Royal Humility

After the episode of the Golden Calf, G-d thanked Moses for breaking the Tablets of the Law. But why? What was so commendable about breaking them?

The Midrash relates that G-d told Moses, “Do not grieve over the breaking of the First Tablets,” for they were only to be accompanied by the Five Books of Moses and the Book of Joshua, whereas the Second Tablets were accompanied by the Prophets, the Writings, the Oral Torah… — a tremendous increase in Torah. But how could the breaking of the Tablets result in an increase in Torah?

One answer: In the daily prayers, we ask G-d: “May my soul be as dust to all.” Only then do we ask: “Open my heart to Your Torah.” For a person’s heart to be truly “open to Torah,” he must first be humble “as dust.”

Our forefathers had received the Torah from G-d A-lmighty Himself… The L-rd had chosen and elevated them above all nations… After all this, to expect them to be “humble as dust” was impossible. By breaking the Tablets, however, Moses caused every Jew to be truly humbled, thus making them worthy of infinitely greater Torah.

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