Grow with Grace: Living with Loss and Finding Light

Moses has been on Mount Sinai for a very long time, too long for those Israelites, who still carry Egypt in their hearts, to wait. The couldn't maintain their faith in an invisible God without their leader. So they convince Aaron to build them a Golden Calf.

Why do you think the Israelites couldn't maintain their faith in God while Moses was out of sight?

What does this teach us about faith?

“Faith does not require a belief system, and is not necessarily connected to a deity or God, though it doesn’t deny one. This faith is not a commodity we either have or don’t have—it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience…. Faith is the animation of the heart that says, “I choose life, I align myself with the potential inherent in life. I give myself over to that potential.” This spark of faith is ignited the moment we think, “I am going to go for it. I am going to try.”
Sharon Salzberg

How do you experience faith? When is it easier to access, when it is challenging?

According to this understanding of Faith, where did the Israelites go wrong?

תהילים כ״ג

(א) מִזְמ֥וֹר לְדָוִ֑ד יְהֹוָ֥ה רֹ֝עִ֗י לֹ֣א אֶחְסָֽר׃ (ב) בִּנְא֣וֹת דֶּ֭שֶׁא יַרְבִּיצֵ֑נִי עַל־מֵ֖י מְנֻח֣וֹת יְנַהֲלֵֽנִי׃ (ג) נַפְשִׁ֥י יְשׁוֹבֵ֑ב יַֽנְחֵ֥נִי בְמַעְגְּלֵי־צֶ֝֗דֶק לְמַ֣עַן שְׁמֽוֹ׃ (ד) גַּ֤ם כִּֽי־אֵלֵ֨ךְ בְּגֵ֪יא צַלְמָ֡וֶת לֹא־אִ֘ירָ֤א רָ֗ע כִּי־אַתָּ֥ה עִמָּדִ֑י שִׁבְטְךָ֥ וּ֝מִשְׁעַנְתֶּ֗ךָ הֵ֣מָּה יְנַֽחֲמֻֽנִי׃ (ה) תַּעֲרֹ֬ךְ לְפָנַ֨י ׀ שֻׁלְחָ֗ן נֶ֥גֶד צֹרְרָ֑י דִּשַּׁ֥נְתָּ בַשֶּׁ֥מֶן רֹ֝אשִׁ֗י כּוֹסִ֥י רְוָיָֽה׃ (ו) אַ֤ךְ ׀ ט֤וֹב וָחֶ֣סֶד יִ֭רְדְּפוּנִי כׇּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיָּ֑י וְשַׁבְתִּ֥י בְּבֵית־יְ֝הֹוָ֗ה לְאֹ֣רֶךְ יָמִֽים׃ {פ}

Psalms 23

(1) A psalm of David.

God is my shepherd; I shall not want.
God makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside the still waters,
Restoring my soul, leading me in the paths of righteousness for the Name’s sake.
Yes, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for You are with me.
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil—
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
And I will dwell in the house of God forever.

What kind of faith is described here?

Why might faith be a source of comfort in times of suffering?

שמות ל״ב:י״ט

(יט) וַֽיְהִ֗י כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר קָרַב֙ אֶל־הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וַיַּ֥רְא אֶת־הָעֵ֖גֶל וּמְחֹלֹ֑ת וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֣ף מֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיַּשְׁלֵ֤ךְ מִיָּדָו֙ אֶת־הַלֻּחֹ֔ת וַיְשַׁבֵּ֥ר אֹתָ֖ם תַּ֥חַת הָהָֽר׃

Exodus 32:19

(19) As soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.

בבא בתרא י״ד ב:ו׳

אֶלָּא שִׁבְרֵי לוּחוֹת דְּמוּנָּחִין בָּאָרוֹן מְנָא לֵיהּ נָפְקָא לֵיהּ מִדְּתָנֵי רַב יוֹסֵף דְּתָנֵי רַב יוֹסֵף אֲשֶׁר שִׁבַּרְתָּ וְשַׂמְתָּם מְלַמֵּד שֶׁהַלּוּחוֹת וְשִׁבְרֵי לוּחוֹת מוּנָּחִין בָּאָרוֹן

Bava Batra 14b:6

...from where does he derive that the broken pieces of the first set of tablets were placed in the Ark? The Gemara expounds: He derives this from that which Rav Yosef taught, as Rav Yosef taught a baraita: The verses state: “At that time the Lord said to me: Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first…and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke, and you shall put them in the Ark” (Deuteronomy 10:1–2). This teaches that both the second set of tablets and the broken pieces of the first set of tablets were placed in the Ark.

Why keep the broken tablets?

In truth, there are moments of brokenness in everyone’s life, moments when we feel battered and torn. Those moments are undoubtedly rough, but they are also a vital part in our spiritual journey. Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk taught that just as there nothing more straight than a crooked ladder, nothing blacker than white shrouds, nothing more crooked than a conman’s straight face, there is nothing more whole than a broken heart.

The hope for wholeness and the truth of brokenness exist together in each of us. None of us is perfect. Each of us struggles with limitations and weakness and loss; But in spite of this, wholeness is possible, beginning again is inevitable.

how has your brokenness given you strength? What has it taught you about yourself? What is the connection between our brokennes and our faith?