Torah Portion

The Reconciliation
Between God And Man

much as it is possible for a mortal man
to perceive the infinite, transcendent
divine. Not only does God agree, but
he further asks Moses to bring another
set of tablets upon which He can again
inscribe the symbol of the covenant.
The commandments at the end of
the reading (Exodus 34:10-26) are
essentially a repetition of the same
commandments that were previously
commanded before the golden calf
(Exodus 23:10 - 23), to indicate the
e Torah reading for Shabbat
hol HaMoed is ordained by completion of the reconciliation
between God and the Jewish people
the Talmud, Tractate
with
the establishment of the covenant.
egillah 31a.
The
reading for Shabbat Chol
Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo ben Isaac,
HaMoed
of both Passover and Sukkot
1040-1105), in his Talmud commen-
treats
the
coming together again —
tary states the reason for the selection:
perhaps
on
an even more intimate level
"There is there (within these verses) the
— of the Jewish people and God. Two
commandments of the
very different aspects of this
Sabbath and the festivals and
reconciliation are emphasized
the intermediate days ..."
on these two different days.
The reason for this read-
The
custom is to read Song of
ing, according to Rashi, is
on Shabbat Chol
Songs
rather prosaic. There is a ref-
HaMoed
Pesach and
erence to it in all three
on Shabbat Chol
Ecclesiastes
aspects: Shabbat, yom tov
HaMoed Sukkot.
and chol hamoed. The read-
Shir Hashirim celebrates
ing itself is certainly a power-
the
beautiful love relationship
ful one with a theme of rec-
RABBI
between
God and His people
intimacy
onciliation and
ELIEZER
with
the
joy
of sensual love
between God and man after a
COHEN
poetry.
It
expresses
the long-
wrenching estrangement.
Special
to
ing
and
pleasure
the
two
Immediately preceding
The Jewish News lovers enjoy in their relation-
this section of the Torah, we
ship. Kohelet, on the other
have the story of the golden
hand, is a book describing"
calf. The Jewish people, con-
the
quest
of
the human being for a
vinced that Moses would not return
meaningful
existence
and the repeated
from Mt. Sinai, insists that Aaron the
despair
as
one
human
activity after
high priest fashion an idol for them to
another
reveals
its
ultimate
worthless-
worship. Moses, although already
ness,
until
all
are
finally
rejected,
leav-
warned by God as to the condition of
ing only service of God. On Pesach,
the nation, views the frenzied idolatry
the positive joy of serving God is cele-
and breaks the tablets of the law that
brated; on Sukkot, the negative mean-
were written by God as the symbol of
inglessness of all else is pointed out.
the relationship between God and His
This dual aspect of the relationship
people. The symbol, as well as the
of
the
Jewish people with God is also
covenant it seems, has been shattered;
reflected
in the portion from the
had it not been for the entreaties of
prophets
read
on both days. Each
Moses, God would have even physically
comes from Ezekiel, with the wondrous
destroyed the nation. He relents, but
survival of the Jews celebrated in the
insists: "I will send my intermediary
prophecy of the dry bones coming back
before you ... because I myself will not
to life, which is read on Shabbat Chol
be in your midst because you are a
HaMoed
Pesach, while the rejection
stubborn people, lest I destroy you on
and
destruction
of the enemy nations
the way" (Exodus 33:3).
in
the
prophecy
of ultimate war of Gog
The Torah reading begins with
and
Magog
is
read
on Shabbat Chol
Moses' plea to God to again directly
HaMoed Sukkot.
involve himself with the Jewish people
Whether as Kohelet or as the lovers
and, upon His agreement, Moses urges
of Shir Hashirim, whether as the resur-
further that God reveal His very nature
rected bones of Ezekiel's vision or as the
to him. In this request, too, God
survivors
of the ultimate war against
accedes to Moses' wishes, at least as
evil — the Jewish people again become
God's beloved and He their God and
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Shabbat Chol
HaMoed Sukkot:
Exodus 33:12-34:26•
Numbers 29:17-22;
Ezekiel 38:18-36.16

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