Parshah Columnists

Life Lessons From the Parshah - Ki Tisa

Why were the first set of tablets given with such fanfare?

When is there an obligation to name the source you are quoting? And what does that really teach us?

We walked past shops that looked like they'd been bombed away. Smoke was rising from the burning debris. A family looking through a heap of rubble at a place they once called home...

After such an interface with the Divine, how could they have transferred their loyalty to an idol? The Talmud responds by telling us that the Jews were, in fact, above this unseemliness. So what happened?

She arrived in New York wearing a floor-length yellow sari and couldn’t care less about what she no longer had. She feels differently today.

Sometimes our mistake has devastating consequences. In just a moment of thoughtlessness, lives are shattered. The damage is irreversible. Relationships are severed, reputations sullied beyond repair.

Whenever the Torah discusses the commandment to build the Tabernacle, the sanctuary constructed in the desert, the Torah also reiterates the commandment of Shabbat.

Even if we are not prepared to live a holy life, at least let us be honest...

G‑d may be everywhere, but I need a G‑d who is somewhere

Is there any benefit in compelling your child to do what is right, when he’s doing so only because he cannot disobey you?

How can the observer be sure who is fighting for G‑d and who’s just making excuses—claiming to be fighting for G‑d but in reality motivated out of spite or petty vindictiveness?

Seemingly empty words and accompanying gestures that are even less sincere. They're not fooling G‑d, so why bother wasting time having people act out a meaningless charade?

What is the primary concern of the religious person -- man-to-man relations or a focus on the Divine?

G-d gives us things. G-d does not give others these same things. This can and does cause jealousy, an unvoiced "Why does she deserve it?," and somewhere on High that energy does not dissipate. It gravitates, and brings into question "Maybe she doesn’t deserve it after all?"

Is there ever a good reason to destroy a national treasure? A trip to the National Archives got me thinking about this subject...

The golden calf debacle—in hindsight, how are we to view this catastrophe?

Fed up with the corruption and immorality he had seen at Pharaoh's palace, Moses had all but given up on bettering the world. He had come to terms with living the life of a private citizen, and began to focus on making local, instead of global, differences. But that was about to change.

Why is "an abundance of truth" considered one of the attributes of mercy? Truth is a severe and honest judge, unwilling to overlook misdeeds and transgressions...

The story of Hur is one of heroism, tragedy and, ultimately, redemption.

Between planning and building the temple, we’ll discuss tablet smashing, idolatry, adultery, and a bunch of other fiascos!

A person who has a foot on each side of the fence, and never taken a leap of faith in either direction, is less likely to recognize when he or she has veered in the wrong direction . . .

Though we strive to have a relationship with G‑d in which we do not fail, mistakes are inevitable.

One of the most dramatic scenes from our nation's history unfolds when Moses descended from Mount Sinai holding the tablets containing the Ten Commandments.

The incense burned on the golden altar was meant to be the most beautifully aromatic thing around. Why, then, was this foul-smelling ingredient, chelbona, included?

Sin leaves a "stain" on the spiritual aspect of the person. The highest levels of repentance may be so deep, that now a new level of goodness and holiness is reached, which could only be attained by repentance...

Can a mere half-shekel atone for the gravest of sins? Perhaps the answer lies in the “halfness” of the coin . . .

We de-light from mundaneness and delight in holiness

A closer look at the verses describing the Golden Calf debacle reveals some of the underlying issues which led to this national failure -- and teaches us some valuable lessons.

A census achieves two contrary aims. By focusing on the total sum, it asks the individual to suspend his individuality; at the same time, it compels him to ask himself if he is worthy of contributing to the total...

I've said it many times and let me repeat: The Master of the Universe not only talks to Himself, He talks to figments of His holy imagination. Not only that, those figments of His holy imagination talk back to Him. And He listens...

He had always been known as the faithful servant. But this time his words were brash. Brazen. Almost impudent. Dangerously so.

How did G-d address the gold-sickness of His newly chosen people? He didn't abolish gold. He didn't even take away theirs. He told them to use their gold to build Him a Sanctuary.

Strip life of its false starts, of its missed opportunities, naive presumptions, fumbling first attempts and learned-it-the hard-way experiences, and what's left? Nothing worth writing home about, let alone going through all that trouble to live a life...

Who can make the physical world a holy place? One who remains untouched by its coarseness, or one who has succumbed to its temptations and triumphed over them? And what about the one who is still stuck in the morass of the material?

Moses made demands of the people; when necessary, he rebuked them. A docile calf would do no such thing...

It is a moment of the very highest drama. The Israelites, a mere forty days after the greatest revelation in history, have made an idol: a Golden Calf. G‑d threatens to destroy them.

The more I study the Torah, the more conscious I become of the immense mystery of Exodus 33. This is the chapter set in the middle of the Golden Calf narrative.

Leaders can fail for two kinds of reason - interal and external.

This exercise will unburden you. It will allow you to rise above the hurt, the shame and the resentments.