Final implements of Miskhan (washing basin, scented annointing oil, incense)
Betzalel and Aholiav chosen to design Mishkan
Shabbat
Golden calf
Punishments:
1. Moshe makes them drink it in their water
2. Seems like some are actively threatening violence, so Moshe leads a group to fight them
3. God sends plague
Begin with the 4th punishment - what is it?
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר ה' אֶל־מֹשֶׁה֙ לֵ֣ךְ עֲלֵ֣ה מִזֶּ֔ה אַתָּ֣ה וְהָעָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶֽעֱלִ֖יתָ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֶל־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִ֠שְׁבַּעְתִּי לְאַבְרָהָ֨ם לְיִצְחָ֤ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹב֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לְזַרְעֲךָ֖ אֶתְּנֶֽנָּה׃ (ב) וְשָׁלַחְתִּ֥י לְפָנֶ֖יךָ מַלְאָ֑ךְ וְגֵֽרַשְׁתִּ֗י אֶת־הַֽכְּנַעֲנִי֙ הָֽאֱמֹרִ֔י וְהַֽחִתִּי֙ וְהַפְּרִזִּ֔י הַחִוִּ֖י וְהַיְבוּסִֽי׃ (ג) אֶל־אֶ֛רֶץ זָבַ֥ת חָלָ֖ב וּדְבָ֑שׁ כִּי֩ לֹ֨א אֶֽעֱלֶ֜ה בְּקִרְבְּךָ֗ כִּ֤י עַם־קְשֵׁה־עֹ֙רֶף֙ אַ֔תָּה פֶּן־אֲכֶלְךָ֖ בַּדָּֽרֶךְ׃
(1) Then Hashem said to Moshe, “Set out from here, you and the people that you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Avraham, Yitzhak, and Ya'akov, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring’— (2) I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite— (3) a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go in your midst, since you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way.”
but from a place of alienation.
God will no longer be the God of this people.
I think this expresses a central angst in Jewish culture.
We might think a lot about being "the chosen people"
[right now, we'll put on the side
what that does or doesn't mean or might mean],
But the big fear is of the opposite being true,
that we've actually been abandoned by God,
that we've become alienated from that relationship.
It's one thing to be a small, vulnerable people,
w/a long history of wandering and diaspora
if we feel like we're protected and guided in some special way.
It's another to be small, vulnerable, oppressed,
and truly at the mercy of others.
That's the case on the level of the Jewish people,
as well as on the personal level.
What it looks like for each of us to navigate
a complex and chaotic world
changes a lot based on whether we feel supported and carried
by a force that's greater than ourselves
and greater than any challenge we may face
or
whether we feel like we're really going it alone.
to look at how we got here:
(א) וַיַּ֣רְא הָעָ֔ם כִּֽי־בֹשֵׁ֥שׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה לָרֶ֣דֶת מִן־הָהָ֑ר וַיִּקָּהֵ֨ל הָעָ֜ם עַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּאמְר֤וּ אֵלָיו֙ ק֣וּם ׀ עֲשֵׂה־לָ֣נוּ אֱלֹקִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר יֵֽלְכוּ֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ כִּי־זֶ֣ה ׀ מֹשֶׁ֣ה הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הֶֽעֱלָ֙נוּ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְנוּ מֶה־הָ֥יָה לֽוֹ׃ ...וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ אֵ֤לֶּה אֱלֹקֶ֙יךָ֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶעֱל֖וּךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃
(1) When the people saw that Moshe was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aharon and said to him, “Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for that man Moshe, who brought us from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him.” [Once Aharon makes the calf]... And they exclaimed, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!
and they miss Moshe, not God.
When they worship the calf
it's as the "new one" who brought them out of EG.
Meaning, the golden calf isn't a replacement of God
but of Moshe!
They've been confusing Moshe for God.
They're using the calf as an idol to replace another idol!
who seem to have forgotten God quite some time ago,
what does Moshe do?
He puts up a tent far from camp, called the Tent of Meeting, or the Tent of Encounter
The text says it's available for anyone to go to
(33:7) "and whoever sought Hashem would go out to the Tent of Meeting
that was outside the camp."
(8) Whenever Moshe went out to the Tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at the entrance of their tent, and gaze after Moshe until he had entered the Tent. (9) And when Moshe entered the Tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the Tent, while He [God] spoke with Moshe. (10) When all the people saw the pillar of cloud poised at the entrance of the Tent, all the people would rise and bow low, each at the entrance of their tent.
and each one them stands in front of their tent.
They watch him enter and the cloud come down over that tent,
and they all bow at their own tents.
Quoting from midrash, Rashi says (on 33:8)
that when the people looked on, they did so out of admiration,
and exclaimed, "Happy is the one so assured
that God's Presence will enter after them
through the entrance to their tent."
That is what we're taught is in their minds as they watch and copy Moshe.
Rather than treating him as a substitute for God
and someone for them to worship
they look to him as a model
for how to be in relationship with God themselves.
He pleads with God not to abandon the relationship. (12-13)
God responds by agreeing to make their journey easier
(but pointedly not promising to restore the relationship) (14)
and Moshe stubbornly says:
We're not going anywhere if You don't come with us. (15)
a big part of the problem in the first place
was their projection of the role of God on something or someone
who wasn't God.
And I would guess they didn't realize they were doing that.
I don't know if when we feel distant from God
that it's always b/c we're projecting in this way,
but I think it might be, at least much of the time.
Maybe we projected that role onto a parent, or teacher, or clergyperson
who disappointed us,
or we projected our hopes or expectations onto God
and were hurt when these weren't met.
The transformational shift in this portion seems to be the moment
that the people start using Moshe as a model rather than a god.
And what does he do in that role
to restore the relationship?
He tells God, We're not going anywhere unless you come with us.
One is to make sure to treat role models and teachers as exactly that,
examples to learn from,
rather than substitutes for our own relationship with God or spiritual work.
The other, is to be stubborn in the way Moshe is stubborn,
to simply be unwilling to march through life without that relationship,
to believe that
if we do our personal work
and if we're patient
that we can have that relationship with God.
That it's never necessary for us to march blindly and alone
through the wilderness.
(2) כי קרן עור פניו THAT THE SKIN OF HIS FACE BEAMED — קרן is an expression connected with the word קרנים “horns”, and the phrase, קרן אור, the light-“horned” , is used here because light radiates from a point and projects Like a horn. And whence was Moses privileged to have the rays of glory? Our Rabbis said that they originated at the time when he was in the cave, for the Holy One, blessed be He, then put His hand upon his face, as it is said, (Exodus 33:22) “And I will shelter thee with My hand” (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 37).