Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Daily Aliya for Ekev, Revii (4th Aliya)

Aliya Summary: Moshe recounts how after the Golden Calf debacle, G‑d commanded him to carve two new tablets upon which G‑d engraved the Ten Commandments, to replace the first set of tablets which Moshe had shattered. At that time, G‑d also designated the Levites to be His holy servants, because of the devotion they demonstrated throughout the Golden Calf incident.

G-d forgave the Jews for the Golden Calf "at that time" (after forty days), and only then began the process of inscribing the second tablets. The term "at that time" seems superfluous, which needs to be explained. Beyond that, though: What took forty days? If G-d was willing to forgive the Jews for their sin, why did He wait forty days to do so? The answer to both could add an important outline for dealing with mistakes and with pain associated with those mistakes. Often time helps us process outlying events in our lives, and is an important part of the healing process. Time heals not only physical wounds, but emotional wounds as well, and both are quite often a necessary part of life.

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