There is nothing as upright as a slanted ladder leaning on a wall.
There is nothing as foolish as a smart remark, (about someone).
There is nothing as complete as a broken heart.
Words paraphrased from the Rebbe of Kotzk.
When Moses realized that the Jews sinned while he was on Mount Sinai learning the Torah with G-d, that they created a golden idol, worshiped it and praised it saying “this is the G-d that took us out of Egypt", he immediately threw the tablets down intentionally breaking them.
Yes, the actual tablets formed by G-d himself, which contained on them the ten commandments, which he was just about to give to the Jews for the first time.
G-d later tells Moses, you broke the tablets, now go and make a new set of tablets, and I'll write the ten commandments again and bring this new set to the Jews.
It is very ironic that later when the Jewish people built the temple and made the ark, both the second tablets with the ten commandments, and the pieces of the first set of tables which Moses broke, were contained in that ark.
Isn’t it strange that the holiest article in the temple would contain the broken tablets, a symbol of the result of a grave sin. And that the broken pieces would be right near the second set which were complete, and actually considered greater than the first.
With this we learn a great powerful life skill. We often think that our accomplishments are what make us great, our sense of control over things and situations, our ability to manage, create, build, learn from experience and so on.
However we forget that many times it is what we feel most comfortable with that also limits us. We cannot grow because we are stuck, we have to do things the way we were taught, the way it’s always been done, based on experience and knowledge, without realizing that this removes every bit of creativity and risk taking, without which there can be no real growth or progress.
A humble heart will always be willing to learn and hear new ideas!
G-d wants the Jewish people to know that along with every accomplishment and achievement, even one as great as being able to receive forgiveness and a second set of tables with the ten commandments, we were to keep the broken set near the complete set, so that our greatness would never stand in the way of further growth and achievement. So that we always remember our beginnings, to remain open minded. So that we would always have a broken humble heart in order that we be able to be truly complete in life.
Discussing life in the light of Chabad Philosophy
On Zoom:
Meeting ID: 895 6598 0718
Passcode: tanya
Presented in English by Rabbi Mendel Zaltzman
Kids Holiday Library Passover Edition
Sunday, March 14 11:15am-12:00pm
For kids ages 2-5
Join for a live puppet show, book reading and craft.
Kids will learn about Passover in an exciting and interactive way.
Spend quality time with your child, as they have fun experiencing the holiday, while meeting and interacting with other moms.
For boys and girls in Grades 6th- 8th
At each weekly program MVP's will prepare special personalized packages for seniors that will be delivered safely in time for Shabbat.
Join the weekly meetings at the Bris Avrohom of Fair Lawn location, to prepare and personalize the packages and have some treats and fun while we work.
A BISSELE HUMOR
Tony comes up to the Mexican border on his bicycle. He's got two large bags over his shoulders. Joe, the border guard, stops him and says, "What's in the bags?"
"Sand," answers Tony.
Joe says, "We'll just see about that. Get off the bike." Joe takes the bags and rips them apart; he empties them out and finds nothing in them but sand. He detains Tony overnight and has the sand analyzed, only to discover that there is nothing but pure sand in the bags.
Joe releases Tony, puts the sand into new bags, hefts them onto the man's shoulders, and lets him cross the border.
The next day, the same thing happens. Joe asks, "What have you got?"
“Sand," says Tony.
Joe does his thorough examination and discovers that the bags contain nothing but sand. He gives the sand back to Tony, and Tony crosses the border on his bicycle.
This sequence of events is repeated every day for three years. Then Joe runs across Tony one day in a cantina in Mexico.
"Hey, buddy," says Joe, "I retired my job. I know you are smuggling something. It's driving me crazy. It's all I think about ... I can't sleep. Just between you and me, what are you smuggling?"
Tony sips his beer and says, "bicycles.”
WEEKLY eTORAH
It's too late. I'm too far gone. It'll never be the same. How many times have we heard those words? Or, worse still, said them?
This week's Parshah tells the story of the Golden Calf, the worst national sin in the history of the Jewish people. Frankly, if I were the editor of the Bible I'd have left that part out. How humiliating to the Jews! Just weeks after the greatest revelation of all time, when they saw and heard G‑d up front and personal, they go and bow down to a cow?! How fickle can you get? But the Torah is unflinchingly honest and records this most unflattering moment of ours in all its gory detail.
Why?
Perhaps the very important lessons we need to draw from this embarrassing episode are, firstly, that people do sin, human beings do make mistakes, and even inspired Jews who saw the divine with their own eyes can mess up — badly. And, secondly, that even afterwards there is still hope, no matter what.
In the very same Parshah we read how G‑d tells Moses to carve a second set of tablets, to replace the first set he smashed when he came down the mountain and was shocked by what the Jews were up to. (Sort of "You broke them, you fix them" — like the guy who fell asleep during the rabbi's sermon and the rabbi tells the shamash to go and wake the fellow up. The shamash says, "Rabbi, you put him to sleep, you wake him up!") The Torah does not intend to diminish our respect for that generation, but rather to help us understand human frailty, our moral weakness and the reality of relationships, spiritual or otherwise.
G‑d gave us a perfect Torah. The tablets were hand-made by G‑d, pure and sacred, and then we messed up. So is it all over? Is there really no hope now? Are we beyond redemption? After all, what could possibly be worse than idolatry? We broke the first two commandments and the tablets were shattered into smithereens because we were no longer worthy to have them. It was the ultimate infidelity.
So Torah teaches that all is not lost. As bad as it was — and it was bad — it is possible for man to repair the damage. Moses will make new tablets. We can pick up the pieces.
It is possible to pick up the pieces in life. Whether it's our relationships with G‑d, our marriage partners, our kids or our colleagues, we can make amends and repair the damage.
If the Jews could recover from the Golden Calf, our own challenges are small indeed.
