Parshat Ki Tisa 5778- ‘Before and after’-the effects of the Golden Calf episode.

We read in our parsha of an amazing promise:

כג  שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים, בַּשָּׁנָה--יֵרָאֶה, כָּל-זְכוּרְךָ, אֶת-פְּנֵי הָאָדֹן יְהוָה, אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

23 Three times in the year shall all thy males appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

כד  כִּי-אוֹרִישׁ גּוֹיִם מִפָּנֶיךָ, וְהִרְחַבְתִּי אֶת-גְּבֻלֶךָ; וְלֹא-יַחְמֹד אִישׁ, אֶת-אַרְצְךָ, בַּעֲלֹתְךָ לֵרָאוֹת אֶת-פְּנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים בַּשָּׁנָה.

24 For I will cast out nations before thee, and enlarge thy borders; neither shall any man covet thy land, when thou goest up to appear before the LORD thy God three times in the year.

When the Jews went up to Jerusalem for the 3 ‘foot’ festivals, they are promised by God that no enemy will ever invade Israel during that time, even though they will be leaving their cities open and not defended in the conventional way.

In parshat Mishpatim, the same mitzvah is referred to but with a significant difference:

יז  שָׁלֹשׁ פְּעָמִים, בַּשָּׁנָה--יֵרָאֶה, כָּל-זְכוּרְךָ, אֶל-פְּנֵי, הָאָדֹן יְהוָה.

17 Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD.

In this refence to ‘aliyah leregel’ there is no mention of the promise that the borders will be kept safe, as seen in parshat Ki Tisa. Why is it not mentioned there?

The Mefarshim explain that this is one example of the effects of the sin of the golden calf. Before the sin occurred, the Jews were on such a high level of holiness that the thought of intervention by an enemy would never come into their minds. The combination of holiness and fear generated against the enemies of Israel would preclude any attack and it was not even necessary to mention such a possibility. After the sin the situation had changed. The holiness had been compromised and now the fear of Israel, in the eyes of the nations, had diminished. In such a situation it was important to assure the people that they still merited Divine protection, allowing them to go up to Jerusalem, without any concern of outside attack on their homes and land.

With this concept of pre/post golden calf, we can also explain the curious reversal of the order of Shabbat and the building of the mishkan found before and after the golden calf sin. Before the sin, the mishkan is set out in all its glorious details(chs.25-30) and then Shabbat is referred to, in our parsha , in ch.31. Next week, in parshat Vayakhel, the reverse occurs and Shabbat comes before the description of the actual building work taking place on the Mishkan. Why the reversal? Maybe we can suggest that in the pristine spiritual state of am yisrael before the sin of the calf, the mishkan and its interaction with God was closer to the people than even Shabbat and its observance. They were on the level of ‘pre Adam’ , as we were in the Garden of Eden before Adam ate the ‘apple’ and lost his high spiritual status. However, once the golden calf sin occurs, the higher spiritual matters of mishkan became sullied by the people’s actions, and now it would be the Shabbat that would become a greater element in our lives. The Shabbat would become the moment of spiritual elevation, even in their lower spiritual state after the sin. The mishkan was still there to be ‘imbibed’ whenever possible, but as with the promise of Divine protection as explained above, the  assumption of achieving great spiritual heights was compromised. It may even be the case that in the messianic days in the near future, our Shabbat observance will still provide us with the greater boost that it is designed to provide over and above any connection to the 3rd Temple. The Temple will always be a special experience for us, but it will still be the weekly Shabbat interaction with God which will remain the basis of our spiritual energy as Jews.

I would just add the comment of the Chatam Sofer(R’Moses Sofer:19th century Hungary) in our parsha. He maintains that since Shabbat cannot be overridden by the mitzvah of building the Mishkan, and nevertheless Shabbat is overridden by the absolute requirement to protect the life of every Jew (pikuah nefesh). This proves that it is not the Temple or even Shabbat which is the holiest vehicle of God in this world. It is the Jew, whose life overrides all other considerations. It is our task to remember this and bring about the Kiddush Hashem that we are required to do in this world, to show how much we value God, as He values us. A beautiful thought for the pre Pesach season.

Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Ian Shaffer        Cherry Hill NJ/SCW     2018