Shabbos Parashas Ki Sisa - 5776

Shabbos Parashas Ki Sisa - 5776

Rabbi Hal Miller

Moshe turned and descended from the mountain with the two Tablets of the

Testimony in his hand. [Shemos 32:15]

At the end of the previous chapter, [31:18], we read that G-d gave Moshe the Tablets

"when He finished speaking to him on Mount Sinai." Then occurred one of the most

despicable activities in Jewish history, the story of the golden calf. This must have

taken some time, as they collected gold, built and operated forges, and made the

idol. Only then, after this, in verse [32:7] does G-d tell Moshe to descend the mountain

to deal with it. Moshe pleads for G-d's mercy. It is only after that discussion that we

find our verse. There sure seems to have been a lot going on between the time that

G-d "finished speaking" to Moshe, and Moshe's descent. Was all this intervening

conversation not "speaking to him"?

Perhaps we find a clue in the next verse, [32:1] when it says, "The people saw that

Moshe delayed in descending the mountain", which they used as a pretext to create

the golden calf. While most commentary on this verse covers either the issue of the

calf itself or of how to count days, as relevant here we see that "Moshe delayed in

descending the mountain." Was this intentional? Why?

Certainly, most commentators address this issue as an example that the Torah is not

necessarily written in chronological order. But when the Torah does this, there is usually

a good reason.

Rav Hirsch looks at 31:18, and notes that the actor in this verse is "He". For us to

understand that "He" means "G-d", we have to look at the previous few verses, or in Rav

Hirsch's words, "it is meant to be deduced from all the preceding", and thus the handing

to Moshe of the tablets belongs at this point in the chronology. Nechama Leibowitz picks

up our argument when discussing our verse, a chapter later, when she says, "The Torah

deliberately dwelt on the extraordinary sanctity of the tablets at this juncture in order

to throw into relief the awesome nature of the deed to come." This deed to come is not the

golden calf, but the acts of the tribe of Levi in killing the sinners, at Moshe's direction. This

argument, then, says that the split between G-d's giving the tablets to Moshe, and Moshe's

actual descent down the mountain was to reinforce that this killing of Jews was done at

G-d's direction, or at least in His honor.

This may explain why the two verses are separated, but it does not really answer our

question about the reason for Moshe's delay.

Talelei Oros cites the Netziv, who notes that Moshe knew what Aharon and the people did

in his absence. Netziv cites verse [32:25], "And Moshe saw that the people were exposed,

for Aharon had exposed them as contemptible." He explains, "He saw that their precarious

spiritual condition was exposed." From this, we can take a stab at explaining why Moshe

intentionally delayed his return.

Had Moshe descended the mountain immediately upon receiving the tablets, there would

have been no golden calf. That may seem, at first glance, to have been a really good

thing, but Moshe knew better. The calf served a big purpose. It separated the believers

from the non-believers.

Why was that important? Why not just give everyone time and proof sufficient for them all

to become believers? The answer is hidden here. Moshe knew, from his discussions with

G-d that he would not live forever, and in fact not even get to enter the land. Moshe would

eventually be replaced as leader of the nation. Who would this replacement be? At the

time, it seemed that Aharon was the anointed standby, but Moshe knew that his brother

did not have the personality or strength to hold the people together. By giving the people

time here, Moshe allowed Aharon and the people to come to the realization that Aharon

was not the anointed replacement. While they may not have recognized it yet, by the

time the change took place, everyone knew that the selection of Yehoshua was correct.