Parshat Ki Tisa
February 22, 2003

Those who sinned with the golden calf have been punished, yet all has not been restored to its original state, when the entire nation were on such a spiritual level as to be worthy to hear the first two commandments directly from Hashem and proclaimed, “We will do and we will listen!” In the aftermath of the transgression, a rift in the relationship between Hashem and His people is revealed.

And Hashem told Moshe, “Go, go up from this [place], you and the people (HA’AM) that you brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land that I swore to Avraham, to Yitzchak and to Yaakov, saying, ‘To your seed will I give it’  and I will send an angel before you, and I will expel the Canaanite, the Emorite and the Perizzite, the Hivvite and the Yevusite  to a land flowing with milk and honey; because I will not go up in your midst, because you are a stiff-necked people (AM), lest I destroy you on the way.” And the people (HA’AM) heard this bad thing and they grieved, and they did not place, each man his ornament, upon him. And Hashem said to Moshe, “Say to the Children of Israel (BNEI YISRAEL): ‘You are a stiff-necked people (AM); [if] in one moment I do go up in your midst I will destroy you. And now, remove your ornament from upon you, and I will know what I will do to you.”’ And the Children of Israel (BNEI YISRAEL) removed their ornament from Mount Chorev. And Moshe would take the Tent and pitch it outside the camp, far from the camp, and he called it the Tent of Meeting; and it was, that anyone who sought Hashem would go out to the Tent of Meeting that was outside the camp. And it was, that as Moshe would leave for the Tent, all the people (KOL HA’AM) would rise and stand, each one at the opening of his tent, and watch after Moshe until he came to the Tent. And it was, as Moshe came to the Tent, that the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the opening of the Tent and He would speak with Moshe. And all the people (KOL HA’AM) saw the pillar of cloud standing at the opening of the Tent, and all the people (KOL HA’AM) stood and they prostrated themselves, each one at the opening of his tent. And Hashem would speak to Moshe face to face, as a man speaks to his friend, and he would return to the camp. And his attendant, Yehoshua son of Nun, assistant, did not move from within the Tent (Shemot 33:1-11).

A number of questions arise:
• If Hashem is still liable to destroy His people, would it not be better to wait until relations are less strained before departing for the Promised Land?
• What news causes the people to grieve?
• If the people did not put on their ornaments, why does Hashem command the people to remove them?
• What is the role of Yehoshua?
• What has happened to the command to build the Mishkan, which was interrupted by the narrative about the golden calf?

Malbim (R. Meir Leib ben Yechiel Michael, 1809-1877) begins by asserting that the command to build the Mishkan was given to Moshe during the forty days between the Revelation and the sin. (This is in line with Ramban, rather than Rashi.) Now, however, there is no point in building the Mishkan, for Hashem no longer desires to bring His intimate Presence into their midst. They will enter the Land without delay, but only because of Moshe’s merit, and Hashem’s oath to the Patriarchs.

Hashem reassures them, however, that He will not abandon them entirely, but will send His angel  a lower level of Divine Providence  to guarantee success in conquest and the material blessings of the land. But, it is to their advantage that Hashem withdraws, for as long as He is in close connection with them, He will respond immediately and severely to their obdurate and uncooperative ways.

Malbim refers to R. Yehudah Halevi’s (c. 1075-1141) explanation in the Kuzari (I:97), that the Children of Israel misunderstood that they required a tangible image in order to bring Hashem’s Presence into their midst. They waited for Moshe
“clad in the same apparel in which they had witnessed the drama on Sinai, without removing their jewels or changing their clothes, remaining just as he left them, expecting every moment to see him return.”
When Moshe failed to return, they made the calf as a physical means of bringing Hashem among them.

When they are punished for this fundamental error, they grieve for their lost hope. The common people (HA’AM) therefore remove their ornaments, but the leaders (BNEI YISRAEL), who had not joined in the sin, still expect Hashem’s indwelling. However, because they bear the responsibility for not correcting the people, they must join in the national mourning.

Malbim states:
“when the Godly light departs from the Israelite body, the masses will feel it . . . first, and the nobility and the prophets will feel it last . . . And Moshe . . . knew that the Presence would not alight upon him too, as long as he was within the camp.”
He, therefore, relocates the Tent of Meeting for all those who, notwithstanding Hashem’s withdrawal, seek Him.

By watching Moshe closely, these seekers after Hashem are touched by a lesser spirit of holiness, as well as awe before Hashem, as exemplified by Moshe’s attendant Yehoshua. The people thus learn that the way to bring Hashem into their midst is to see Moshe not as an intermediary, but as a role model. The repercussions of the golden calf have faded, and the people are now ready to build the Mishkan with the correct understanding of its function in the projected commonwealth of Israel.

It is when we pursue Hashem, though He hides Himself from us, that we create a world of holiness.

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