Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 21 Adar 1, 5784
Parsha Ki-Tissa: (Exodus 30:11 – 34:35)
Sixth Portion: Exodus 34:10 – 34:26

Good morning! Today’s portion is so fascinating to me.  We left off with Moses seeing Hashem’s Mercy. And then making a request of Hashem:

9and said: “If I have now found favor in Your eyes, O Lord, let the Lord go now in our midst [even] if they are a stiff necked people, and You shall forgive our iniquity and our sin and thus secure us as Your possession.”

This is the context for today’s passage! Let’s dig in:

10And He said: “Behold! I will form a covenant; in the presence of all your people, I will make distinctions such as have not been created upon all the earth and among all the nations, and all the people in whose midst you are shall see the work of the Lord how awe inspiring it is that which I will perform with you.

11Keep carefully what I am commanding you today: Lo! I will drive out from before you the Amorites and the Canaanites, the Hittites and the Perizzites, the Hivvites and the Jebusites.

12Beware lest you form a covenant with the inhabitant[s] of the land into which you are coming, lest it become a snare in your midst.

13But you shall demolish their altars, shatter their monuments, and cut down their sacred trees.

14For you shall not prostrate yourself before another god, because the Lord, Whose Name is “Jealous One,” is a jealous God.

Whoa. Hashem is Jealous?

Yes. Hashem is Jealous.

Sit with this. What does this mean?

We don’t like jealousy, do we? Doesn’t that feel like a flaw with Hashem?

This passage though I think clarifies what Hashem means by this.

I heard Brene Brown discuss the difference between Envy and Jealousy – and it has stuck with me since I learned about it. It is in her book “Atlas of the Heart”

She discusses ENVY looking at someone else and wanting what they want.

She discusses Jealousy as HAVING something or someone and worried that they will be taken away from us by someone or something else.

Hashem is Jealous.  We are His. Every single verse before the Torah tells us this? About US being taken away from Him.

He knows we are free. He knows we are not robots. Jealousy indicates we have FREE WILL. We know in our hearts why Hashem is jealous, don’t we? We easily go astray. We are like the boyfriend/girlfriend that makes choices that leads us to a place to walk away from Him.  That is NOT what Hashem wants. He WANTS us to stay with Him. And. He can’t make us stay.

He wants us to remain CONNECTED to Him. Let’s keep going:

15Lest you form a covenant with the inhabitant[s] of the land, and they [the gentiles] go astray after their gods, and they offer sacrifices to their gods, and they invite you, and you eat of their slaughtering,

16and you take of their daughters for your sons; then their daughters will go astray after their gods and lead your sons astray after their gods.

He knows we will go astray here. He is a jealous God.

And. I think? He has mercy on us. He understands we will make the choice to do what it says in verses 15 and 16. And gives us some anchors to keep us connected to Him:

17You shall not make molten gods for yourself.

18The Festival of Unleavened Cakes you shall keep; seven days you shall eat unleavened cakes which I have commanded you, at the appointed meeting time of the month of spring, for in the month of spring you went out of Egypt.

So if we go astray? We need to be extra careful not to repeat the Golden Calf. No Molten Gods. We need to ALWAYS prioritize the Passover. To remember the freedom we have. And to remember what Hashem did for us. If these get chipped away, we are more likely to get taken in from things OTHER than Hashem.

19All that opens the womb is Mine, and all your livestock [that] bears a male, [by] the emergence of ox or lamb.

20And a firstborn donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; if you do not redeem it, you shall decapitate it; every firstborn of your sons you shall redeem, and they shall not appear before Me empty handed.

Hashem wants us to remember – what ever abundance we receive. What ever we birth – not just babies, but our careers, our work, etc? We need to remember they are HIS. HE provided it.  Again, Hashem is HELPING us when we make the choice to pursue foreign covenants.

21Six days you may work, and on the seventh day you shall rest; in plowing and in harvest you shall rest.

Keeping the sabbath is VITAL to not walk away from Hashem.  Again – chipping away at us, and Hashem becoming Jealous.

22And you shall make for yourself a Festival of Weeks, the first of the wheat harvest, and the festival of the ingathering, at the turn of the year.

Passover. Sabbath. And now, Sukkot. And Rosh Hashanah – the festival of the ingathering

23Three times during the year shall all your male[s] appear directly before the Master, the Lord, the God of Israel.

Hashem is saying on these Holy Days (Passover, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah) we are to appear directly before the Master. This will keep us from going astray. This is when the Jews would return to Jerusalem – to the temple (when it was built)

Oh, by the way, Christian friends? This is LIKELY when Mary and Joseph were heading to Jerusalem. Jesus was likely NOT born on the pagan holiday of Saturnalia. But the manger he was born in? Probably a Sukkah – a temporary booth the children of Israel would have built for the Holy Days of Sukkot. So…you might want to consider WHY Christianity would ERASE this idea.  Here’s a hint – check out the history of the Council of Nicaea – and how they erased all ideas of Judaism from what was a sect of Judaism when it began (according to your own scriptures).

Hashem is a Jealous God.

Ok – let’s bring this home:

24When I drive out nations from before you and I widen your border, no one will covet your land when you go up, to appear before the Lord, your God, three times each year.

25You shall not slaughter [or sprinkle] the blood of My sacrifice with leaven, and the offering of the Passover feast shall not remain overnight until the morning.

26The choicest of the first of your soil you shall bring to the house of the Lord, your God. You shall not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.”

Ok. FIRST? Hashem addresses fear – “Don’t worry about coming to ME! Your land will be protected when you come to the temple.”

SECOND? The Passover feast is about UNLEAVENED bread – but ALL sacrifices should be made with unleavened bread. (Christian friends, when you take communion with regular bread? You may want to consider that verse given communion is connected to the Passover seder).

Third? First harvest (Sukkot) is meant for Hashem.

Then? Um. Still not sure WHY this part is there: “You shall not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.”

Hashem doesn’t like goat curry made with goat milk?

I still have no idea on this. And I am ok with not knowing.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 17 Adar, 5783

This passage continues to challenge me, even a year later. The last commandment about cooking a tender young animal in its mothers milk really seems out of place.

And. This part has really been something I’ve been ruminating on:

“Then all the people, among whom you dwell, will see the work of God, how that which I will do for you is awesome.”

So often I hear “look, God is going to do awesome things for me!”

But I don’t often reflect on how I respond when God does awesome things for others.

I need to rejoice on this. Focus on being happy for others’ success. To see them as a part of the collective “us” and when one of us succeeds, we all succeed.

Thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 17 Adar I, 5782

We left off yesterday with Moses asking God to forgive the people.

Today God responds; by telling Moses he was forming a covenant with the people. Hashem was going to make distinctions between the children of Israel and the nations. The reason for this, Hashem tells us is so all the people who the Jews dwell among “will see the work of God, how that which I will do for you is awesome.”

So why did God distinguish the Jews? So the rest of us will see how Hashem is awesome. I wonder how many non-Jews really get this and understand this? I’m reflecting on how anti-semitism may have its roots in this particular concept. If I see God doing amazing things in someone else, do I think “WOW! That’s awesome?” Or do I think “why didn’t God do that for me?”

If I’m honest, it’s more the second than the first. That jealousy could drive me to want to sabotage that other person.

God blesses us each in our own ways; the goal is about knowing God’s awesomeness.

God then tells Moses and the Jews to keep carefully what God is telling them today. He tells them not to make covenants with the people they live among – so it doesn’t become a trap.

Hashem clearly tells us not to bow down to anything else; no other god.

Hashem expands the commandments here;

1. “You should not make cast metal gods for yourself,
2. “You should observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you should eat unleavened bread, as I have commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of the early ripening, for in the month of the early ripening you went out of Egypt.
3. “Every (human male) who is the first of the womb is Mine, as well as all your livestock who gives birth to a male, the firstborn of an ox or lamb (shall be Mine).”
4. “You should redeem a firstborn donkey with a lamb.”
5. “If you do not redeem it, you should break its neck.
6. “You should redeem every firstborn of your sons.
7. “(When they go up to Jerusalem for a festival,) they should not appear before Me empty of (a sacrifice).”
8. “Six days you may work and on the seventh day you should rest. You should rest from plowing and harvesting.”
9. “You should make the festival of Weeks for yourself, with the first fruits of the wheat harvest (making them into two loaves), and the festival of the Harvest after the year turns.”
10. “Three times during the year all your males should appear directly before the Master, God, the God of Israel. (You will only be able to come three times a year,) because I will drive out nations from before you and I will widen your border (so you will live far away). No one will covet your land when you go up, to appear before God, your God, three times each year.”
11. “While anything leavened is in your possession, you should not slaughter or sprinkle the blood of My (Passover) slaughter.”
12. “The (parts of the) Passover slaughter should not remain overnight until the morning.
13. “You should bring the first fruits of your land to the house of God, your God.”
14. “Do not cook a tender young animal in its mother’s milk”

Again, I’m really reflecting on these commandments. And specifically that last one. It really seems out of place.

I’d love your thoughts on all of this!