PARSHA MESSAGE: KI TISSA – April 11th

This week’s parsha is Ki Tissa. We have already read this parsha, as it is from , or Exodus, but this is Shabbat Chol Hamoed Pesach, the Intermediate Shabbat during Pesach. Pesach is a time when we retell the story of our escape from Egypt and slavery. Ki Tissa is a cautionary tale. There we were, at the foot of Har Sinai, awaiting the return of from the summit. We had just been through the Revelation- synesthesia, thunder, lightning, fear and awe- and pleaded with Moses to talk to God on our behalf, we didn’t think we could manage to go through any more revelation directly. There was a great deal of fear of the future and a of murmuring about how we were better off in Egypt, and what were we all doing out here in the wilderness, and now our leader is not returning to us, and all for a God we could not see… This is the parsha that contains the incident of the , a very dark blot on the narrative of our history. We had just signed onto the Covenant, agreed that “we will hear and we will do,” and then in a time of spiritual and moral weakness, many of us fell back to the familiar and lost faith. No wonder Moses had to plead with God for our lives.

A cautionary tale…for our times. Right now, the entire world is fighting an enemy that no one can see. In the United States, we are in numerous camps, not only states but also within states, just as the were in Sinai. Instead of “out of many, one” (e pluribus unum), we are still “out of one, many.” While more and more of us are staying home and dealing with the economic stress, there are too many places where people are still congregating in churches, on beaches, on the streets. Folks are visiting members of their family who do not reside with them. They are traveling to their vacation homes despite being asked to stay home. The Pastor of a megachurch refuses to close the building, encouraging hundreds of parishioners to attend services. In one of the original hotspots of the virus in New York State, held a funeral for a victim of the machete hate crime that occurred there, and there was no observance of the state mandates against gatherings of large numbers of people. This from Jews who ruled that human life comes second to ritual. People are deliberately doing what they should not. Not everyone in our country adheres to an Abrahamic religious tradition. In the halls of the federal government, there has been reluctance to hurt the economy, even if it costs lives. Once again, the sanctity of human life comes second, this time to worship at the of monetary profit. Those who flout rules and that can save lives or who support actions that place profit over people ought to take fifteen minutes to read Ki Tissa and consider how the incident of the golden calf affected the future of the Israelites- and then apply the lessons to their own actions or inactions.

Also in Ki Tissa is another tale- one of encouragement. When Moses finally descends from Har Sinai with the second set of tablets, he is changed. The says,“Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two Tablets of the Testimony in his hand. As Moses descended from the mountain, he did not realize that the sin of his face had become luminous when God had spoken to him.” Rays of light shone forth so brilliantly that he had to put a cover over his face to shield others from the brilliant light that filled him within. How is this a tale of encouragement? If Moses, our greatest , was so filled with God’s light that it shone outward through his skin, what effect might focusing more often on our connection with Source have on us? These days, we might have to wear a mask to cover our face, but not for the same reason. However, intentionally opening ourselves within to feed the soul with even an infinitesimal trickle of divine emanation can make us feel uplifted, comforted, connected. So let’s allow ourselves to be encouraged by this to take a bit of time throughout the day to bless the Source of All, to look at the beauty of nature and feel God’s presence on an earthly level, to breathe in ahavah (love) and let it expand our spirits. Shabbat is the time to focus on spirituality- but in this time of staying at home, taking those few moments throughout the day can be a way to travel to another place, returning to online work, laundry, cooking, and endless jigzaw puzzles refreshed and grateful.

Pesach Sameach! Be safe, be smart, be well…and ask for help if you need it!

Suzanne

One day far in the future, in a cave-like repository of archival DVDs (kind of like the cave of the Dead Sea Scrolls…), some archeologist will unearth a trove of digital tractates from 5780. Here is a sample, brought to you by the secret time-machine of Cantor Leah Frey-Rabine, a colleague of mine from Germany, through a screenshot taken by Cantor Abbe Lyons. Enjoy!