Key tisa, which literally means “That you will raise,” is the name of this week’s parsha (Torah portion). The verse continues with, “The heads of the children of Yisrael to redeem them and give a man atonement of his soul to haShem (god) in redeeming them and there will not be in them a plague in their redemption.”
Basically we are talking here of the first census of the people, but I do find it interesting that the raising of the people’s head is important in their redemption and the preventing of a plague amongst them. I would enjoy hearing anyone’s thoughts regarding this.
Moving along, we read that everyone is to give a 1/2 shekel (a shekel was their currency) and this was required of every male 20 and older. It is this 1/2 shekel that is raised up to god (and is called trumah which we talked about a couple of weeks ago) that atones for the souls. The money is for the tent of meeting. The narrative then continues with haShem telling Moshe (Moses) about a copper basin and base to go between the tent of meeting and the altar, so Aharon and his sons can wash their hands and feet and not die.
We then learn of haShem telling Moshe how to make the anointing oil and the temple incense. After this we learn that Betzalel, son of Uri, son of Chur from the tribe of Yehuda (Judah) has been filled with the spirit of Elokim (another name for god meaning powers) and now has the wisdom and ability to make everything, and Ahaliav, son of Achisamach of the tribe of Dan is to assist him, along with all those who already have a natural talent in the various crafts needed to make everything for the mishcan (tabernacle) and the clothes for the cohanim (priests).
Moshe is then told to remind the people that they still need to observe the shabbat, for it is a sign between haShem and the generations to make it known who sanctifies the people, and to observe the shabbat for it is sacred to the people, that desecrators will be put to death, and that a person working on shabbat will have his soul cut off from the people. Six days it is ok to work, and the 7th day is a day of complete rest, sacred to god. HaShem finishes speaking and give Moshe the two tablets of testimony, written with the finger of god.
However the people see that Moshe is late coming down and approach Aharon to make gods for them. Aharon tells them to give him the gold earrings that their families are wearing. Aharon takes the gold earrings and fashions a golden calf. The translation I have says it is a molten calf, however in modern Hebrew the word maychah means a mask, so it could be translated as a calf mask. The people then exclaim, “These are the gods, Yisrael, that raised you out of Egypt.”
Aharon builds an altar and says they will celebrate the next day. The next day arrives and the people get up early and give offerings, and then eat, drink, and make merry.
At this point, god tells Moshe what is up with the people, and calls the people stiff-necked (for the first time) and tells Moshe that he is ready to kill the people and make Moshe the father of the people. Moshe, manages to convince god not to wipe the people out and then goes down the mountain.
When he sees what the people are doing, Moshe breaks the tablets, burns and grinds up the calf, scatters it into the water, and makes the children of Yisrael drink it. He then calls for all those with haShem to come to him and the tribe of Levi joins him. He orders them to kill and 3000 people die.
He then tells the people they have sinned and he is going back up the mountain to atone for the sin, which he then does. But before he does, he moves the tent of meeting out of the camp and we hear that his attendant, Y’hoshua (Joshua) never leaves the tent. He also makes two new tablets to bring up the mountain for god to write on again.
Up on the mountain a second time, Moshe is told how god will drive out the current inhabitants of the land, and the people need to destroy the religious items and not make any treaties with those people, or they will start taking on the ways of those peoples and stray from haShem.
He is also told that the first born of animal and person belong to haShem, but can be redeemed, and of the three festivals which the men are required to show up before god. 40 days and nights later, Moshe comes down with the tablets and a glowing face which scares away everyone. Moshe calls to the people and they listen to what god has told him, and then he covers his face and the parsha ends with us reading that Moshe only reveals his face when going into the tent to talk with god, and then covers it again after relaying god’s message to the people.
There certainly is a lot in this parsha. And I tried to be brief too.
Well, I can’t just stop here without giving you some thoughts I have on the parsha, and even one that was shared by my host at dinner one Friday night a few years ago.
Let’s start with what my friend Eishai shared at his shabbat table. He observed that Moshe doesn’t seem to believe haShem when haShem tells him what the people are doing. In fact, Moshe even persuades god not to destroy the people. Moshe does not get angry until he actually sees what the people are doing with his own eyes.
What we can learn here is an important lesson about gossip or lashon hara (the evil tongue in Hebrew): you should not believe a person, or even GOD when you are told that somebody is doing something bad; you should wait until you witness it yourself.
Imagine if everybody followed this principle and stopped listening to gossip. Imagine how the world would be if nobody listened to rumors. Soon that type of conversation would go away and people would only share nice things about each other. Can you imagine how sweet it would then be to live in this world?
It is in that same place that I want to share something that struck me. HaShem has just finished telling Moshe how to prepare a place for him to live in this world, and then hands him the two tablets. He then tells Moshe how the people have become corrupt, and then says something interesting. I am looking at verse Shmot/Exodus 32:10. The second word, in Hebrew, is “hanechah.” The root of the word are the letters nun and chet which also happens to be the name Noah.
You remember Noah with the ark, right? Well, this root means to rest or to comfort. Using this meaning, the verse reads, “And comfort me, or I will get angry at them and eat them and make you a great nation.”
What an interesting thing god is telling Moshe. He is actually asking Moshe to help him calm down so he won’t consume the people.
What is going on here? What can we learn from this?
One thing we can learn is how to pick a partner. God knows himself and she wants to fully express himself. In order to do that, god needs to have a partner who is complementary. God knows she has a jealous streak, and so partners with the one person who can stand up to him and calm god down.
We also learn a second lesson here: communication. You want somebody to do something for you. First tell them what is going on with you, and then tell them what you need.
God tells Moshe: look, I am about to get really mad, I am counting on you to keep me from doing something really stupid.
And what can we learn from Moshe? We learn that one has to stand up for what is right, whether against god, or a nation. We also learn how to listen, and if we look at how he calms god down, we can see how one needs to talk to someone to keep them from doing what they don’t really want to do.
There is so much more to talk about in this parsha, but this is plenty long already. So I will leave you with one more really short tidbit.
Chapter 34, verse 8. Moshe is back on the mountain and god is coming. The verse reads: Moshe quickly centers, grounds, and bows.
Anytime you are entering an important meeting, and not just with god, it is a good thing to center oneself, and ground oneself. A simple lesson from a simple man who talks face to face with the divine creator.
If you want to read what I wrote about this parsha last year, click here.
About the Author
Shmuel Shalom Cohen spent 10 years studying Torah in Jerusalem. Six years ago, he started Conscious Torah to help Jews connect to their tradition in ways they didn’t think possible. Shmuel also started, and is the executive directory of Jewish Events Willamette-valley, a non-profit whose mission is to build Jewish community, pride, and learning. In his free time, Shmuel likes walks in nature, playing music, writing poetry, and time with good friends.