Yours and Mine

Ki Tissa
Exodus 30:11-34:35

Précis: The parasha begins with a census of the people, accomplished by the collection of a half shekel, and with a description of Tabernacle items, including the basin, anointing oil, and incense. The holy work of building the Tabernacle is to be interrupted by Shabbat. Then we return to narrative. Moses is given the two tablets and he descends from Mount Sinai. There he sees the people worshipping the Golden Calf.  The tablets are smashed and the evil doers are punished. Moses returns up the mountain, and we learn the 13 attributes of God. Moses carves a new set of tablets, and returns to the People, his face radiant.

Exodus 32:7 "Your people have become corrupt." 

Moses is high up on Mt. Sinai, while below the Israelites have made a Golden Calf. God tells Moses of this, and of His plan to destroy the people.  Moses pleads for the people, reminding God about all they had done to deserve forgiveness: they had believed Moses’ declaration of the Exodus and they had accepted the Torah. Our text here says, with God speaking to Moses, “Your people have become corrupt."

A midrash tells us that Moses responded as follows: "Why is it that when the people are good, You call them 'My people' but when they are bad, You call them 'your people' (meaning Moses' people). If they are Your people, You should always call them 'My people.'"

Once again, midrash is instructive in explaining human relationships. Is it not the case that we engage in similar behaviors ourselves? When our children misbehave, do we tell our spouses “Your son” has done such and such? When we observe our congregants or fellow members of a group engaged in inappropriate behaviors, do they suddenly turn those engaged in improper conduct into “them” instead of remaining a part of “us”?

It’s easy to make this disassociation from those we usually care about. But when acquaintances and loved ones are “acting badly” we need to remember all of the things they have previously done to deserve forgiveness, and remember that they are still a part of "us".

The Light of Creation is Eternal

Tetzaveh

Exodus 27:20-30:10

Précis: The parasha continues with a description of ritual items in the Tabernacle, including oil for the lamp, priestly clothing, the ephod, breastplate, robes, plate, and miter. Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar are designated as Priests and are consecrated with sacrifices and ceremony. The parasha concludes with a description of the daily sacrifices and incense to be offered at the Tabernacle.

Exodus 27:20 “And you will command the Israelite people to bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to burn regularly.”

This week’s reading makes a change from how the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and its equipment are to be made to how they are to be used in worship. As a kind of recapitulation of creation, God’s first command is to light a “ner tamid” (usually translated as “eternal light” because its oil was replenished every day, and kept burning all of the time).

“Light” has great prominence in the Bible. Light is called“good” in the Creation story. The most terrible plagues in the Exodus from Egypt take place in darkness. Midrash (Exodus Rabbah 36:2) suggests that God doesn't need light in the Mishkan, but that the ner tamid is for human beings so that "you can return light to Me as I give light to you."

Today, the ner tamid in our sanctuaries serves as a visible reminder that we are linked to the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and to the Temple in Jerusalem. Both were at the center of our ancestors’ worship. But perhaps even more important, since all of Creation began with light, the ner tamid is an ever-present reminder of the blessings of God’s on-going creation in which we play a part.