{"id":25261,"date":"2026-03-04T17:09:53","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T15:09:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/btfila.org\/?p=25261"},"modified":"2026-03-04T19:16:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T17:16:30","slug":"kitisa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btfila.org\/en\/kitisa\/","title":{"rendered":"Parashat Ki Tissa"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Words for Shabbat - A community blog for this week's parashah<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Parashat Ki Tissa<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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What happens when the leader disappears?<\/strong><\/h3>
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By Meir Tzohar<\/strong><\/div>
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\"\"<\/p><\/div>

The \"Because you will carry\"<\/strong>\u00a0It is one of the most dramatic in the Torah, ranging from spiritual exaltation to the depths of the sin of the golden calf. The order of events is not chronological (the census takes place only a year later in the Book of Numbers).<\/p>

The parashah opens with a census, conducted by means of a uniform contribution of half a shekel, which will be used to build the Tabernacle. It then details some of the Tabernacle's vessels and appoints craftsmen to carry out the work. Further details on the commandments of Shabbat complete the opening of the parashah (with the linking of the commandments of Shabbat to the construction of the Tabernacle serving as the traditional interpretation for the formulation of the list of 39 types of work prohibited on Shabbat).\u00a0<\/p>

The main part of the passage deals with \"The sin of the golden calf<\/strong>\" \u2013 the original sin of Israeli\/Jewish culture for thousands of years. Moses delays on the mountain for 40 days. The people, under pressure and anxiety, demand a replacement for Aaron. Aaron creates the\u00a0The Golden Calf<\/strong>. God informs Moses of the sin and wants to destroy the people. Moses prays for the people, but when he comes down and sees the dancing around the calf, he\u00a0Breaks the tablets of the covenant<\/strong>. Moses punishes the sinners with the help of the Levites, who pass through the camp and kill 3,000 people. Afterward, Moses climbs the mountain again to ask for forgiveness. He asks God, \"Please show me your glory.\" In response, God reveals to him the\u00a0The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy<\/strong>\u00a0, the main prayer for asking forgiveness to this day.<\/p>

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Moses carves new stone tablets. After another 40 days, he comes down with The second tablets<\/strong>. Due to his immense closeness to God,\u00a0Moses' face is glowing<\/strong>\u00a0The light was so strong that he had to put a veil over his face when he spoke to the people (statues of Moses with horns throughout Europe originate from a faulty translation).\u00a0<\/p>

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From \"We will do and we will hear\" to \"The sin of the golden calf\" <\/strong><\/h3>

The connection between \"We will do and we will hear\" and the sin of the golden calf seems, at first glance, to be a complete contradiction. How could a people that had reached a spiritual state of self-nullification (\"We will do\" before \"We will hear\") crash and burn within forty days into idolatry of a golden calf? However, when we look at the psychological sequence of events, we can see in the sin of the golden calf\u00a0Direct continuation<\/strong>\u00a0The extremism of \"we will do and we will hear,\" and an ancient expression of FOMO, the fear of missing out.<\/p>

\"We will do and we will hear\" \u2013 spiritual ecstasy without preparation<\/strong><\/h3>

The mass cry\"We will do and we will hear.<\/strong>\" expresses a state of ecstasy. The Israelites gave up intellectual understanding and critical thinking (\"we will hear\") in favor of total commitment (\"we will do\"). It is a moment of spiritual \"high\" in which the boundaries between man and his beliefs become blurred, and man loses control.<\/p>

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The challenge<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0 Peak moments pass quickly. As soon as Moses ascended the mountain and the fog took over, the people were left in a vacuum of faith. Without the \"hearing\"\u2014that is, without deep understanding, critical thinking, a gradual process, and tools to contain the spiritual experience in everyday life\u2014enthusiasm quickly turns to anxiety. When Moses was \"late\" in coming down, the emptiness turned to fear, and the people sought a security blanket.<\/p>

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The sin of the golden calf <\/strong>FOMO <\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0collective<\/strong><\/h3>

FOMO is the fear that something important is happening and we are not part of it, or that the source of our security\/happiness has disappeared and we have been left behind. After 40 days, the people develop a \"film\" of anxieties and fears:<\/p>

The fear of losing the leader<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0\"For this is Moses the man... we did not know what had become of him.\" The people are afraid that their connection with God has been severed and that they are \"missing out\" on the opportunity to continue the experience of Sinai.<\/p>

The need for \"here and now\"<\/strong>\":<\/strong>\u00a0 FOMO requires quick solutions. The calf was not an attempt to rebel against God, but an attempt\u00a0moor<\/strong>\u00a0The same in substance. The people need \"a God who will go before us\"\u2014a God who can be seen with the eyes, who is available and immediate, who does not require waiting in the fog.<\/p>

Social pressure<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0As on social media, the anxiety surrounding the sin of the golden calf feeds on itself. \"And the people gathered around Aaron\" \u2013 this is a movement stemming from social pressure and mass anxiety that \"everyone knows something I don't know\" about Moses' disappearance.<\/p>

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Dealing with the <\/strong>FOMO<\/strong> \u2013 Building a \"safe place\" for anxiety<\/strong><\/h3>

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The sin of the golden calf teaches us that we cannot live only by \"we will do and we will hear,\" by moments of peak emotion and blind faith, without building everyday tools. The calf is \"Shortcut\" <\/strong>To achieve a sense of \"divinity\" without going through the work, the waiting, and the uncertainty.\u00a0The Tabernacle is a correction \u2013 <\/strong>Unlike the calf, which was created in a moment of outburst and anxiety, the Tabernacle was built with detail, painstaking work, and planning. It teaches that the way to deal with spiritual FOMO is not by chasing instant gratification, but by creating a routine of sacred work.<\/p>

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The second tablets<\/strong> Moshe's sculptures reinforce the motif of Sisyphean labor versus religious and spiritual ecstasy. The most significant difference between the panels is their origin. The first panels were\u00a0\""\"<\/strong>The work of God is the letter, and the letter is the work of God.<\/strong>\""\"<\/strong>. They represent a gift from heaven, a total experience that requires no human effort\u2014like the initial \"We will do and we will hear.\" In contrast, in the second set of tablets, God commands Moses\""\" <\/strong>Carve two stone tablets like the first ones.<\/strong>\""\"<\/strong> . Here, Moses is the one who must carve the stone, and God \"only\" writes on them.\u00a0<\/p>

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The first boards were like a perfect \"story,\" everything looked amazing and effortless\u2014 \u00a0\"We will do and we will hear.\".<\/strong> The second tablets are a correction\u2014they teach that holiness requires\u00a0Hard work and genuine involvement<\/strong>. We cannot rely solely on divine ecstasy; we must carve out the tools ourselves so that we do not fall apart in every moment of anxiety and difficulty.<\/p>

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In the Midrash Exodus Rabbah, it is recounted that Moses regretted breaking the first tablets, but the Holy One, blessed be He, comforted him, saying, \"Do not regret the first ones, for they contained only the Ten Commandments, but in the second tablets I give you more than that.\"\u00a0Halakhot, Midrash, and Aggadah<\/strong>\"Here too, the Midrash teaches that it was precisely the breaking and repairing that gave rise to a new depth \u2013 theOral Torah<\/strong>. FOMO seeks the quick answer, but the second boards represent the longer, more interpretive, and richer path that develops alongside the individual.\u00a0<\/p>

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The Gemara in Bava Batra (14b) notes that both the complete tablets and the broken tablets were placed inside the Ark.\u00a0\""\"<\/strong>broken slabs<\/strong> \""\"<\/strong>Asher Shiber Moshe. From this we can learn that profound correction does not ignore situations of brokenness. Correction does not mean ignoring failure, but rather making room for brokenness. Brokenness reminds us that even failures (such as the sin of the golden calf) have value. Failure is part of the story. The attempt to be \"perfect\" (as in the first tablets) is what causes anxiety and leads to brokenness. Accepting brokenness allows us to cope and grow.\u00a0<\/p>

Summary<\/strong><\/h3>

The sin of the golden calf is the story of a people who rose too quickly and too high in \"We will do and we will hear.<\/strong>\", and were unable to cope when their leader disappeared. The fear of being left alone in the fog without a tangible God drove them to create a glittering substitute in the form of the golden calf. And so today, we too must remember that it is precisely in moments of uncertainty, crisis, and difficulty, when we feel that we are \"missing out\" or being left behind, that the wise thing to do is not to run after shiny, fast-moving \"golden calves,\" but to patiently build up inner strength that will carry us even when the fog covers the mountain.<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMeir Tzohar\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Meir Tzohar - eternal student... Vered's other half, father to three grown children and grandfather to four amazing grandchildren and Polymath...<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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