Parshiot for February / March


17 / 18 March – 19 / 20 Adar (KI TISA) Exodus 30: 11 to 34: 35


This section contains a great deal of action, notably the sin of the Golden Calf as the people await Moses’ delayed return from the mountaintop. Upon questioning Aaron about his own role in creating the idol, Moses is told that he should not be angry for “this people is bent on evil”. This raises an interesting idea: while we are usually told that Israel was selected as God’s Chosen people because of their insignificance, thus to demonstrate God’s power by His raising them to greatness, it is here suggested that another reason might have been their tendency to moral failing. After all, if the Divine purpose was to bring a moral order to the world, what better vehicle for this message than a people most prone to degeneracy in this regard? Certainly this notion is borne out by their repeated straying from their religious tradition even in the very presence of the Divine, and while they are duly punished for these lapses there is always a return to purity and redemption to be had. In this way Israel sets a particular example for the rest of the world, demonstrating that no one is beyond salvation and that God may cast His favour over even those least deserving of it. (The haftarah for the special SHABBAT PARAH is Ezekiel 36: 22 to 36, in which God pointedly informs the Israelites that he does not act in their favour for their sake but for the sake of His holy name, even as they profane that very name among the nations).


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