Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach 5784

by Rabbi Margie Cella

Moses seeks assurance that God will accompany the nation on the journey when they leave from Sinai. Though God denies his request to see the divine presence, God shows Moses a cleft in the rock where he can stand and see God’s back as God passes by.

God instructs Moses to cut two new tablets of stone and carry them up into the mountain where God will once again inscribe them. God reiterates the covenant between God and Israel, but warns the people not to worship the other nations’ gods when they encounter them in the land.

Finally, God commands once again that the people are to observe Pesach perpetually in the month of Aviv, marking the deliverance from Egypt. They are also to observe Shabbat, Shavuot and Sukkot at year’s end.

Unlike the first set of tablets, this second set is reflective of a covenant relationship characterized by a collaborative involvement of both parties. The first set were carved and engraved by God and given to Moses as a fait accompli. All Moses had to do was give them to the nation. Consequently, Moses felt little ownership of them, finding it easy to smash them in anger when witnessing them worshiping the golden calf. This new set was carved by Moses and carried up the mountain, where God engraved them. They came to exist through the joint effort of Moses and God.

Our covenantal relationship with God involves ourselves, our fellow Jews, and God. We owe it to each other to support and uplift each other. In these very difficult times, we owe it to our sisters in Israel to lift them up just as Moses lifted up those tablets. Kol Yisrael Arevim Zeh Ba’Zeh – All the people of Israel are responsible for one another.