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Chabad.org » Learning & Values » Weekly Torah (Parshah) » Shemot - Exodus » Ki Tisa » Parshah Columnists » What Do You Think? » The Word Not Found In G‑d's Dictionary

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What Do You Think?
The Word Not Found In G‑d's Dictionary

By Levi Avtzon

Ki Tisa is the name of this week's reading. Ki Tisa simply translates as "when you take a census." It can also translate as "when you lift up."

What is discussed in the reading of Ki Tisa?

Forty days after hearing G‑d announce at Sinai, "I am your G‑d.... You shall have no other gods besides Me," the Jews sinned big time. The Golden Calf fest was a carnival that included idolatry, adultery, and murder.1

"When you lift up"?

Sarcasm?

Many times, the greatest tragedies spur the greatest growthHeaven forbid! The Torah is truth and only truth. If Torah says that the episode of the Golden Calf is an "uplifting" story, then that is indeed the case.

So what is the deeper meaning that lies behind the seemingly deceiving title?

Many times, the greatest tragedies spur the greatest growth. In our own lives, if we'd look back through the objective lens of hindsight, chances are that we'd identify many a time when what we thought at the time to be the greatest calamity actually brought out the best in us.

The Golden Calf was a sin, a terrible sin. But thanks to that sin we now have Yom Kippur, the day that G‑d forgave the Jewish people, a day that ever since has become the day when G‑d cleanses our souls from any grime we may have accumulated in the past year. Secondly, because of the Golden Calf fiasco we got the second set of tablets, which came to replace the broken set. This second set came with a bonus – the entire "Oral Torah" – basically a whole body of Torah scholarship that was not included in the first.

The title Ki Tisa teaches us that there is one word that does not exist in G‑d's dictionary.

Failure.

8 Comments

FOOTNOTES
1.	The Biblical commentator Rashi cites a Midrash that derives from the verses that the Golden Calf celebration included adultery and murder too. (The murder occurred when Hur, the son of Miriam, protested what was transpiring, and was killed by an angry mob.)

	By Levi Avtzon More articles... \|
	Rabbi Levi Avtzon lives in Johannesburg, South Africa, with his wife Chaya and their son Aharon. He regularly blogs his thoughts and ideas on the weekly Torah reading, current and past events, and the imminence of the Redemption on the Jewish website Chabad.org.

The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.

Reader Comments
Latest Comments:

Posted: Feb 16, 2011

Word not found...

True, there is no failure as long as we lift Him up.

Posted By margaret, Mesa, Arizona, USA

Posted: Mar 6, 2010

Ki Tisa

Almost 4,000 years later, I am still ashamed and pained that our people were capable of such an act, literally before G-d. The only thing uplifting about it is the display of G-d's infinite mercy in not destroying everyone then and there. That the entire generation should perish before The Land was entered and all others wander in the desert until that time should be some evidence that at that time, such a sin was in no way considered as having any uplifting quality. Good does not come from bad in this but only from G-d's merciful allowance that we survived and hopefully learned from it.

Posted By J.J. , San Pedro, CA
via chabadsb.org

Posted: Mar 6, 2010

Ki Tisa

No such thing as failure means that there is always good that comes out of even things that seemed bad. "All that G-d does is for the best."

and Whatever G-d does is for the good, even if it does not seem that way.

Posted By Violeta, OOB, Maine
via chabadofmaine.com

Posted: Mar 6, 2010

When you lift up versus Uplifting

When you lift up here sounds to me more like an uprising, a conspiracy to dethrone the King, mutiny than a sarcastic twist on elevating one's moral plane.

Posted By Anonymous, atl

Posted: Mar 5, 2010

the word not found....

To the question about the levites killing their brother..., perhaps the answer is BECAUSE G-D WISHES A HOLY PEOPLE, as said ahead, and the levites were the only ones who had not worshipped the golden calf. And that holy people would be a light to the nations. I hope that helps you, and gives light to your mind and soul.

Posted By gustavo vargas angel, santiago, chile

Posted: Mar 5, 2010

Parsha by Rabbi Avtzon

What a pleasure to read words of Rabbi Avtzon. The Avtzon family is very dear to our family. In Michigan, Rebbitzen Bina Avtzon, of blessed memory, welcomed our family to their home for holidays. I learned so very much from her example. On Rosh Hashona, Rabbi Avtzon, of blessed memory, prayed additional prayers for hours beyond the regular prayers. Mrs. Avtzon would serve her guests after we heard kiddush, yet would not eat until her husband finished praying.
The two of us sat together on the holiday before she passed away. She confided some physical problems she was having. I told her she must see a doctor after the holiday. A few weeks later I saw her and noticed she said blessings with extreme intent.
"I saw the doctor. It was too late. I haven't long in this world so I must make use of every second."
She was also "Mother Russia" arranging circumcisions for Russians, housing and food. When asked her why she insisted on her sons studying voice, she said "So they shouldn't annoy those praying around them!"

Posted By Ms. RUTH KRIEGER

Posted: Mar 5, 2010

Ki Tisa

They why was Moses commanded to tell the Levites to "let every man kill his brother, every man his fellow, and every man his near one." if there is no such thing as failure?

Posted By Anonymous, Pittsford, NY

Posted: Mar 5, 2010

very well said!

Posted By bee, montreal