Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
After Moshe saw Benei Yisrael worshiping the golden עֵגֶל (eigel, calf), he took swift action:
...וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֣ף מֹשֶׁ֗ה וַיַּשְׁלֵ֤ךְ מִיָּדָו֙ אֶת־הַלֻּחֹ֔ת וַיְשַׁבֵּ֥ר אֹתָ֖ם תַּ֥חַת הָהָֽר׃
...and Moshe became angry, and he threw the לֻחוֹת (luhot, tablets) from his hands, and he broke them at the bottom of the mountain.
Why did Moshe break the luhot?
אָמַר: מָה פֶּסַח שֶׁהוּא אֶחָד מִן הַמִּצְווֹת אָמְרָה תּוֹרָה כָּל בֶּן נֵכָר לֹא יֹאכַל בּוֹ, הַתּוֹרָה כֻּלָּהּ כָּאן וְכָל יִשְׂרָאֵל מוּמָרִים, וְאֶתְּנֶנָּה לָהֶם?!
Moshe said to himself: I know that someone from outside the Jewish faith cannot eat the pesah offering, which is itself just one mitzvah. So, now that Benei Yisrael are acting like they are outside the faith, how can they be given the luhot, which contain all the commandments?
רָאָה שֶׁאֵין לְיִשְׂרָאֵל עֲמִידָה וְחִבֵּר נַפְשׁוֹ עִמָּהֶם וְשִׁבֵּר אֶת הַלֻּחוֹת. וְאָמַר לְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: הֵם חָטְאוּ וַאֲנִי חָטָאתִי, שֶׁשִּׁבַּרְתִּי אֶת הַלֻּחוֹת. אִם מוֹחֵל אַתָּה לָהֶם אַף לִי מְחֹל… וְאִם אֵין אַתָּה מוֹחֵל לָהֶם, אַל תִּמְחוֹל לִי...
He saw that there was no hope for Benei Yisrael to be forgiven, so he threw his lot in with theirs and broke the luhot. Then he said to God: they sinned, and I sinned by breaking the luhot. If you forgive them, forgive me, too... And if you don’t forgive them, don’t forgive me, either...
Although the pasuk specifies that Moshe was angry, both of these commentaries assume that breaking the luhot was motivated by something other than anger. Moshe had just worked so hard to convince God to forgive Benei Yisrael, so it makes sense that Moshe’s actions were more than just a fit of rage.
- What do you think of these explanations of Moshe’s intentions? Does one of them work better with the overall story of heit ha-eigel?
- Can you think of other explanations for Moshe’s actions?
-------------------
-------------------
