Parshat Ki Tisa
This week's Torah portion primarily deals with the episode of the Egel Ha'zahav-Golden Calf, the smashing of the tablets and its aftermath. The Parshah also speaks about forgiveness and the subsequent second tablets that were fashioned by Moshe and then imbued by G-d with holiness.
When one reads the events of the Golden Calf, one may wonder when exactly this story actually happened. The story of the giving of the Torah and the Ten Commandments is actually in Parshat Yisro, four portions earlier. It would seem that this episode would chronologically be connected to the previous portion of Yisro and not in our portion of Ki Tisa.
The classic Chumash commentaries clarify this conundrum in the following manner. Rashi (France 1040-1105) explains that there is a concept of אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה - the Torah is not always in chronological order. As such, the commandment of building the Mishkan-Tabernacle (Parshat Teruma &Tetzaveh) is out of place, and was actually given later, while the the episode of the golden calf took place immediately after Moshe came down from the mountain with the tablets. The Ramban (Spain 1194-1270) explains that the commandment to build the Mishkan was given on Sinai, but the transmission of it was delayed due to the sin of the golden calf. Finally, the Seforno (Italy 1475-1550) explains that had the Jewish people not sinned, there would not have been a need for a physical Mishkan. Rather, every Jew would have been like a high priest and offer his/her own offerings. It was because of the golden calf that the Mishkan became a communal reality, instead of a more personal idea.
One may wonder why in fact wasn't the Torah written in chronological order? It certainly would have saved us much headache and made things easier to understand.
The Midrash Yalkut Shimoni explains that the Torah was not written in chronological order so that we wouldn't make the mistake and think that it is just a book of stories and events. Rather, it is a book of lessons and laws that also contains some stories and historical events as a secondary lesson.
Perhaps there is another lesson to be learned as well. In life, we so often look at our own history and life's events in a linear and chronological manner. We experience things, both good and bad, and then put them behind us, or move on from that specific experience. The truth is however, that life's experiences are lateral just like so many ideas in the Torah. The episode of the Egel-Golden Calf, continues to define who we are as a Jewish people to this very day. Similarly, our past experiences, mistakes, and successes continue to define who we are, every day of our lives.
The wise person is someone who can continue to be inspired from his/her past and continually implement the lessons learned. While we don't live in the past, we do live in a lateral and multidimensional reality.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Y. Marrus
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