Parshas Ki Sisa 5779

Why Did They Worship the Golden Calf?

The Torah writes (Exodus 32:7-8):

The LORD spoke to Moses, “Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely. They have been quick to turn aside from the way that I enjoined upon them. They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’”

The Talmud (Avodah Zarah 4b) cites an opinion:

And Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: The Jewish people fashioned the Golden Calf only to give a claim to penitents, as it is stated after the revelation at Sinai: “Who would give that they had such a heart as this always, to fear Me, and keep all My commandments, that it might be good for them, and with their children forever”. If the nation was truly at such a lofty spiritual state, how could they worship the Golden Calf? Rather, their sin occurred so that it would be made clear that one can repent for any sin, as even a sin as severe as the Golden Calf was forgiven.

Rashi (ibid):

They were strong and controlled their desires and it shouldn't happened that their desires overpowered them, but it was a decree of the King for [their desires] to overpower them in order to give an opening for those who want to repent, so if a sinner says "I won't repent for I won't be accepted" they will answer him "Go and learn from the story of the Golden Calf that they repented and were accepted"

(Rabbi Hershel Schechter interprets this as having their freedom of choice taken away. He also discusses sources that think there is a commandment to lain the Parsha of the Golden Calf every year)

Maharsha (ibid) explains:

To me it seems that the Israelites were fit that G-d would save them from a great sin like this one, even though "everything is in the hands of Heaven except for the fear of Heaven" ... but why did they do it and were not saved from this sin? [so it would be made clear that one can repent...

Identity of "Aromatic Cane"

The Torah writes (Exodus 30:23):

Next take choice spices: five hundred weight of solidified myrrh, half as much—two hundred and fifty—of fragrant cinnamon, two hundred and fifty of aromatic cane,

Rashi (ibid):

cane of sweet spices. Because there are canes which do not bear sweet spices Scripture had to state (add the word) בֹשֶׂם

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (ibid) provides additional sources:

• Ancient sources identify this with the sweet calmus (Septuagint; Rambam on Kerithoth 1:1; Saadia; Ibn Janach)
• This is the sweetflag or flag-root, Acoras calamus which grows in Europe. It appears that a similar species grew in the Holy Land, in the Hula region in ancient times (Theophrastus, History of Plants 9:7).
• Other sources apparently indicate that it was the Indian plant, Cympopogan martini, which has the form of red straw (Yad, Kley HaMikdash 1:3).
• On the basis of cognate pronunciation and Septuagint readings, some identify Keneh bosem with the English and Greek cannabis, the hemp plant.
• There are, however, some authorities who identify the 'sweet cane' with cinnamon bark (Radak, Sherashim).
• Some say that kinman is the wood, and keneh bosem is the bark (Abarbanel).

Misc:

• R' Josh Waxman explains about why the famous statute of Moses has horns 
• Rabbi Jonathan Sacks discusses why being a stiff necked people is a good thing 
• The Rambam talks about the plural and singular versions of the word "Elokim"

Parshas Ki Sisa 5777

Single Things in the Tabernacle that Had Doubles

There were several things related to the Tabernacle and the Temple that seemingly there is only one of but may have additional doubles:

1. Urim veTumim - as explained last week, the mentions the existence of at least one other Ephod that has the same power as the Urim veTumim because the way it was created was known by Moses and passed down through the generations.
2. The Outside Altar - when the Tabernacle was not housed in a permanent structure and before the Temple was built, certain sacrifices were allowed to be brought on additional altars called "Bamos" that were outside the Tabernacle. Additionally, during the inaguration of the Temple, King Solomon temporarily consecrates the floor of the courtyard itself as an Altar (see Kings I, 9:64).
3. The High Priest - in addition to the High Priest, there was also a second Priest that was anointed for war. The Talmud (Makkos 11a) cites opinions that in the context of the law of the exiled murdered, the death for the Priest anointed for war counts to release the murderer from exile. The same goes for a High Priest that steps down from his position. The Talmud (Sotah 42a) also discusses a deputy High Priest who steps in when the High Priest becomes disqualified.
4. The Menorah - while the Torah describes only one Menorah, we do find additional ones mentioned in some places. For example, King Solomon made 10 additional Menorahs in addition to the original one from Moses (see Kings I 7:59 and Malbim there). There is also discussion in the context of Hanukkah about a temporary Menorah made by the Hasmoneans. There is also a visual disagreement between the Menorah depicted on the Arch of Titus (with curved branches) and the opinion of the Rambam (straight lines). This disagreement is explained by some as referring to two different Menorahs.
5. The Keruvim - the Torahs describes these as being attached to the lid of the Ark and looking like two angels with faces of children. However, King Solomon had a second set made that stood attached to the floor over the Ark (see Kings I, chapter 6). This explains how they were able to overlook the Ark when it was brought in (see Kings I, 7:6-7). Additionally, this also explains what the Talmud writes (Yoma 54b) regarding the conquerors of Jerusalem parading the cherubim around at the time of the destruction of the First Temple. Since the Talmud (Yoma 52b) states that the Ark was hidden long before that by King Josiah, it must be that the cherubim that were being paraded around later on were the extra ones made by King Solomon.
6. The Ark - as discussed last year, two arks existed - one used for war and one used in the Tabernacle (see Deuteronomy 10:1).
7. The Tent of Meeting - as discussed earlier, the original Tent of Meeting was setup by Moses after the Sin of the Golden Calf outside the camp (see Exodus 33:7-11). It was later replaced by the Tabernacle.

Some additional things that had doubles:

1. Mordechai and Esther -  both of them had two sets of names - Mordechai also had the name Pesachia, and Esther was also called Hadasah. It seems that one was their legal Persian name and the other was their personal Hebrew name. This would also explain why their names were similar to the names of Persian deities - it was a common custom among the Babylonians and later rulers of their empire to give foreign people names based on deities (see Daniel).
2. The Golden Calf - as discussed earlier, some opinions mention multiple calves being made.

Parshas Ki Sisa (5776)

How Many Arks Existed?

The Torah writes (Exodus 34:1):

And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first; and I will write upon the tables the words that were on the first tables, which thou didst break.

Later on (Deuteronomy 10:1):

At that time the LORD said unto me: ‘Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto Me into the mount; and make thee an ark of wood.

Rashi explains (ibid):

And this was not the Ark that Bezalel made for they did not occupy themselves with the Tabernacle until after Yom Kippur, for when he [Moses] descended from the mountain [a second time], he commanded them about the work of the Tabernacle. And Bezalel made the Tabernacle first, and then the Ark and the other implements, and therefore this was a different Ark for it went out to war with them. And the one that Bezalel did not go out to war except in the days of Eli.

Rashi's source is the Jerusalem Talmud (Shekalim 6:1):

Rabbi Yehuda ben Lakish learned: There were two Arks that went with the Jewish people in the desert. One had the Torah that was given inside it, and the other had the remains of the [first] Tablets in it. The one that had the Torah, stayed inside the Tabernable ... the other one with the remains of the Tablets went in and out with them.

The Talmud (ibid) cites another opinion:

And the Rabbis said: there was one Ark, and one time they took it out during the days of Eli and it was captured

The Abarbanel (Samuel I 4) explains an intermediate opinion, when only one Ark existed to hold both the first and second Tablets, but there was a second Ark that went to war which contained the Ephod and the Urim veTumim that the Priest wore during war

Midrash Mekhilta (13:19) states another opinion about two arks in the desert:

the casket of Joseph went alongside the ark of "the Life of the Worlds" (i.e., the Ten Commandments), and when the passersby asked: What are these two arks? they were told: This is the ark of a dead man and the other is the ark of "the Life of the Worlds." And when they asked: How is it that the ark of a dead man goes alongside the ark of "the Life of the Worlds"? they were told: He who lies in this ark fulfils what is written in what lies in the other ark.

Additional:

• see our earlier post about the Erev Rav and how many calves were made

[Published at parshapeople.blogspot.com / Comments welcome to parsha-people@publishyoursefer.com]