This Shabbat we read parashat Ki Tisa, and also the special reading of Parah – the red heifer. The sin of the golden calf, which takes place in Ki Tisa, is the sin of man attempting to hold G-d in his hand, to be able to comprehend and rationally explain G-d, to be able to point to G-d’s infiniteness and say, “Ahh – there it is!” – as if that were humanly possible. Parah Adumah, considered to be the “antidote” to the golden calf, is testimony to the unknowable and ungraspable reality of G-d.
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Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35)
Parashat Ki Tisa is read on Shabbat:
Adar 18, 5769/March 14, 2009
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