Ki Tissa Exodus 30:11-34:35

Ki Tissa begins with a commandment to take a of the people. G-d instructs to take a kofer - ransom – from each person as he is counted so that there will be no plague. explains, “It was a belief common to Israel and the Mesopotamian cultures that it was dangerous to be counted.” He remarks that the plague that King will bring on inadvertently in the second book of Samuel reflects this belief. The kofer in Ki Tissa both eliminates the danger and functions as a tax for the upcoming work. The narrative continues with a restatement of the importance of keeping the Sabbath, specifically stating that anyone who does work – including the work of building the mishkan – on the Sabbath shall die. The interpreted this to mean that the melakhah – task or work – specifically prohibited in these verses included all tasks required to build the mishkan. Rabbinic decisions on what is allowed and prohibited on – from the to modern rabbis of all stripes – have often been based on the 39 melachot that were determined to be required to complete this work. The last two lines of this section will be very familiar. They comprise the Vshamru – a key component of our Shabbat liturgy. We then move on to the dramatic and disturbing saga of the . As our reading begins, Moses is on top of Mount Sinai, with G-d, receiving two stone tablets to take back with him. They are described as luchot ha’edut – tablets of witnessing – and the text tells us that they were written with the finger of G-d. Robert Alter says that behind this anthropomorphic imagery lies “both mythological and political traditions of the ancient Near East: gods who inscribe human fate in stone and overlords who inscribe on tablets conditions of vassalage for their vassals.” These are divine tablets that Moses is prepared to share with G-d’s people. The people, though, have grown restless during the long time Moses has been hobnobbing with G-d on the mountain. They beg for to make them a god, saying that his brother, whom they derisively call “that man Moses,” is nowhere to be found. Aaron complies, telling them to give him their jewelry, which he then fashions into a gold idol in the shape of a calf, saying, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” Aaron builds an for the calf and declares that the next day will be a festival to G-d, using the to refer to G-d. So whose festival is it? Is the Golden Calf the god they will worship on the next day, or are they worshiping the true G-d but doing so with a prohibited idolatrous representation? In either case, their sin is great and G-d and Moses are both depicted as furious. Moses smashes the stone tablets he had brought to them and G-d threatens to wipe the people out entirely and start over, referring to the as “your people” rather than “My people,” as G- D had called them in fonder times. Moses talks G-d out of that by saying that killing them all will damage G-d’s reputation when the Egyptians hear of it, painting a picture of a Deity who cares what the neighbors think. In any event, although many are killed and all are punished by being forced to drink a beverage made of water infused with Golden Calf Dust, the people are saved from utter destruction. Many commentators have tried to excuse Aaron’s role in the episode, or at least to reduce his guilt. says that Aaron says “These are your gods” of the calf because he is talking to the “mixed multitude” of non-Israelites who accompanied them and who were the instigators of the incident, distancing himself and the Israelites from the sin. The midrashic source says that Aaron fixed the festival for the next day in the hope that Moses would come back before the next day and it would truly be a festival for G-d and not for the golden idol. The Northern Kingdom during the time of had golden calves at the temples in and . Modern scholarship suggests that these were not idols, but meant as a decoration in the temples and metaphorically considered a “footstool” for G-d. If so, the description of the Sin of the Golden Calf may be a post-hoc addition to story designed to further the centralization of cultic, economic, and political power in , where the Temple had no such figures. At the aftermath of the Golden Calf incident, Moses realizes he is in good with G-d, as evidenced both by G-d’s expressed determination to kill all the Israelites and start over again with Moses and by G-d’s agreement not to do so at Moses’ pleading. Moses presses his advantage by asking for something special - “Hareini na et k’vodecha” – “Please show me your glory.” G-d replies that Moses cannot see G-d’s face because no man can do that and live, but that G-d will show him G-d’s back. How can he see G-d’s back? G-d will place him in a cleft in the rock and cover him with G-d’s hand as G-d passes by, so then Moses will see G-d’s back as G-d leaves. The anthropomorphic description is striking. The suggestion is that G-d has a human form (face, back, hand) but that it’s not possible for humans to withstand seeing that form. G-d then instructs Moses to carve new stone tablets to replace the ones that he’d smashed. The first set had been carved by G-d and given to Moses. The new ones are carved by Moses under G-d’s direction. The wholly divine ones did not last. The ones that are created through partnership between G-d and man do. Many commentators see this episode as emblematic of the key role that partnership between humanity and the Divine plays in Jewish theology and tradition. Once the tablets have been carved, G-d comes down in a cloud and recites what have come to be known as the “Thirteen Attributes of G-d.” The Thirteen Attributes are an important part of the liturgy, read at the start of the holiday service (except on Shabbat). Those who have tried unsuccessfully to count to 13 during the chanting on holidays will notice that two attributes have been left out of the liturgy. This week’s reading includes them all, even the two punitive ones. G-d makes a new covenant with the people, promising to drive out the current inhabitants from Canaan and reiterating a number of commandments. When Moses descends from the mountain, his face is shining. The text says ki karan or panav – for beams of light were on his face. The word keren (same word, different vowels) means horn. Rashi says the word is used because light radiates and protrudes like a horn. Many Christian sources believed, due to mistranslation, that Moses had horns coming out of his head and and others portrayed him as such. It is likely the source of the anti-Semitic myth that are born with horns on our heads. The Klezmer band The Klezmatics play with that myth in the name of their third album: Jews with Horns.

Haftarah 1 Kings 18:1-18:39

The for Ki Tissa tells an episode in the life of the , one in which he confronts and defeats the of . King Ahab, an Israelite, under the influence of his pagan wife Jezebel, has allowed the worship of the quintessential pagan god, Baal. Jezebel has been not only promoting the worship of Baal but also persecuting and killing the prophets of the true G-d. Elijah offers to have a contest with the prophets of Baal, a kind of Sacrifice-Off, where the relative power of Baal and the Israelite G-d will be evident. Two bulls are identified for the sacrifice. The 450 prophets of Baal first choice, slaughter their bull, and lay it on the altar. Under the terms of the contest they cannot light the fire. They must call to their god to do it for them. The priests call for Baal to light the fire, but nothing happens. Elijah taunts them, saying they should shout louder in case Baal is sleeping or conversing with someone and can’t hear them. When it is Elijah’s turn he works solo, prepping his bull. To make the task harder he pours water all over the altar. G-d lights the bull on fire, proving G-d’s superiority. The haftarah ends with adoshem hu haelokim – the Lord is G-d – repeated twice. In the words of Michael Fishbane, this statement is the “quintessential expression of monotheism.” The Torah text tells the story of Israelites worshiping a false god – the golden calf. Among the commandments reiterated in the Torah text is the commandment to serve only G-d. The haftarah connects thematically to the parasha by stressing the importance of monotheistic devotion and of G-d’s power.