New and Improved
Breaking something for the purpose of restoration is preferable to building something that stands to be destroyed.
Moses was Not Impulsive
When Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the tablets in hand, the Torah recounts his reaction when he saw the Jewish people dancing before the Golden Calf they had just created:
“And Moses became enraged, and he hurled the tablets from his hand, and shattered them at the foot of the mountain.”
At first glance it would have appeared as if Moses’ act was an impulsive one, prompted by his anger at and disgust with the Jewish people who acted in the most reprehensible way imaginable—idol worship just forty days after G-d Himself had told them that they should have no other gods.
In truth, our sages inform us that Moses’ act was not, G-d forbid, due to uncontrollable rage, but it was sanctioned, or even mandated, by G- d. In the words of the Talmud: “Said G-d to him, ‘You did the proper thing by shattering them.’”
G-d’s Endorsement of the Shattering of the Tablets
There are several reasons as to why G-d was pleased with Moses’ shattering of the Tablets. One reason is based on the Talmudic teaching that the sin of the golden calf was orchestrated by G-d to teach the world the power of Teshuvah-repentance (Babylonian Talmud, Avodah Zarah 4b). It was truly incredible that the Jewish nation was able to “bounce back” after this most horrendous sin. This is powerful testimony to the power of Teshuvah.
Who and what inspired the Jewish people to have a change of heart and to do sincere Teshuvah? It was Moses’ act of breaking the Tablets. By showing the Jewish people that they were not worthy to receive the Tablets, they too were devastated and shattered. The breaking of the Tablets, thus, introduced the Jewish people to newer and higher dimensions of their own spiritual strength that enabled them to “bounce back” and receive the second tablets.
We can now appreciate the statement of our sages that the second tablets were “double the strength” of the first ones. How could these tablets that were hewn by Moses compare with the first ones that were completely the handiwork of G-d?
The answer is that since the shattering of the Tablets were the catalysts for the Jewish people’s exponential growth through Teshuvah, the tablets thus represent a higher dimension of holiness as well.
We can now appreciate how Moses’ shattering of the tablets was in essence a positive act.
Moses’ Greatest Achievement!
A question still remains. Where does the Torah allude to the positive nature of Moses’ shattering of the tablets?
According to Rashi, the very last verse of the Torah that describes the great wonders Moses performed in front of all the Jewish people, refers to his shattering of the tablets.
It is incredible that of all Moses’ qualities, the Torah singles out his shattering of the Tablets as his single most significant accomplishment!
The answer lies in the cathartic and transformative power the shattering of the Tablets achieved, not to mention the way it saved the Jewish people from G-d’s wrath and restored His love from them.
Climax of History turns Shattering of Tablets into a Virtue
One may raise a simple question. If the shattering of the tablets was considered by G-d to be a positive act, why is it not mentioned explicitly in the Torah in this week’s Torah portion where the episode of the shattering is first mentioned? Why do we have to wait until we reach the very last verse of the Torah to discover the positive nature of this event?
The answer lies in the understanding that the closer we get to the climax of history; the more we realize the greatness of Moses’ act of apparent destruction. While we are in exile and still feel the negative effects of the shattering of the tablets, we cannot readily appreciate their positive value.
Only in the “end of days,“ (symbolized by the “end of the Torah”) during the Messianic Era, will the positive aspects of the shattering of the Tablets become fully manifest. At that time, our sages tell us, the Fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz—the anniversary of the shattering and subsequent tragedies—will be transformed into a day of festivity.
Thus, according to Rashi, G-d’s endorsement of the shattering of the Tablets is enunciated in the very last verse of the Torah, in the context of the vision Moses was given of the “end of days.”
Only then will we be able to fully see through the negative veneer of this and all other apparently negative events.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Ki Sisa by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
