The Freedom to Seek What Is Beyond Us

Shabbat Chol Moed Pesach
Exodus 33:12-34:26

On the Shabbat which takes place during Passover, we omit the regular Torah reading and instead chant this particular section from the Book of Exodus. To set the stage, the Israelites had danced before the Golden Calf and Moses had shattered the tablets. He prayed for the salvation of the Jewish People, went back up the mountain, and returned 40 days later with a second set of tablets.

There is a critical distinction between the initial set of tablets and the second: the first was created by God's own hand, while the second set was carved by Moses. After the incident of the Golden Calf and the shattering of the first tablets, the People were no longer “worthy” of receiving God’s direct gift; they no longer were filled with the absolute awe-inspired faith in God which led them to accept the initial tablets with the phrase “naase v’nishma” (“we will do and we will hear”), expressing acceptance even before they knew what the Law would be. The immediate communion of Revelation had been lost.


The second sets of tablets were made by the hand of a man. To once again attain the spirituality which accompanied Revelation at Sinai would require an ongoing and continuing effort. The sages tell us that the direct connection of Revelation will be restored only when the Messiah arrives.

This is an apt metaphor for the Jewish experience. We remember the possibility of Revelation while we seek the the Ineffable, even though we may not experience it during our lifetimes. We reach for the stars but our feet are firmly planted in the earth. While some may see this as a dark vision, I believe it is symbolic of the heroic belief that human beings always have the ability to seek that which is beyond them. As such, it is a fitting theme during the Festival of Freedom.

Shabbat Shalom, Chag Sameach.

Private Time and Pesach

Acharei Mot
Leviticus 16:1 -18:30


Précis: Acharei Mot begins with Adonai speaking to Moses after the death (acharei mot) of Aaron’s sons. It describes the rituals for Yom Kippur, including the prescribed sacrifices. There are specific details about the purification of the Sanctuary, vessels, and the priests. Following this description, rules for the slaughter of meat (including the prohibition against eating blood) are reiterated. The parasha concludes with a listing of prohibited marriages.


This year, we read the parasha Acharei Mot on Shabbat HaGadol, the Shabbat which takes place just prior to the Festival of Passover. Thinking about the holiday we are about to celebrate, it’s interesting to note that medieval Italian commentator Sforno observes that the obligation for the Passover sacrifice, unlike all of the other sacrifices enumerated in the Bible, was to be performed by the individual family. It specifically was not a communal event because, he says, every individual was involved in the miracle of freedom. We were all present sat Sinai.

Usually, when Jews engage in ritual events, the rite takes on a communal character. Indeed, we usually try to make personal life-cycle events communal in nature (i.e., brit milah, b'nai mitzvah, and funeral) because there is a sense that the community as a whole should share in joys and sorrows. Passover, and Sforno’s suggestion, reminds us that we can't forget that sometimes we need "family time."

We need private “family time” to buttress our communal experiences. It is the personal which permits the communal, the personal Passover sacrifice which recalls the communal connection to Sinai. It is the father and mother who explain this connection to the children, and it is within the context of the family that we symbolically recreate the Exodus and Revelation.

I wish all a chag Pesach sameach.