Soaring Letters – Part I

When Moses descended Mount Sinai and saw the people worshipping a golden calf, he shattered the Ten Commandments.

Rashi explains that Moses did this in order to rescind the covenant binding the Jewish people to G-d, and avert their punishment for idolatry – the sin of the golden calf.

The Talmud relates, however, that upon seeing the people sin, the letters on the tablets soared to heaven, leaving the stones blank. The incriminating words, “You shall have no other gods before Me” were already gone by the time Moses broke the tablets!

The answer lies in a closer examination of Rashi’s words.