Parshas Eikev
Letting Go
Volume 4 Issue 44
by Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky
In this week's portion Moshe talks about what was perhaps the most
traumatic moment of his career. After spending 40 days and nights on the
highest level of spiritual elevation, he returned from Mount Sinai to a
scene that filled him with horror. At the foot of the mountain the Jews
were reveling around a golden calf.
Naturally Moshe was appalled. Here he was, holding the luchos (tablets), a
G-d-given immortal gift, and he faced a nation plunged into an act of
idolatry. He smashes the luchos.
But if we analyze the narrative there is an interesting word that Moshe
inserts as he describes his actions on that day. "I descended from the
mountain and the two tablet were in my hands. Then I saw and behold! You
had sinned unto G-d; you made yourselves a molten calf. So I grasped the
two luchos and I threw them from my two hands and smashed them in front of
your eyes" (Deuteronomy 9:15-17).
Moshe was holding the tablets when descending the mountain. Why did he
clutch them before throwing them from his hands? Weren't they already in
his hands?
Shouldn't the verse tell us "Then I saw and behold! You had sinned and you
made yourselves a molten calf. So I threw the tablets from my two hands and
smashed them in front of your eyes." Why, and in what way did he grasp them?
A friend of mine told me a story about his great grandfather, a brilliant
sage and revered tzadik. Whenever he saw one of his children commit an
action that was harmful to their physical or spiritual well-being he would
stop them. But this sage knew that stopping a child is not enough. The
youngster would need a punishment too, whether it be potch (Yiddish for
slap), reprimand, lecture, or the withholding of privileges.
But when a potch or harsh rebuke was due, the rabbi would not give it
immediately. He would jot the transgression down in a small notebook and at
the end of the week he would approach the young offender.
After giving the child a hug and embrace, he reminded the child of the
incident and explained to the child that his actions were wrong.
"I should have punished you immediately when I saw you commit your act," he
would say, "but honestly, I was angry then, and my punishment may have been
one spurred by anger, not admonition. Now, however, that occurrence is in
the past and I am calm. Now I can mete your punishment with a clear head.
And you will know that it is given from love, not anger."
He then proceeded to punish the child in a way that fit the misdeed.
Moshe was upset. But he did not want to throw the luchos down in rage. He
therefore grabbed them and held them tight before hurling them. Moshe, in
his narrative tells us that he seized the luchos before breaking them. He
wanted to send a clear message to the revelers below. That the mussar
(ethical reprove) that he was affording with this action was not born out
of irrational behavior or in anger.
Before smashing the luchos Moshe embraced them, just as a father hugging a
child that he would soon admonish. Because Moshe wanted to tell us that
before we let loose, we have to hold tight.
Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky
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