Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 22 Adar 1, 5784
Parsha Ki-Tissa: (Exodus 30:11 – 34:35)
Seventh Portion: Exodus 34:27 – 34:35

Shabbat Shalom! Today we finish Parsha “Ki-Tissa” which means “when you raise up.” We’ve been focused this week on Mercy, Abundance, and forgiveness among others.  To “raise up” means we must deal with our past. We must reconcile where we’ve been to where we are going. This is crucial for our work.  Let’s dig in!

27The Lord said to Moses: “Inscribe these words for yourself, for according to these words I have formed a covenant with you and with Israel.”

28He was there with the Lord for forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water, and He inscribed upon the tablets the words of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Um. 40 days? No bread? No water? This is a challenge to believe, isn’t it? The Human body can’t go 40 days without water.

How is this even possible? I think it comes down to time.  What is time? Who decided a day was 24 hours?  Why isn’t 30? 10? Who decided this.

Has the earth always been spinning at the current speed?

Someone today questioned when Sir Issaac Newton “discovered” gravity in the 1600s – how did we go that long and NOT know what gravity was? Is it possible gravity SHIFTED in the 1600s?

I am not sure I believe that (I would think there would be BOOKS and writings about a major shift like that). And. Is it possible, when Moses was on the mountain with Hashem, time MOVED DIFFERENTLY? Absolutely?

Let’s keep going:

29And it came to pass when Moses descended from Mount Sinai, and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand when he descended from the mountain and Moses did not know that the skin of his face had become radiant while He had spoken with him

30that Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses and behold! the skin of his face had become radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.

Moses seemed to be transformed by this “time” with Hashem. So much so people saw the difference.

31But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the princes of the community returned to him, and Moses would speak to them.

32Afterwards all the children of Israel would draw near, and he would command them everything that the Lord had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.

33When Moses had finished speaking with them, he placed a covering over his face.

It is interesting to me – Moses put the covering on AFTER the conversation and speaking to them about Hashem, and not before.  Why?

34When Moses would come before the Lord to speak with Him, he would remove the covering until he left; then he would leave and speak to the children of Israel what he would be commanded.

35Then the children of Israel would see Moses’ face, that the skin of Moses’ face had become radiant, and [then] Moses would replace the covering over his face until he would come [again] to speak with Him.

Interesting – Moses seemed to do this to give him the authority to speak on behalf of Hashem. It’s like a sign for people when Moses spoke – when we was speaking for himself? Covering on. When he spoke with Hashem? Covering off and radiance.

This was sovereignty. Moses was a clear communicator.

How often do we get jammed up between when we share “opinions” vs “values?”

I will often share “an opinion” that is not intended to authoritative, and yet others will take it as authoritative. This passage for me? Speaks to clear communication. How do we communicate with others in clear ways?

Do we leave room for inference? Meaning do we communicate in such a way that others are able to misinterpret our words? Or do we give clarity so there is no mistake?

Those are my thoughts as we conclude Ki-Tissa.

Mercy. Reconciliation. Clear communication.

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 18 Adar, 5783

Shabbat Shalom!

Today we finish out the passage and I’m reflecting on Moses. He covered up his radiance and joy. Why? Because it was going to have an adverse impact on his purpose (I think).

Sometimes our joy and radiance can be a negative on others. We can convince ourselves that we should just let our joy shine! But I’m not sure that is a law (like gravity). It may be a good overarching philosophy – but we may want to consider the impact it is having.

A great example of this might be when people are going through tough times. If we go to a funeral full of joy, that would be problematic in most cases (there have been funerals that have been joyous celebrations of someone’s life).

It’s all about context, and I think todays Torah lesson is about “reading the room.” We cannot get so focused on where we are, that we ignore where those around us may be.

Moses met the people where they are at. That’s something for us to consider today.

Thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts 18 Adar I, 5782

Shabbat Shalom!

Today we conclude Parsha Ki Tissa’

We left off with the mitzvahs God gave Moses that help us connect to Him.

Todays portion begins with Hashem talking to Moses; telling him to write down the words Hashem was telling Moses; but not the Oral Torah Mitzvahs.

We learn Moses was with Hashem for 40 days and 40 nights. He ate no bread and drank no water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments.

On Yom Kippur, the day of atonement; Moses came down from Mount Sinai. Moses was unaware of how he looked; his skin shone while God was speaking with him. Aaron and the children of Israel saw Moses and the tablets and were surprised by how he looked. They were afraid to go near Moses.

Let’s stop here for a moment before closing the Parsha.

Remember – Moses went up to get the Torah a second time; why? Because of the sin of the golden calf. This was the third time Moses went up the mountain and now the third time he came down. But this time he came down differently. And it all happened on the appointed day Hashem gave us for atonement. It is perfect that Moses’ face shone because he was shown forgiveness and was made clean by Hashem.

What is it in our own lives we need atonement for? To shine forth and beam greatly? Instead of living in shame and wanting to be hidden?

Those are important questions to ask ourselves on this Shabbat!

So let’s finish the parsha; Moses called to Aaron and the children of Israel. He spoke to them all of God’s words he heard from Hashem on Mt Sinai.

When Moses finished, he put a covering over his face. When Moses would come before God to speak with Him (in the tent of meeting) he would remove the covering until he left. He would then leave to speak to the children of Israel what Hashem told him. They would see Moses radiance from his face, then Moses would replace the covering over his face until he would go once again to speak with Hashem.

Wow. Imagine being so connected to Hashem that you needed to “cover up” because you were scaring people? That is scary and exciting to think about!

What are your thoughts?

As always, Haftorah comments will be posted below! Shabbat Shalom!

This weeks Haftorah is fairly long; it’s from 1 Kings 18:1-39.

The Haftorah seems to connect Elijah’s admonition of the Jewish people for worshipping the idols of Baal to the Israelites worship of the Golden calf.

The context of the Haftorah is historically after the collapse of King Solomon’s empire when the kingdom was split between the tribe of Judah and the ten tribes.

From there we see the rise of Jezebel. There arose in the midst of a civil war a king named Ahab who married Jezebel the daughter of another king to cement his place.

Ahab achieved political and economic successs; but it corrupted the faith and religion of the country. Under Jezebel’s influence, idol worship became officially sanctioned and prophets were eliminated. It was a dark time.

The Haftorah describes Elijah trying to reverse the influence of Jezebel and Ahab. Right before this Haftorah portion, Elijah caused a drought upon the land which sent the message that prosperity comes from God.

The passage begins in the third year of this drought;

God’s word comes to Elijah to go to Ahab and God will send rain. Elijah went while the famine was severe in Samaria.

Before Elijah gets to Ahab, the following unfolds;

Ahab brings in Obadiah – who was God fearing and was also in charge of Ahab’s house. When Jezebel wanted to kill all of God’s prophets, Obadiah took 100 prophets and his half of them in a cave and half in a different cave and provided them with food and water.

Ahab devised a plan and had he and Obadiah go separate ways to look for grass so the horses could be fed. Ahab was worried about loses their livestock in the famine.

While walking alone, Obadiah ran into Elijah – they greet and Elijah tells Obadiah to go and tell Ahab that Elijah was here.

Obadiah did not take to kindly to the request. He was worried Ahab was going to kill him because of it. Mainly because he knew God was with Elijah, and if he told Ahab Elijah was here, and he didn’t appear, Obadiah would die.

Elijah comforts him and tells him not to worry. Elijah swears by the life of the God of hosts, Elijah will appear before Ahab today.

Obadiah goes, tells Ahab. Ahab went to greet Elijah. Ahab makes a passive aggressive welcome statement; “is that you, terrorist of Israel, who withheld the rain from them?”

Elijah quickly corrects; “it isn’t I who terrorized Israel; but you, Ahab by abandoning God’s commandments and following after the deities of Baal.”

He tells Ahab- you want rain? Summon everyone to meet me at Mt Carmel. And bring the 450 prophets of Baal, and the 400 prophets of the Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.

Whoa. We are going to get a showdown it looks like!

Ahab then sends and order for everyone to gather.

Everyone comes together at the mountain and Elijah speaks;

He basically tells them they need to make a choice. They can’t waver between two opinions. If God is the God who rules the world, follow Him. If it is Baal, follow him.

The people said nothing.

Elijah told the people he was the sole remaining prophet of God; but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.

He then presents a challenge. Let the prophets of Baal get two bulls; and choose one to cut into pieces lay it on wood but put no fire to it. Then Elijah will do the same. The prophets of Baal will call to their gods, while Elijah will call to Hashem. The God who answers by fire, He is God.

The people thought this was a good idea.

Elijah tells the prophets of Baal to go first- he gave them the advantage- to prepare the bull and call to their god.

The prophets did so; they called to Baal and nothing happened. From morning until noon. They then jumped onto the altar they made.

At noon, Elijah began to ridicule the prophets of Baal. “Cry louder! For you say he is a god. Maybe he is talking to others, or deep in thought, or on a journey? Or maybe he is sleeping and will be awakened by your cries.”

The prophets of Baal were kind of backed into a corner. Instead of responding by telling Elijah to go- and prepare the bill and call to Hashem, they doubled down. They cried louder. The began CUTTING THEMSELVES until blood was gushing out of them. Once midday passed, they pretended to prophecy until the time of the offering of the afternoon sacrifice. But there was no sound. The Haftorah says this; “there was no sound, no one answered for there was no listener.”

Elijah then tells the people to come hear to him; so they wouldn’t accuse him of Trickery.

He repaired the altar of God that was broken. He took 12 stones for the tribes of Jacob. He used the stones to build an altar. He made a ditch around the altar. He arranged the wood. He cut the bull into pieces. He laid the bull onto the wood.

Then; he had the people pour WATER on the wood. Three times he had them pour water on the wood- 4 jars of water each time. The water ran around the altar. Elijah filled the ditch with water.

Then; at the appointed time; of the afternoon sacrifice, Elijah approached Hashem in prayer. This was his prayer:

“God! God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that You are God whose Presence dwells in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things by Your Word. Answer me, O God, answer me with fire, so that this people may know that You are God, Almighty God, and so You will have turned their hearts back again to You.”

Almost immediately – the fire of God came down and consumed the offering, and the wood pile and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the ditch.

The people saw it, fell upon their face and they proclaimed “God is the Almighty God! God is the Almighty God!”

Wow. What a scene.

What is our takeaway? For me? The children of Israel veered way off course – and once again, Hashem is merciful and gives them an opportunity to see His power and return to Him.

Hashem gets a bad rep in the Torah (and Old Testament). He is a God of mercy, a God of grace, and a God of love. He doesn’t WANT his people to perish. He doesn’t WANT to destroy us. He continues time and time again to give us opportunities to return to him.

That hopefully brings us comfort on this sabbath and the days ahead!