MARCH 12 • 2020 | 43
Spirit
torah portion
I
n the hierarchy of mistakes
we commit as human
beings, our tradition is quite
clear that idolatry is the most
egregious. The fundamental
objective of Torah is to help us
to understand the nature of the
relationship between
God and humanity.
And even though idola-
try is the direct opposite
of faith in God, this
week’
s Torah portion
demonstrates how
precarious the line is
between the two.
The narrative takes
place immediately fol-
lowing a long section
over the past few weeks,
when God described
a wide range of laws
to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
Finally, we are told,
“Upon finishing speaking with
him on Mt. Sinai, [God] gave
Moses the two tablets of the
Pact, stone tablets inscribed
with the finger of God.
” (Exodus
31:18)
What a glorious moment that
must have been! The promise
of our Exodus from Egypt, after
all, was not freedom … but the
opportunity to use our liberty
in order to build a new society
in the image of God. It would
not be an overstatement to sug-
gest that this moment was the
culmination of human history
up to that point in time — the
beginning of our national iden-
tity and partnership with God
in the project of creating a new
and better world.
And then, before a word can
be uttered, before a hand can
be lifted in celebration — the
very next verse informs us that
we may not be ready for such
self-determination: “When the
people saw that Moses was so
long in coming down from the
mountain, the people gathered
against Aaron and said to him,
‘
Come, make us a god who
shall go before us, for that fel-
low Moses — the envoy who
brought us from the land of
Egypt — we do not know what
has happened to him.
’
”
The golden calf was born
of fear, but it was also a
product of ignorance. The
people didn’
t know what
happened to their leader,
and so they demanded
someone — something
— else. We can certainly
relate to that. What might
we be capable of when we
feel lost and afraid? Who
might we turn to when we
become disillusioned? How
will we treat our precious
freedom?
As much as we have pro-
gressed, we are not so different
from our ancestors long ago.
Much more than a chronicle of
ancient events, the Exodus is a
template for the human jour-
ney that fills each of our lives.
The Israelites spend much of
the Torah vacillating between
walking God’
s path and turning
from it. We, too, are challenged
all the time — and as much as
we might like to believe we are
generally on the righteous path,
the subtle message embedded in
this week’
s Torah portion is that
it does not take a lot to move
us from a good place to a bad
place.
It is up to us to bring full
intention to our shared goal
of living good lives, building
strong relationships and creat-
ing a successful society. When
we do so, I am confident we will
all reach the top of the moun-
tain together.
Rabbi Mark Miller is senior rabbi at
Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Township.
Parshat Ki
Tisa: Exodus
30:11-34:35;
Numbers
19:1-23;
Ezekiel
36:16-38.
(Shabbat
Parah)
Rabbi Mark
Miller
Walking God’s Path
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