Ki Tisa, Ki Tissa, Ki Thissa, or Ki Sisa (כִּי תִשָּׂא — Hebrew for “when you take,” the sixth and seventh words, and first distinctive words in the parshah) is the 21st weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the ninth in the book of Exodus. It constitutes Exodus 30:11–34:35. Jews in the Diaspora read it the 21st Sabbath after Simchat Torah, generally in late February or March.
Jews also read the first part of the parshah, Exodus 30:11–16, regarding the half-shekel head tax, as the maftir Torah reading on the special Sabbath Shabbat Shekalim (February 17, 2012 (read with parshah Mishpatim); February 9, 2013 (read with parshah Mishpatim); and March 1, 2014 (read with parshah Pekudei)). Jews also read parts of the parshah addressing the intercession of Moses and God’s mercy, Exodus 32:11–14 and 34:1–10, as the Torah readings on the fast days of the Tenth of Tevet, the Fast of Esther, the Seventeenth of Tammuz, and the Fast of Gedaliah, and for the afternoon (Mincha) prayer service on Tisha B'Av. Jews read another part of the parshah, Exodus 34:1–26, which addresses the Three Pilgrim Festivals (Shalosh Regalim), as the initial Torah reading on the third intermediate day (Chol HaMoed) of Passover. And Jews read a larger selection from the same part of the parshah, Exodus 33:12–34:26, as the initial Torah reading on a Sabbath that falls on one of the intermediate days of Passover or Sukkot.
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God instructed Moses that when he took a census of the Israelites, each person 20 years old or older, regardless of wealth, should give a half-shekel offering. (Exodus 30:11–15.) God told Moses to assign the proceeds to the service of the Tent of Meeting. (Exodus 30:16.)
God told Moses to place a copper laver between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, so that Aaron and the priests could wash their hands and feet in water when they entered the Tent of Meeting or approached the altar to burn a sacrifice, so that they would not die. (Exodus 30:17–22.)
God directed Moses to make a sacred anointing oil from choice spices — myrrh, cinnamon, cassia — and olive oil. (Exodus 30:22–25.) God told Moses to use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the furnishings of the Tabernacle, and the priests. (Exodus 30:26–30.) God told Moses to warn the Israelites not to copy the sacred anointing oil’s recipe for lay purposes, at pain of exile. (Exodus 30:31–33.)
God directed Moses make sacred incense from herbs — stacte, onycha, galbanum, and frankincense — to burn in the Tent of Meeting. Exodus 30:34–36.) As with the anointing oil, God warned against making incense from the same recipe for lay purposes. (Exodus 30:37.)
God informed Moses that God had endowed Bezalel of the Tribe of Judah with divine skill in every kind of craft. (Exodus 31:1–5.) God assigned to him Oholiab of the Tribe of Dan and granted skill to all who are skillful, that they might make the furnishings of the Tabernacle, the priests’ vestments, the anointing oil, and the incense. (Exodus 31:6–11.) God told Moses to admonish the Israelites nevertheless to keep the Sabbath, on pain of death. (Exodus 31:12–17.) Then God gave Moses two stone tablets inscribed by the finger of God. (Exodus 31:18.)
Meanwhile, the people became impatient for the return of Moses, and implored Aaron to make them a god. (Exodus 32:1.) Aaron told them to bring him their gold earrings, and he cast them in a mold and made a molten golden calf. (Exodus 32:2–4.) They exclaimed, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32:4.) Aaron built an altar before the calf, and announced a festival of the Lord. (Exodus 32:5.) The people offered sacrifices, ate, drank, and danced. (Exodus 32:6.)
God told Moses what the people had done, saying “let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation.” (Exodus 32:7–10.) But Moses implored God not to do so, lest the Egyptians say that God delivered the people only to kill them off in the mountains. (Exodus 32:11–12.) Moses called on God to remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God’s oath to make their offspring as numerous as the stars, and God renounced the planned punishment. (Exodus 32:13–14.)
Moses went down the mountain bearing the two tablets. (Exodus 32:15–16.) Joshua told Moses, “There is a cry of war in the camp,” but Moses answered, “It is the sound of song that I hear!” (Exodus 32:17–18.)
When Moses saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged and shattered the tablets at the foot of the mountain. (Exodus 32:19.) He burned the calf, ground it to powder, strewed it upon the water, and made the Israelites drink it. (Exodus 32:20.) When Moses asked Aaron how he committed such a great sin, Aaron replied that the people asked him to make a god, so he hurled their gold into the fire, “and out came this calf!” (Exodus 32:21–24.) Seeing that Aaron had let the people get out of control, Moses stood in the camp gate and called, “Whoever is for the Lord, come here!” (Exodus 32:25–26.) All the Levites rallied to Moses, and at his instruction killed 3,000 people, including brother, neighbor, and kin. (Exodus 32:27–29.)
Moses went back to God and asked for God either to forgive the Israelites or kill Moses too, but God insisted on punishing only the sinners, which God did by means of a plague. (Exodus 32:31–35.)
Then God dispatched Moses and the people to the Promised Land, but God decided not to go in their midst, for fear of destroying them on the way. (Exodus 33:1–3.) Upon hearing this, the Israelites went into mourning. (Exodus 33:4.) Now Moses would pitch the Tent of Meeting outside the camp, and Moses would enter to speak to God, face to face. (Exodus 33:7–11.) Moses asked God whom God would send with Moses to lead the people. (Exodus 33:12.) Moses further asked God to let him know God’s ways, that Moses might know God and continue in God’s favor. (Exodus 33:13.) And God agreed to lead the Israelites. (Exodus 33:14.) Moses asked God not to make the Israelites move unless God were to go in the lead, and God agreed. (Exodus 33:15–17.) Moses asked God to let him behold God’s Presence. (Exodus 33:18.) God agreed to make all God’s goodness pass before Moses and to proclaim God’s name and nature, but God explained that no human could see God’s face and live. (Exodus 33:19–20.) God instructed Moses to station himself on a rock, where God would cover him with God’s hand until God had passed, at which point Moses could see God’s back. (Exodus 33:21–23.)
God directed Moses to carve two stone tablets like the ones that Moses shattered, so that God might inscribe upon them the words that were on the first tablets, and Moses did so. (Exodus 34:1–4.) God came down in a cloud and proclaimed: “The Lord! The Lord! A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He does not remit all punishment, but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:5–7.)
Moses bowed low and asked God to accompany the people in their midst, to pardon the people’s iniquity, and to take them for God’s own. (Exodus 34:8–9.) God replied by making a covenant to work unprecedented wonders and to drive out the peoples of the Promised Land. (Exodus 34:10–11.) God warned Moses against making a covenant with them, lest they become a snare and induce the Israelites’ children to lust after their gods. (Exodus 34:12–16.)
God commanded that the Israelites not make molten gods, that they consecrate or redeem every first-born, that they observe the Sabbath, that they observe the Three Pilgrim Festivals, that they not offer sacrifices with anything leavened, that they not leave the Passover lamb lying until morning, that they bring choice first fruits to the house of the Lord, and that they not boil a kid in its mother’s milk. (Exodus 34:17–26.)
Moses stayed with God 40 days and 40 nights, ate no bread, drank no water, and wrote down on the tablets the terms of the covenant. (Exodus 34:28.) As Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets, the skin of his face was radiant, and the Israelites shrank from him. (Exodus 34:29–30.) Moses called them near and instructed them concerning all that God had commanded. (Exodus 34:31–32.) When Moses finished speaking, he put a veil over his face. (Exodus 34:33.) Whenever Moses spoke with God, Moses would take his veil off. (Exodus 34:34.) And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, and then Moses would then put the veil back over his face again. (Exodus 34:34–35.)
This is the pattern of instruction and construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings:
| Item | Instruction | Construction | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order | Verses | Order | Verses | |
| Contributions | 1 | Exodus 25:1–9 | 2 | Exodus 35:4–29 |
| Ark | 2 | Exodus 25:10–22 | 5 | Exodus 37:1–9 |
| Table | 3 | Exodus 25:23–30 | 6 | Exodus 37:10–16 |
| Menorah | 4 | Exodus 25:31–40 | 7 | Exodus 37:17–24 |
| Tabernacle | 5 | Exodus 26:1–37 | 4 | Exodus 36:8–38 |
| Altar of Sacrifice | 6 | Exodus 27:1–8 | 11 | Exodus 38:1–7 |
| Tabernacle Court | 7 | Exodus 27:9–19 | 13 | Exodus 38:9–20 |
| Lamp | 8 | Exodus 27:20–21 | 16 | Numbers 8:1–4 |
| Priestly Garments | 9 | Exodus 28:1–43 | 14 | Exodus 39:1–31 |
| Ordination Ritual | 10 | Exodus 29:1–46 | 15 | Leviticus 8:1–9:24 |
| Altar of Insense | 11 | Exodus 30:1–10 | 8 | Exodus 37:25–28 |
| Laver | 12 | Exodus 30:17–21 | 12 | Exodus 38:8 |
| Anointing Oil | 13 | Exodus 30:22–33 | 9 | Exodus 37:29 |
| Incense | 14 | Exodus 30:34–38 | 10 | Exodus 37:29 |
| Craftspeople | 15 | Exodus 31:1–11 | 3 | Exodus 35:30–36:7 |
| The Sabbath | 16 | Exodus 31:12–17 | 1 | Exodus 35:1–3 |
The report of Exodus 32:1 that “the people assembled” (וַיִּקָּהֵל הָעָם, vayikahel ha’am) is echoed in Exodus 35:1, which opens, “And Moses assembled” (וַיַּקְהֵל מֹשֶׁה, vayakhel Mosheh).
1 Kings 12:25–33 reports a parallel story of golden calves. King Jeroboam of the northern Kingdom of Israel made two calves of gold out of a desire to prevent the kingdom from returning to allegiance to the house of David and the southern Kingdom of Judah. (1 Kings 12:26–28.) In Exodus 32:4, the people said of the Golden Calf, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” Similalrly, in 1 Kings 12:28, Jeroboam told the people of his golden calves, “You have gone up long enough to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” Jeroboam set up one of the calves in Bethel, and the other in Dan, and the people went to worship before the calf in Dan. (1 Kings 12:29–30.) Jeroboam made houses of high places, and made priests from people who were not Levites. (1 Kings 12:31.) He ordained a feast like Sukkot on the fifteenth day of the eighth month (a month after the real Sukkot), and he went up to the altar at Bethel to sacrifice to the golden calves that he had made, and he installed his priests there. (1 Kings 12:32-33.)
Exodus 34:18 refers to the Festival of Passover, calling it “the Feast of Unleavened Bread.” In the Hebrew Bible, Passover is called:
Some explain the double nomenclature of “Passover” and “Feast of Unleavened Bread” as referring to two separate feasts that the Israelites combined sometime between the Exodus and when the Biblical text became settled. (See, e.g., W. Gunther Plaut. The Torah: A Modern Commentary, 456. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981. ISBN 0-8074-0055-6.) Exodus 34:18–20 and Deuteronomy 15:19–16:8 indicate that the dedication of the firstborn also became associated with the festival.
Some believe that the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” was an agricultural festival at which the Israelites celebrated the beginning of the grain harvest. Moses may have had this festival in mind when in Exodus 5:1 and 10:9 he petitioned Pharaoh to let the Israelites go to celebrate a feast in the wilderness. (Plaut, at 464.)
“Passover,” on the other hand, was associated with a thanksgiving sacrifice of a lamb, also called “the Passover,” “the Passover lamb,” or “the Passover offering.” (Exodus 12:11, 21, 27, 43, 48; Deuteronomy 16:2, 5–6; Ezra 6:20; 2 Chronicles 30:15, 17–18; 35:1, 6–9, 11, 13.)
Exodus 12:5–6, Leviticus 23:5, and Numbers 9:3 and 5, and 28:16 direct “Passover” to take place on the evening of the fourteenth of Aviv (Nisan in the Hebrew calendar after the Babylonian captivity). Joshua 5:10, Ezekiel 45:21, Ezra 6:19, and 2 Chronicles 35:1 confirm that practice. Exodus 12:18–19, 23:15, and 34:18, Leviticus 23:6, and Ezekiel 45:21 direct the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” to take place over seven days and Leviticus 23:6 and Ezekiel 45:21 direct that it begin on the fifteenth of the month. Some believe that the propinquity of the dates of the two festivals led to their confusion and merger. (Plaut, at 464.)
Exodus 12:23 and 27 link the word “Passover” (Pesach, פֶּסַח) to God’s act to “pass over” (pasach, פָסַח) the Israelites’ houses in the plague of the firstborn. In the Torah, the consolidated Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread thus commemorate the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt. (Exodus 12:42; 23:15; 34:18; Numbers 33:3; Deuteronomy 16:1, 3, 6.)
The Hebrew Bible frequently notes the Israelites’ observance of Passover at turning points in their history. Numbers 9:1–5 reports God’s direction to the Israelites to observe Passover in the wilderness of Sinai on the anniversary of their liberation from Egypt. Joshua 5:10–11 reports that upon entering the Promised Land, the Israelites kept the Passover on the plains of Jericho and ate unleavened cakes and parched corn, produce of the land, the next day. 2 Kings 23:21–23 reports that King Josiah commanded the Israelites to keep the Passover in Jerusalem as part of Josiah’s reforms, but also notes that the Israelites had not kept such a Passover from the days of the Biblical judges nor in all the days of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah, calling into question the observance of even Kings David and Solomon. The more reverent 2 Chronicles 8:12–13, however, reports that Solomon offered sacrifices on the festivals, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And 2 Chronicles 30:1–27 reports King Hezekiah’s observance of a second Passover anew, as sufficient numbers of neither the priests nor the people were prepared to do so before then. And Ezra 6:19–22 reports that the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity observed Passover, ate the Passover lamb, and kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy.
Exodus 34:22 refers to the Festival of Shavuot. In the Hebrew Bible, Shavuot is called:
Exodus 34:22 associates Shavuot with the first-fruits (בִּכּוּרֵי, bikurei) of the wheat harvest. (See also Exodus 23:16; Leviticus 23:17; Numbers 28:26.) In turn, Deuteronomy 26:1–11 set out the ceremony for the bringing of the first fruits.
To arrive at the correct date, Leviticus 23:15 instructs counting seven weeks from the day after the day of rest of Passover, the day that they brought the sheaf of barley for waving. Similarly, Deuteronomy 16:9 directs counting seven weeks from when they first put the sickle to the standing barley.
Leviticus 23:16–19 sets out a course of offerings for the fiftieth day, including a meal-offering of two loaves made from fine flour from the first-fruits of the harvest; burnt-offerings of seven lambs, one bullock, and two rams; a sin-offering of a goat; and a peace-offering of two lambs. Similarly, Numbers 28:26–30 sets out a course of offerings including a meal-offering; burnt-offerings of two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs; and one goat to make atonement. Deuteronomy 16:10 directs a freewill-offering in relation to God’s blessing.
Leviticus 23:21 and Numbers 28:26 ordain a holy convocation in which the Israelites were not to work.
2 Chronicles 8:13 reports that Solomon offered burnt-offerings on the Feast of Weeks.
And Exodus 34:22 refers to the Festival of Sukkot, calling it “the Feast of Ingathering.” In the Hebrew Bible, Sukkot is called:
Sukkot’s agricultural origin is evident from the name "The Feast of Ingathering," from the ceremonies accompanying it, and from the season and occasion of its celebration: "At the end of the year when you gather in your labors out of the field" (Exodus 23:16); "after you have gathered in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress." (Deuteronomy 16:13.) It was a thanksgiving for the fruit harvest. (Compare Judges 9:27.) And in what may explain the festival’s name, Isaiah reports that grape harvesters kept booths in their vineyards. (Isaiah 1:8.) Coming as it did at the completion of the harvest, Sukkot was regarded as a general thanksgiving for the bounty of nature in the year that had passed.
Sukkot became one of the most important feasts in Judaism, as indicated by its designation as “the Feast of the Lord” (Leviticus 23:39; Judges 21:19) or simply “the Feast.” (1 Kings 8:2, 65; 12:32; 2 Chronicles 5:3; 7:8.) Perhaps because of its wide attendance, Sukkot became the appropriate time for important state ceremonies. Moses instructed the children of Israel to gather for a reading of the Law during Sukkot every seventh year. (Deuteronomy 31:10–11.) King Solomon dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem on Sukkot. (1 Kings 8; 2 Chronicles 7.) And Sukkot was the first sacred occasion observed after the resumption of sacrifices in Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. (Ezra 3:2–4.)
In the time of Nehemiah, after the Babylonian captivity, the Israelites celebrated Sukkot by making and dwelling in booths, a practice of which Nehemiah reports: “the Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua.” (Nehemiah 8:13–17.) In a practice related to that of the Four Species, Nehemiah also reports that the Israelites found in the Law the commandment that they “go out to the mountains and bring leafy branches of olive trees, pine trees, myrtles, palms and [other] leafy trees to make booths.” (Nehemiah 8:14–15.) In Leviticus 23:40, God told Moses to command the people: “On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook,” and “You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 23:42–43.) The book of Numbers, however, indicates that while in the wilderness, the Israelites dwelt in tents. (Numbers 11:10; 16:27.) Some secular scholars consider Leviticus 23:39–43 (the commandments regarding booths and the four species) to be an insertion by a later redactor. (E.g., Richard Elliott Friedman. The Bible with Sources Revealed, 228–29. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003.)
King Jeroboam of the northern Kingdom of Israel, whom 1 Kings 13:33 describes as practicing “his evil way,” celebrated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, one month after Sukkot, “in imitation of the festival in Judah.” (1 Kings 12:32–33.) “While Jeroboam was standing on the altar to present the offering, the man of God, at the command of the Lord, cried out against the altar” in disapproval. (1 Kings 13:1.)
According to the prophet Zechariah, in the messianic era, Sukkot will become a universal festival, and all nations will make pilgrimages annually to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast there. (Zechariah 14:16–19.)
Rabbi Abbahu taught that Moses asked God how Israel would be exalted, and God replied in the words of Exodus 30:12 (about collecting the half-shekel tax), “When you raise them up,” teaching that collecting contributions from the people elevates them. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 10b.) The first four chapters of Tractate Shekalim in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud interpreted the law of the half-shekel head tax commanded by Exodus 30:13–16. (Mishnah Shekalim 1:1–4:9; Tosefta Shekalim 1:1–3:1; Babylonian Talmud Shekalim 2a–13a.)
Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Johanan that Bezalel (whose name can be read betzel El, “in the shadow of God”) was so called because of his wisdom. When God told Moses (in Exodus 31:7) to tell Bezalel to make a tabernacle, an ark, and vessels, Moses reversed the order and told Bezalel to make an ark, vessels, and a tabernacle. Bezalel replied to Moses that as a rule, one first builds a house and then brings vessels into it, but Moses directed to make an ark, vessels, and a tabernacle. Bezalel asked where he would put the vessels. And Bezalel asked whether God had told Moses to make a tabernacle, an ark, and vessels. Moses replied that perhaps Bezalel had been in the shadow of God (betzel El) and had thus come to know this. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 55a.)
Tractate Shabbat in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Sabbath in Exodus 16:23 and 29; 20:7–10 (20:8–11 in the NJPS); 31:13–17; 35:2–3; Numbers 15:32–36; and Deuteronomy 5:11 (5:12 in the NJPS). (Mishnah Shabbat 1:1–24:5; Tosefta Shabbat 1:1–17:29; Jerusalem Talmud Shabbat 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 2a–157b.)
Reading the words “everyone who profanes [the Sabbath] shall surely be put to death” in Exodus 31:14 (in which the verb for death is doubled), Samuel deduced that the Torah decreed many deaths for desecrating the Sabbath. The Gemara posited that perhaps Exodus 31:14 refers to willful desecration. The Gemara answered that Exodus 31:14 is not needed to teach that willful transgression of the Sabbath is a capital crime, for Exodus 35:2 says, “Whoever does any work therein shall be put to death.” The Gemara concluded that Exodus 31:14 thus must apply to an unwitting offender, and in that context, the words “shall surely be put to death” mean that the inadvertent Sabbath violator will “die” monetarily because of the violator’s need to bring costly sacrifices. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 70a.)
A Baraita taught that because of God’s displeasure with the Israelites, the north wind did not blow on them in any of the 40 years during which they wandered in the wilderness. Rashi attributed God’s displeasure to the golden calf, although the Tosafot attributed it to the incident of the spies in Numbers 13. (Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 72a.)
Did the prayer of Moses in Exodus 32:11–14 change God’s harsh decree? On this subject, Rabbi Abbahu interpreted David’s last words, as reported in 2 Samuel 23:2–3, where David reported that God told him, “Ruler over man shall be the righteous, even he that rules through the fear of God.” Rabbi Abbahu read 2 Samuel 23:2–3 to teach that God rules humankind, but the righteous rule God, for God makes a decree, and the righteous may through their prayer annul it. (Babylonian Talmud Moed Katan 16b.)
Rava employed Numbers 30:3 to interpret Exodus 32:11, which says: “And Moses besought (va-yechal) the Lord his God” in connection with the incident of the golden calf. Rava noted that Exodus 32:11 uses the term “besought” (va-yechal), while Numbers 30:3 uses the similar term “break” (yachel) in connection with vows. Transferring the use of Numbers 30:3 to Exodus 32:11, Rava reasoned that Exodus 32:11 meant that Moses stood in prayer before God until Moses annulled for God God’s vow to destroy Israel, for a master had taught that while people cannot break their vows, others may annul their vows for them. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 32a.) Similarly, Rabbi Berekiah taught in the name of Rabbi Helbo in the name of Rabbi Isaac that Moses absolved God of God’s vow. When the Israelites made the golden calf, Moses began to persuade God to forgive them, but God explained to Moses that God had already taken an oath in Exodus 22:19 that “he who sacrifices to the gods . . . shall be utterly destroyed,” and God could not retract an oath. Moses responded by asking whether God had not granted Moses the power to annul oaths in Numbers 30:3 by saying, “When a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word,” implying that while he himself could not break his word, a scholar could absolve his vow. So Moses wrapped himself in his cloak and adopted the posture of a sage, and God stood before Moses as one asking for the annulment of a vow. (Exodus Rabbah 43:4.)
The Gemara deduced from the example of Moses in Exodus 32:11. that one should seek an interceding frame of mind before praying. Rav Huna and Rav Hisda were discussing how long to wait between recitations of the Amidah prayer if one erred in the first reciting and needed to repeat the prayer. One said: long enough for the person praying to fall into a suppliant frame of mind, citing the words “And I supplicated the Lord” in Deuteronomy 3:23. The other said: long enough to fall into an interceding frame of mind, citing the words “And Moses interceded” in Exodus 32:11. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 30b.)
Interpreting Exodus 32:15 on the “tablets that were written on both their sides,” Rav Chisda said that the writing of the tablets was cut completely through the tablets, so that it could be read from either side. Thus the letters mem and samekh, which each form a complete polygon, left some of the stone tablets in the middle of those letters standing in the air where they were held stable only by a miracle. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 104a.)
A midrash explained why Moses broke the stone tablets. When the Israelites committed the sin of the Golden Calf, God sat in judgment to condemn them, as Deuteronomy 9:14 says, “Let Me alone, that I may destroy them,” but God had not yet condemned them. So Moses took the tablets from God to appease God’s wrath. The midrash compared the act of Moses to that of a king’s marriage-broker. The king sent the broker to secure a wife for the king, but while the broker was on the road, the woman corrupted herself with another man. The broker (who was entirely innocent) took the marriage document that the king had given the broker to seal the marriage and tore it, reasoning that it would be better for the woman to be judged as an unmarried woman than as a wife. (Exodus Rabbah 43:1.)
A Baraita taught that when Moses broke the tablets in Exodus 32:19, it was one of three actions that Moses took based on his own understanding with which God then agreed. The Gemara explained that Moses reasoned that if the Passover lamb, which was just one of the 613 commandments, was prohibited by Exodus 12:43 to aliens, then certainly the whole Torah should be prohibited to the Israelites, who had acted as apostates with the golden calf. The Gemara deduced God’s approval from God’s mention of Moses’ breaking the tablets in Exodus 34:1. Resh Lakish interpreted this to mean that God gave Moses strength because he broke the tablets. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 87a.)
Reading the report of Exodus 32:20 that Moses “took the calf . . . ground it to powder, and sprinkled it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it,” the Sages interpreted that Moses meant to test the Israelites much as the procedure of Numbers 5:11–31 tested a wife accused of adultery (sotah). (Babylonian Talmud Avodah Zarah 44a.)
The Rabbis taught that through the word “this,” Aaron became degraded, as it is said in Exodus 32:22–24, “And Aaron said: ‘. . . I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf,’” and through the word “this,” Aaron was also elevated, as it is said in Leviticus 6:13, “This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to the Lord on the day when he is anointed” to become High Priest. (Leviticus Rabbah 8:1.)
A midrash noted that Israel sinned with fire in making the Golden Calf, as Exodus 32:24 says, “And I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.” And then Bezalel came and healed the wound (and the construction of the Tabernacle made atonement for the sins of the people in making the Golden Calf). The midrash likened it to the words of Isaiah 54:16, “Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals.” The midrash taught that Bezalel was the smith whom God had created to address the fire. And the midrash likened it to the case of a doctor's disciple who applied a plaster to a wound and healed it. When people began to praise him, his teacher, the doctor, said that they should praise the doctor, for he taught the disciple. Similarly, when everybody said that Bezalel had constructed the Tabernacle through his knowledge and understanding, God said that it was God who created him and taught him, as Isaiah 54:16 says, “Behold, I have created the smith.” Thus Moses said in Exodus 35:30, “see, the Lord has called by name Bezalel.” (Exodus Rabbah 48:5.)
Rav Nahman bar Isaac derived from the words “if not, blot me, I pray, out of Your book that You have written” in Exodus 32:32 that three books are opened in heaven on Rosh Hashanah. Rav Kruspedai said in the name of Rabbi Johanan that on Rosh Hashanah, three books are opened in heaven — one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for those in between. The thoroughly righteous are forthwith inscribed definitively in the book of life. The thoroughly wicked are forthwith inscribed definitively in the book of death. And the fate of those in between is suspended from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur. If they deserve well, then they are inscribed in the book of life; if they do not deserve well, then they are inscribed in the book of death. Rabbi Abin said that Psalm 69:29 tells us this when it says, “Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” “Let them be blotted out from the book” refers to the book of the wicked. “Of the living” refers to the book of the righteous. “And not be written with the righteous” refers to the book of those in between. Rav Nahman bar Isaac derived this from Exodus 32:32, where Moses told God, “if not, blot me, I pray, out of Your book that You have written.” “Blot me, I pray” refers to the book of the wicked. “Out of Your book” refers to the book of the righteous. “That you have written” refers to the book of those in between. (Babylonian Talmud Rosh Hashanah 16b.)
Reading Exodus 24:3, Rabbi Simlai taught that when the Israelites gave precedence to “we will do” over “we will hear,” 600,000 ministering angels came and set two crowns on each Israelite man, one as a reward for “we will do” and the other as a reward for “we will hearken.” But as soon as the Israelites committed the sin of the golden calf, 1.2 million destroying angels descended and removed the crowns, as it is said in Exodus 33:6, “And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from mount Horeb.” (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 88a.)
The Gemara reported a number of Rabbis’ reports of how the Land of Israel did indeed flow with “milk and honey,” as described in Exodus 3:8 and 17, 13:5, and 33:3, Leviticus 20:24, Numbers 13:27 and 14:8, and Deuteronomy 6:3, 11:9, 26:9 and 15, 27:3, and 31:20. Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited Bnei Brak, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from Lod to Ono, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of Sepphoris extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar Bar Hana said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two parasangs by six parasangs. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 111b–12a.)
Rav Judah taught in the name of Rav that as Moses was dying, Joshua quoted back to Moses the report of Exodus 33:11 about how Joshua stood by the side of Moses all the time. Rav Judah reported in the name of Rav that when Moses was dying, he invited Joshua to ask him about any doubts that Joshua might have. Joshua replied by asking Moses whether Joshua had ever left Moses for an hour and gone elsewhere. Joshua asked Moses whether Moses had not written in Exodus 33:11, “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another. . . . But his servant Joshua the son of Nun departed not out of the Tabernacle.” Joshua’s words wounded Moses, and immediately the strength of Moses waned, and Joshua forgot 300 laws, and 700 doubts concerning laws arose in Joshua’s mind. The Israelites then arose to kill Joshua (unless he could resolve these doubts). God then told Joshua that it was not possible to tell him the answers (for, as Deuteronomy 30:11–12 tells, the Torah is not in Heaven). Instead, God then directed Joshua to occupy the Israelites’ attention in war, as Joshua 1:1–2 reports. (Babylonian Talmud Temurah 16a.)
Rav Nachman taught that the angel of whom God spoke in Exodus 23:20 was Metatron (מטטרון). Rav Nahman warned that one who is as skilled in refuting heretics as Rav Idit should do so, but others should not. Once a heretic asked Rav Idit why Exodus 24:1 says, “And to Moses He said, ‘Come up to the Lord,’” when surely God should have said, “Come up to Me.” Rav Idit replied that it was the angel Metatron who said that, and that Metatron’s name is similar to that of his Master (and indeed the gematria (numerical value of the Hebrew letters) of Metatron (מטטרון) equals that of Shadai (שַׁדַּי), God’s name in Genesis 17:1 and elsewhere) for Exodus 23:21 says, “for my name is in him.” But if so, the heretic retorted, we should worship Metatron. Rav Idit replied that Exodus 23:21 also says, “Be not rebellious against him,” by which God meant, “Do not exchange Me for him” (as the word for “rebel,” (tamer,תַּמֵּר) derives from the same root as the word “exchange”). The heretic then asked why then Exodus 23:21 says, “he will not pardon your transgression.” Rav Idit answered that indeed Metatron has no authority to forgive sins, and the Israelites would not accept him even as a messenger, for Exodus 33:15 reports that Moses told God, “If Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here.” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 38b.)
A Baraita taught in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Korhah that God told Moses that when God wanted to be seen at the burning bush, Moses did not want to see God’s face; Moses hid his face in Exodus 3:6, for he was afraid to look upon God. And then in Exodus 33:18, when Moses wanted to see God, God did not want to be seen; in Exodus 33:20, God said, “You cannot see My face.” But Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Jonathan that in compensation for three pious acts that Moses did at the burning bush, he was privileged to obtain three rewards. In reward for hiding his face in Exodus 3:6, his face shone in Exodus 34:29. In reward his fear of God in Exodus 3:6, the Israelites were afraid to come near him in Exodus 34:30. In reward for his reticence “to look upon God,” he beheld the similitude of God in Numbers 12:8. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 7a.)
Rabbi Jose ben Halafta employed Exodus 33:21 to help explain how God can be called “the Place.” Reading the words, “And he lighted upon the place,” in Genesis 28:11 to mean, “And he met the Divine Presence (Shechinah),” Rav Huna asked in Rabbi Ammi's name why Genesis 28:11 assigns to God the name “the Place.” Rav Huna explained that it is because God is the Place of the world (the world is contained in God, and not God in the world). Rabbi Jose ben Halafta taught that we do not know whether God is the place of God’s world or whether God’s world is God’s place, but from Exodus 33:21, which says, “Behold, there is a place with Me,” it follows that God is the place of God’s world, but God’s world is not God’s place. Rabbi Isaac taught that reading Deuteronomy 33:27, “The eternal God is a dwelling place,” one cannot know whether God is the dwelling-place of God’s world or whether God’s world is God’s dwelling-place. But reading Psalm 90:1, “Lord, You have been our dwelling-place,” it follows that God is the dwelling-place of God’s world, but God’s world is not God’s dwelling-place. And Rabbi Abba ben Judan taught that God is like a warrior riding a horse with the warrior’s robes flowing over on both sides of the horse. The horse is subsidiary to the rider, but the rider is not subsidiary to the horse. Thus Habakkuk 3:8 says, “You ride upon Your horses, upon Your chariots of victory.” (Genesis Rabbah 68:9.)
Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai explained why God carved the first two tablets but Moses carved the second two, as God instructed in Exodus 34:1. Rabban Johanan ben Zakkai compared it to the case of a king who took a wife and paid for the paper for the marriage contract, the scribe, and the wedding dress. But when he saw her cavorting with one of his servants, he became angry with her and sent her away. Her agent came to the king and argued that she had been raised among servants and was thus familiar with them. The king told the agent that if he wished that the king should become reconciled with her, the agent should pay for the paper and the scribe for a new wedding contract and the king would sign it. Similarly, Moses spoke to God after the Israelites had committed the sin of the golden calf. Moses argued that God knew that God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt, a house of idolatry. Then God answered that if Moses desired that God should become reconciled with the Israelites, then Moses would have to bring the tablets at his own expense and God would append God’s signature, as God says in Exodus 34:1: “And I will write upon the tables.” (Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:17.)
In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses foretold that “A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you . . . like me,” and Rabbi Johanan thus taught that prophets would have to be, like Moses, strong, wealthy, wise, and meek. Strong, for Exodus 40:19 says of Moses, “he spread the tent over the tabernacle,” and a Master taught that Moses himself spread it, and Exodus 26:16 reports, “Ten cubits shall be the length of a board.” Similarly, the strength of Moses can be derived from Deuteronomy 9:17, in which Moses reports, “And I took the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them,” and it was taught that the tablets were six handbreadths in length, six in breadth, and three in thickness. Wealthy, as Exodus 34:1 reports God’s instruction to Moses, “Carve yourself two tablets of stone,” and the Rabbis interpreted the verse to teach that the chips would belong to Moses. Wise, for Rav and Samuel both said that 50 gates of understanding were created in the world, and all but one were given to Moses, for Psalm 8:6 said of Moses, “You have made him a little lower than God.” Meek, for Numbers 12:3 reports, “Now the man Moses was very meek.” (Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 38a.)
The Sifre taught that Exodus 34:6 demonstrates one of God’s attributes that humans should emulate. (Sifre to Deuteronomy 49:1.) Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina asked what Deuteronomy 13:5 means in the text, “You shall walk after the Lord your God.” How can a human being walk after God, when Deuteronomy 4:24 says, “[T]he Lord your God is a devouring fire”? Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina explained that the command to walk after God means to walk after the attributes of God. As God clothes the naked — for Genesis 3:21 says, “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skin, and clothed them” — so should we also clothe the naked. God visited the sick — for Genesis 18:1 says, “And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre” (after Abraham was circumcised in Genesis 17:26) — so should we also visit the sick. God comforted mourners — for Genesis 25:11 says, “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son” — so should we also comfort mourners. God buried the dead — for Deuteronomy 34:6 says, “And He buried him in the valley” — so should we also bury the dead. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 14a.) Similarly, the Sifre on Deuteronomy 11:22 taught that to walk in God’s ways means to be (in the words of Exodus 34:6) “merciful and gracious.” (Sifre to Deuteronomy 49:1.)
Rabbi Jose interpreted the words “forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty” in Exodus 34:7 to teach that a person who sins once, twice, or even three times is forgiven, but one who sins four times is not forgiven. Rabbi Jose cited for support Amos 2:6, where God says, “for three transgressions of Israel,” God would not reverse God’s forgiveness, and Job 33:29, which says, “God does these things twice, yea thrice, with a man.” (Tosefta Kippurim (Yoma) 4:13.)
A Baraita taught that when Moses ascended to receive the Torah from God, Moses found God writing “longsuffering” among the words with which Exodus 34:8 describes God. Moses asked God whether God meant longsuffering with the righteous, to which God replied that God is longsuffering even with the wicked. Moses exclaimed that God could let the wicked perish, but God cautioned Moses that Moses would come to desire God’s longsuffering for the wicked. Later, when the Israelites sinned at the incident of the spies, God reminded Moses that he had suggested that God be longsuffering only with the righteous, to which Moses recounted that God had promised to be longsuffering even with the wicked. And that is why Moses in Numbers 14:17–18 cited to God that God is “slow to anger.” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 111a–b.)
Tractate Beitzah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws common to all of the Festivals in Exodus 12:3–27, 43–49; 13:6–10; 23:16; 34:18–23; Leviticus 16; 23:4–43; Numbers 9:1–14; 28:16–30:1; and Deuteronomy 16:1–17; 31:10–13. (Mishnah Beitzah 1:1–5:7; Tosefta Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:1–4:11; Jerusalem Talmud Beitzah 1a–49b; Babylonian Talmud Beitzah 2a–40b.)
The Mishnah interpreted Exodus 34:20 to allow money in exchange for redemption of a first-born son to be given to any priest (kohen). (Mishnah Challah 4:9.)
Rabbi Akiva interpreted Exodus 34:21 to prohibit plowing prior to the Sabbatical year (Shmita) that would reap benefits in the Sabbatical year and to prohibit reaping in the year after the Sabbatical year produce that grew in the Sabbatical year. Rabbi Ishamel argued, however, that Exodus 34:21 applied to the Sabbath, and limited its prohibition to plowing and reaping not elsewhere required by commandment. (Mishnah Sheviit 1:4.)
Tractate Sukkah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of Sukkot in Exodus 23:16; and 34:22; Leviticus 23:33–43; Numbers 29:12–34; and Deuteronomy 16:13–17; and 31:10–13. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:1–5:8; Tosefta Sukkah 1:1–4:28; Jerusalem Talmud Sukkah 1a–33b; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 2a–56b.)
Tractate Pesachim in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Passover in Exodus 12:3–27, 43–49; 13:6–10; and 34:25; Leviticus 23:4–8; Numbers 9:1–14; and 28:16–25; and Deuteronomy 16:1–8. (Mishnah Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Tosefta Pisha 1:1–10:13; Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 2a–121b.)
Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai taught that because the generation of the Flood transgressed the Torah that God gave humanity after Moses had stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights (as reported in Exodus 24:18 and 34:28 and Deuteronomy 9:9–11, 18, 25, and 10:10), God announced in Genesis 7:4 that God would “cause it to rain upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights.” (Genesis Rabbah 32:5.)
According to Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 4 positive and 5 negative commandments in the parshah:
(See Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 1:397–431. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1991. ISBN 0-87306-179-9.)
Maimonides, however, attributed to this parshah only the following 4 positive and 3 negative commandments:
(See Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 1:33–34, 45, 143, 180–81; 2:82–84, 182–83. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4.)
The haftarah for the parshah is:
Both the parshah and the haftarah in First Kings describe God’s prophet confronting idolatry to restore worship of God, the parshah in Moses’ anger at the golden calf (Exodus 32:1–35), and the haftarah in the prophet Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal. (1 Kings 18:20–39.) In both the parshah and the haftarah, the prophet was on a mountain (Exodus 32:1,15; 1 Kings 18:19–20); the prophet invoked the names of Abraham and Isaac in prayer to God (Exodus 32:13; 1 Kings 18:36); sound (kol) is observed (Exodus 32:18; 1 Kings 18:26); the prophet called on the Israelites to choose between God and the false god (Exodus 32:26; 1 Kings 18:21); and God manifested God’s choice (Exodus 32:35; 1 Kings 18:38).
When the parshah coincides with Shabbat Parah (the special Sabbath prior to Passover — as it does in 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2017), the haftarah is Ezekiel 36:16–38. On Shabbat Parah, the Sabbath of the red heifer, Jews read Numbers 19:1–22, which describes the rites of purification using the red heifer (parah adumah). Similarly, the haftarah in Ezekiel also describes purification. In both the special reading and the haftarah in Ezekiel, sprinkled water cleansed the Israelites. (Numbers 19:18; Ezekiel 36:25.)
Some Jews read the descriptions of the laver in Exodus 30:17–21 and Aaron’s incense offerings in Exodus 30:7–8 and 30:34–36 after the Sabbath morning blessings. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 216–17, 223–24. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3.)
Some Jews sing of the Sabbath’s holiness, reflecting Exodus 31:14, as part of the Baruch El Elyon song (zemer) sung in connection with the Sabbath day meal. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 466.)
Jews recite the account of the Sabbath’s significance in Exodus 31:16–17 as the final reading concluding the blessings of the Shema before the punctuating half-Kaddish and the Amidah prayer in the Friday Sabbath evening (Maariv) prayer service. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 104.) The exhortation to “observe” (V’shamru, ושמרו) the Sabbath that this reading concludes reflects God’s command in Exodus 31:13 to “keep My Sabbaths,” even to the exclusion of other apparently worthy causes. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 103.) Again, Jews recite the account of the Sabbath’s significance in Exodus 31:16–17 as part of the V’shamru paragraph of the Amidah prayer in the Sabbath morning (Shacharit) prayer service. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 345.) And once again, Jews recite the account of the Sabbath’s significance in Exodus 31:16–17 as part of the V’shamru paragraph of the Kiddusha Rabba blessing for the Sabbath day meal. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 458.)
The second blessing before the Shema addresses God about “your people” Israel, as Moses does in Exodus 32:11–12. (Reuven Hammer. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals, 29. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
Jews recite the account of how Moses brought down two tablets of stone reported in Exodus 32:15 as part of the Amidah prayer in the Sabbath morning (Shacharit) prayer service. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 344–45.)
Some Jews refer to the inscription on the two tablets of stone reported in Exodus 32:15 as they study Pirkei Avot chapter 5 on a Sabbath between Passover and Rosh Hashanah. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 571.) And thereafter, some quote Exodus 32:16 as they study Pirkei Avot chapter 6 on a succeeding Sabbath between Passover and Rosh Hashanah. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 584.)
God’s characteristics of graciousness and compassion in Exodus 34:6 are reflected in Psalm 145:8 and in turn in the Ashrei prayer in the morning (Shacharit) and afternoon (Mincha) prayer services. Similarly, Jews call on God’s characteristic of forgiveness in Exodus 34:6 with the words “forgive us, our Guide” in the weekday Amidah prayer in each of the three prayer services. And again, Jews cite God’s characteristic of “steadfast lovingkindness (rav chesed)” in Exodus 34:6 in the Kedushah D’Sidra section of the Minchah service for Shabbat. (Hammer, at 1, 4, 228.)
Jews recite three times the 13 attributes of mercy in Exodus 34:6–7 after removing the Torah from the Ark on Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Hoshana Rabbah. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 359.)
During the Amidah prayer in the Sabbath morning (Shacharit) prayer service, Jews refer to the “crown of splendor” that God placed on Moses in Exodus 34:29. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 344.)
In the Weekly Maqam, Sephardi Jews each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For Parshah Ki Tisa, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Hijaz, the maqam that expresses mourning and sorrow. This is appropriate, because it is the parshah that contains the episode of the golden calf, a sad and embarrassing episode in the history of the Israelite people.
The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:
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