Parashat Ki Tissa 5782

by Rabbi Margie Cella

This week’s parashah begins with Moshe taking a census, requiring each man aged 20-60 to bring a half shekel. God designated Bezalel to oversee the Tabernacle’s construction and reiterated the importance of Shabbat observance. While Moshe was on Mt. Sinai receiving the tablets with the 10 commandments, the people had Aaron build a golden calf for them to worship; Hashem was angry enough to want to destroy the nation; Moshe interceded on their behalf. Moshe broke the tablets in anger, and destroyed the calf, designating the Tabernacle as the place of worship. At God’s command, Moshe ascended the mountain with a second set of tablets to be inscribed with the commandments; when he descended after spending 40 days and nights there, his face shone.
The haftarah’s story takes place during the reign of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel who together encouraged idol worship in Israel; during the third year of a drought, God sent the prophet Elijah to put an end to the idolatry. A showdown was arranged between Elijah and 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mt. Carmel. Though the pagan prophets spent hours calling upon their gods, nothing happened. When Elijah took his turn, he doused the altar with water multiple times before calling upon the name of Hashem, Who answered by consuming the bull offering in fire, causing everyone present to proclaim, “The Lord Alone is God.”

Both the parashah and the haftarah together, b’yachad, are strong incriminations of idolatry. Moshe and Elijah each climbed a mountain to restore the faith of the people in God. Moshe destroyed the golden calf; Elijah sacrificed a bull that God consumed. Both men insisted that the people choose between idolatry and Hashem; thus, the theme of repentance is also stressed. Both passages are related to our Yom Kippur prayers: the Torah reading contains the 13 Attributes of Hashem’s mercy, which are recited multiple times throughout the day. And the phrase that ends the haftarah, ה’ הוא האלקים, Adoshem Hu Ha-Elokim, “the Lord alone is God” is chanted 7 times at the end of Ne’ilah, just before the final shofar blast. To this day, we are called upon to put aside those things that would detract from our relationship with Hashem, and to recognize the supremacy of the one true God.