Scroll Top

Parashat Ki Tissa 2-March-2013

View/Print Bulletin

Candle lighting time for Friday, March 1, 2013, 5:44 p.m.

Parashat Ki Tissa / Shabbat Parah

20 Adar, 5773 / March 2, 2013
Triennial Cycle III: Exodus 33:12-34:35
Humash Etz Hayim, page 538
Maftir: Numbers 19:1-22, page 880
Haftarah: Ezekiel 36:16-38, page 1286

  1. (33:12-23) Moses pleads to be able to see God, but that request is denied, for a human may not see Me and live. God does promise that Moses will be able to see His “back,” i.e., have an indirect manifestation of His presence.
  2. (34:1-9) Moses returns to Mt. Sinai for the third time and receives the revelation concerning God’s Thirteen Attributes.
  3. (34:10-26) The renewal of the covenant between God and Israel, with further instructions concerning the keeping of the mitzvot.
  4. (34:27-28) After 40 days, Moses receives the second set of Tablets.

The Do-over
By Rabbi Daniel Pressman

The Lord said to Moses: Carve [can also be read “carve for yourself”] two tablets of stone like the first, and I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you shattered.” (Ex. 34:1)

You broke the first ones; you carve the second ones. (Rashi)

You received the first tablets without any trouble or effort, and that was why it was so easy for you to break them. Therefore, “carve for yourself two tablets” — with your own effort, and then you will not be so ready to break them. (Rabbi Yitzhak Nissenboim, 20th century, perished in the Warsaw Ghetto)

Carve for yourself – and be ready by morning (Ex. 34:1, 2). When the Tablets were first given Scripture reports On the third day, as morning dawned, [there was thunder, and lightning, and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. Moses led the people out of the camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the mountain] (Ex. 19:16-17). But, in this instance the instructions that followed were: [No one else shall come up with you,] and no one else shall be seen [anywhere on the mountain; neither shall the flocks and the herds graze at the foot of this mountain] (34:3). The first tablets were given in public, and therefore the evil eye had control over them and they were ultimately broken. Here the Holy Blessed One said to Moses: “There is nothing more perfect than privacy (tz’ni·ut) as it says, What does YHVH desire of you? Only to do justice, love mercy and conduct yourself in private ways [usually translated, “walk humbly with the Lord”] (Micah 6:8). (Midrash Tanchuma Ki Tissa 31)

Regarding the first tablets: because they were given in public their sanctity was established by God more than by the Israelites. Therefore they did not last, since their holiness was not due to the efforts of the Israelites; that which does not come about through our own efforts does not last. That is why regarding the second tablets, what was required was that they come about through their efforts, that they sanctify themselves even more. That is the significance of the teaching: “There is nothing more perfect than privacy as it says, What does YHVH desire of you? [Only to do justice, love mercy] and conduct yourself in private ways. (Sefer Ohel Torah by R. Menahem Mendel of Kotzk, 1787-1859, Poland)

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Canceled: Hamantaschen Ball – Wally’s Swing world will be performing on April 25 at the opening night of the art show

Matching Seder

Sale of Chametz

Passover Services Schedule

Community Support for Sue Glettig

CBD Board of Directors Vacancy

What Does CBD Mean to You?

Upcoming Tot, Youth and Family Services

Hadashot Religious School

Passover Food Drive

Mitzvah a Month

Minyan – Sunday 9:30 am & Monday – Thursday 7:00 p.m.

UPCOMING EVENTS

50th Anniversary Events

Friday, March 1: Family Services – Kita Vav Humash Ceremony and Potluck – 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 2: Building Blocks of Jewish Prayer with Rabbi Orhiner – After Shabbat Kiddush Lunch (about 1:30 p.m.)

Sunday, March 3: Join Z’havah for Coffee – 10:15 a.m.

Sunday, March 3: Transportation Options for Seniors and Their Families – 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, March 5: Membership Committee Meeting – 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, March 7: Hazak Event: The Japanese American Museum Tour – 10:30 a.m.

Thursday, March 7: Become a Prayer Leader at CBD with Rabbi Ohriner – 7:30 – 9:00 p.m

Saturday, March 9: Book Discussion Group – 1:30 – 3:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 10: Hebrews at War: The Military History of ancient Jews – 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 10: RSVP Deadline for Scholar-in-Residence Erev Shabbat Dinner – click here now

March 15 – 17: Scholar-in-Residence Weekend

Saturday, March 23: Mussar Matters with Rabbi Pressman – 1:30 – 2:30

COMMUNITY EVENTS

Sunday, March 3: Live from Israel Simply Tsfa – 3:00 p.m.

Monday, March 4: Hebrew Story Time – 4:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 7: An Evening with Technion’s Distinguished Professor Dan Shechtman 2011 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry – 6:15 p.m.

March 2 – March 12: Jewish Music Festival

March 14: Meet Lisa Alcalay Klug, author of “Hot Mamalah” – 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 17: 2013 Pillars of the Community – 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m

Tuesday, March 26: Passover Singles Seder – 7:00 – 10:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 14 – Thursday, April 18: Southern California College Tour with JCC