Special Features Back to the beginning of Sh'mot for a moment. The family of Israel (Yaakov) are in Egypt, and they multiply greatly. The are enslaved and oppressed. Moshe is born. The people cry out to G-d and He hears them. He sends Moshe to take the people out of Egypt. Plagues, signs, wonders, miracles. Exodus. More miracles. Splitting of the Sea. Sinai. Matan Torah. Miracles. Laws for day-to-day functioning of Jewish society. Holy task of building a Mikdash. Detail by detail, spelled out in Parshat T'ruma. Continued in T'tzaveh. Continued in this week's sedra of Ki Tisa. Final stages of preparation (not just for the first time in the Midbar, but for all time) - Half-Shekel, Washing Station (old NCSY term), anointing oil, Incense, Betzalel, assistant and staff. Everything is ready to go. Final reminder: Shabbat is supreme. It is the eternal sign of the covenant between G-d and His People, and The Reminder that G-d created the world (and rested on Shabbat). And then, instead of the Torah telling us of the carrying out of the commands from T'ruma, T'tzaveh, and the beginning of Ki Tisa, we read of the horrifying episode of the Golden Calf. How could they!?! But wait. Look at the pasuk right after all the Mikdash topic, and right before Cheit HaEigel. And G-d gave to Moshe, when He finished speaking with him, the Tablets of Stone written by the finger of G-d. Moshe Rabeinu has been on Har Sinai for the past 40 days and 40 nights. When last seen, he ascended the Mountain alone and then we all experienced Revelation at Sinai. Matan Torah. We heard the Aseret HaD'varim, the chapter headings, the down payment, so to speak, for the whole Torah. All of M'lechet HaMishkan, and all of Mishpatim for that matter, was given by G-d to Moshe on Har Sinai, and he was to transmit it all to the People - something that was not yet done when the episode of Eigel HaZahav occurred. The People had heard the command to believe in G-d, the prohibition of idolatry, the prohibition on fashioning graven images. They had already been introduced to Shabbat and its philosophy. But they had not yet been explained the day-to-day Mishpatim that would be their way of life, nor were they instructed yet about the Sanctuary, nor its relationship to Shabbat. And they erred. Maybe this is why HaShem forgave the people relatively quickly. We can say that He was disappointed in the people, and as a result, He (so to speak) reevaluated the relationship. But rather than being a Sin, we might look at the Eigel as a demonstration of human nature. The people behaved as they did, not in rebellion against G-d, but because that's how people behave. (All this is being said based on assumptions that are supported by SOME opinions, but not all.) Further speculation: The sin of the spies was a different situation, because the people were more "into" Torah by that time. And if we jump to the Haftara, we have a different situation there too. The people were "veteran" Jews by that time. How could they consider Baal? But that's a different story. Cheit HaEigel is part of the definition of a Jew. So is the Mikdash. Both present us with ongoing and different challenges.
From the desk of Rabbi Michael Fredman, director of NCSY-in-ISRAEL For those of you unfamiliar with our LICHYOT B'YACHAD, ZEH BATEVA SHELANU program, it is a very special project run by Rav Rafi Even-Donan, whereby he takes secular high school students around Gush Etzion and visits Yeshivat Har Etzion with them. They are introduced to a Yeshivat Hesder, of which most have never even heard, and walk away from the experience with an overwhelming sense of enlightenment. On February 26, 11th graders from the regional high school of Giv'at Brenner visited Yeshivat Har Etzion, under the auspices of LICHYOT B'YACHAD. They were privileged to have a shiur with Rav Amital, Rosh Yeshiva Har Etzion, and they also learned in chevrutot - boys with the hesderniks, and girls with the students of Midreshet Migdal Oz for 21/2 hours. Themselves Talmud majors, they were shocked at their own lack of knowledge, both about gemara and Judaism in general. They were amazed at the depth of Torah learning and asked to continue this newfound connection in order to enhance their own learning. Rav Amital, who most graciously delivered the shiur, remarked about the importance of such encounters whereby Jews teaching other Jews about Judaism is so sadly lacking in our society.
NESTO - Programs & Chugim for New (and old) English-Speaking Teen Olim Sunday, February 27, 6:30pm - Sundaes on Sunday (Juniors). Make your own sundaes, meet new & old friends, trivia competition, Dvar Torah Wednesday, March 1, 6:30pm - MovieNight (Seniors). Come at 6:00 and help us pick a flick
Follow-Up: Lesson from a Lesson Phil Chernofsky here. That's kind of a silly thing to write, since whatever appears without a byline is written by me, even without telling you that specifically. But when I get extra personal, I feel that it is important to include my name. I'm a teacher. Everything (all right, almost everything) I say in a class or write is meant to teach... something. This includes the lead tidbit of TT#404 - Parshat Mishpatim, in which the main point was to apply Torah to every facet of one's life, including the sports field. In my zeal to use a real-life example for the lesson from Mishpatim, I ended up stepping on a few mitzvot. Kind of ironic, since I was attempting to teach something positive. It's like pushing someone out of the way in order to be able to kiss the Torah in shul. Or, as I heard attributed to Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, whipping someone across his face with your Tallit as you put it over your head. We are not supposed to trample one mitzva while attempting to uphold another. Without debating the specific issue from that game's final seconds, I must apologize for impugning the integrity of the ATFI league and its heads. In long conversation with them, I was impressed by how much effort goes into making the ATFI league a class-A operation from a football point of view, AND a Torah perspective, as well. Aside from the fact that the league is Shomer Shabbat (so to speak), there is serious attention paid to cursing on the field and excessively rough play. In these areas and others, the ATFI league is acutely aware that it is not just any other league, but a special kind of operation that does not ignore its Jewish and Israel identity, but rather allows it and invites it to help shape its character. I still have my complaints, but they are much more in a healthy perspective than 3 weeks ago.
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