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In the course of Moses’ righteous and justified anger at the people of Israel for their idolatrous sin of the Golden Calf, he breaks the newly received Tablets of the Law. The Midrash has God Himself praising Moses for this dramatic initiative. Commentaries explain that Moses had no other choice. The Jewish people had violated their recently minted covenant. If Moses hadn’t broken the Tablets, the physical manifestation of the covenant, God would have been more than correct to wipe out the newborn nation of Israel. By breaking the “contract” Moses in a sense was declaring that Israel isn’t bound by it anymore and therefore shouldn’t be liable for having violated it. Some view the breaking of the Tablets as an inevitable outcome of the Jews breaking faith with God.
However, no action, no matter how righteous or justified, is without its consequences. After Moses’ intercession and God’s forgiveness of the Jewish people, God commands Moses to prepare the second set of Tablets.
The Bechor Shor on Deuteronomy 10:1 explains that God is telling Moses: “You broke them, you need to restore them. I don’t want anyone complaining about you that you caused the nation of Israel to lose such a precious gift.” That’s why the order to Moses states “carve for yourself.” It’s for Moses’ personal benefit as well. It’s to protect Moses from reproach from the current generation or even from future generations who would realize the magnitude of the loss if it were not restored.
God also commands Moses to place the new set of Tablets in an Ark. The Bechor Shor adds that God doesn’t want Moses to bear them in his arms. God doesn’t want a repetition of the scenario where an angered Moses would break the Tablets again. God wants the Tablets guarded in an Ark, ironically, guarded from the great liberator, leader, teacher and guardian of the Jewish people. In essence, God wants to guard the guardian. God ultimately has Moses’ back.
May we always sense that God has our back and guards us, usually unbeknownst to us.
Shabbat Shalom,
Dedicated to the memory of the inimitable Jackie Mason (z”l)
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