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Orchard of Delights Ki Tisa

find ourselves touching upon the paradox of paradoxes: how can Usually Ki Tisa is read on a Shabbat in close proximity to
God’s Omniscience and Divine Providence operate simultaneously the holiday of Purim. This confluence alludes to the many deep
with human free will. The Tabernacle is the meeting place between comparisons between the Jewish people worshipping the Golden Calf
humanity and God, between His will and our will; the convergence of and their attending King Achashverosh’s feast (Esther 1). Firstly,
the two-way street discussed above. It is the place where we struggle at the time of the Purim story, even the non-Jews apparently knew
to resolve this paradox by ideally learning to make His will our will. of Jeremiah’s prophecy that after seventy years in Babylonian
When doing so Omniscience and Divine Providence dovetail with exile the Jews’ captivity would end (Jeremiah 25:11-12). The only
human free will and the upper worlds and the lower worlds truly question was when this count had begun. Three years into his reign,
unite. This will ultimately occur when the eternal Third Temple is Achashverosh became convinced that the seventy years had passed;
constructed. May it be built speedily in our days. therefore, he threw an enormous feast celebrating his ascendancy and
the Jews’ failure to be redeemed and invited the Jews to celebrate
with him. According to the Talmud, Haman was granted the power
from on High to destroy the Jews because they attended and enjoyed
this feast (Megillah 12a). Only Mordecai and Esther’s self-sacrifice
£AccountingsAccountingsAccountingsAccountingsAccountingsAccountings and bravery foiled Haman’s wicked schemes. Likewise, after the sin
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of the Golden Calf, God declares His readiness to destroy the Jewish
people and begin anew with Moses as the patriarch. Only Moses’
The name of this portion, Pekudei, means “accountings” as it willingness to risk his own life by saying to God – “And now if You
provides a detailed account of exactly how much gold, silver, and would forgive their sin – but if not erase me from Your book that
copper were used in the Tabernacle’s various ritual objects, vessels, You have written” (Exodus 32:32) – and his fervent prayers that the
sockets, pegs, and hooks, as well as how the wool, linen, stones, and decree against the people be averted appeased God’s anger.
gold were used in the cohanim’s garments. The first lesson we learn Parenthetically, the commentaries inform us that God never
from this portion is that even a great leader, such as Moses, must intended to allow either decree to be carried out, despite the Jews’
provide an accounting of how he or she disperses public funds; no shameful behavior. Rather, like all tests, the purpose of these decrees
one is above the law nor can anyone deal lightly with the communal was to awaken the Jewish people’s inner potential, which could only
treasury.
be revealed in crisis situations. In these cases, Moses, Mordecai, and
Since the Torah’s lessons apply to each person directly, we may Esther’s latent qualities of self-sacrifice and leadership needed to be
extrapolate and conclude that this lesson applies not only to leaders uncovered to pave the way for future Jewish leaders.
but to each and every person. The Torah is teaching us that each and The second link between Achashverosh’s feast and the Golden
every person is held accountable for his or her thoughts, speech, and Calf is the gold mentioned in both. Achashverosh’s feast reached its
action. This is a fundamental notion intrinsic to all Jewish thought. lowest spiritual point when the golden vessels and garments looted
Just as the Jewish nation’s ability to erect a Tabernacle and keep it from the Temple were used in the orgiastic festivities. The vessels
functioning is predicated upon its maintaining appropriate communal were drunken from and Achashverosh went so far as to dress in the
levels of righteousness and accountability, so too accountability is a golden garments of the High Priest. This audacious act publicly
prerequisite for an individual fulfilling his or her life’s mission.
affirmed the king’s belief that the seventy years had passed and the
Jews would never be redeemed. Since gold was used extensively in

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