Parshat Ki Tisa- An Opportunity to Teach
by Rabbi Lobel

(Exodus; Chapter 32, Verse 19) “It happened as He (Moses) drew near the camp and he saw the calf and the dances, that Moses' anger burned, He (Moses) threw down the Tablets from his hand and shattered them at the bottom of the Mountain.”

Moses broke the Tablets that G-d had given the Jewish people after witnessing the Golden Calf.

Rashi (commenting on verse 32:1) explains that the people miscalculated the proper arrival of Moses. When Moses said he would return on the fortieth day, he meant forty complete days (i.e. not including the day he left).

Moses left on the seventh of Sivan and the fortieth day was the seventeenth day of Tamuz. On the sixteenth of Tamuz, Satan came and confused the world by creating an image of darkness and gloom. The Jewish nation took this as an implication that Moses died. This, in turn, caused the sin of the Golden Calf.

The Medrash Rabba (46:1) explains, when G-d told Moses “go, descend – for your nation that you have brought up from Egypt has degenerated”, Moses did not believe the Children of Israel sinned.

The Medrash asks, Is it possible that Moses did not believe G-d's statement? Rather Moses did believe G-d, but Moses refused to shatter the Tablets based on one individual's statement. Moses would not destroy the Tablets until he witnessed it himself, as the verse says, “as He (Moses) drew near the camp...He (Moses) threw down the Tablets from his hand and shattered them at the bottom of the Mountain.”

G-d is not an individual. G-d's word is absolute. Rather, this was an opportunity to teach proper prosecution. Even though G-d's word is always true, Moses wanted to lead by example in the proper laws of judgment. Even during Israel 's darkest hour, a great leader finds the opportunity to teach.