to the people.

To me, the main message in this parashah is that we should always have faith and remain loyal. Just because Moshe hadn’t returned at 40 days and 40 nights on the dot, didn’t mean he wasn’t coming at all. In fact, the same can be said about being late in the morning and being confronted by a teacher. The parashah tells the story of the first major test of faith given to the Jewish people. From our ancestors mistakes, we can and have learned over the past couple thousand years to stick together and have faith. I think it’s fair to say that everyone of us will experience a test of faith like the one in this parashah (maybe on a slightly smaller scale, but a test nonetheless) and it’s important that we all remember to remain positive and loyal to everyone in our lives.