Chapter 34
| 1. The Eternal said to Moses: "Carve for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones. And I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. | | א. וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל משֶׁה פְּסָל לְךָ שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת אֲבָנִים כָּרִאשֹׁנִים וְכָתַבְתִּי עַל הַלֻּחֹת אֶת הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ עַל הַלֻּחֹת הָרִאשֹׁנִים אֲשֶׁר שִׁבַּרְתָּ: |
| 2. Be prepared for the morning, and in the morning you shall ascend Mount Sinai and stand before Me there on the top of the mountain. | | ב. וֶהְיֵה נָכוֹן לַבֹּקֶר וְעָלִיתָ בַבֹּקֶר אֶל הַר סִינַי וְנִצַּבְתָּ לִי שָׁם עַל רֹאשׁ הָהָר: |
| 3. No one shall ascend with you, neither shall anyone be seen anywhere on the mountain, neither shall the sheep and the cattle graze facing that mountain." | | ג. וְאִישׁ לֹא יַעֲלֶה עִמָּךְ וְגַם אִישׁ אַל יֵרָא בְּכָל הָהָר גַּם הַצֹּאן וְהַבָּקָר אַל יִרְעוּ אֶל מוּל הָהָר הַהוּא: |
| 4. So he [Moses] carved two stone tablets like the first ones, and Moses arose early in the morning and ascended Mount Sinai as the Eternal had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand. | | ד. וַיִּפְסֹל שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת אֲבָנִים כָּרִאשֹׁנִים וַיַּשְׁכֵּם משֶׁה בַבֹּקֶר וַיַּעַל אֶל הַר סִינַי כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהֹוָה אֹתוֹ וַיִּקַּח בְּיָדוֹ שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת אֲבָנִים: |
| 5. And the Eternal descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and he called out in the name of the Eternal. | | ה. וַיֵּרֶד יְהֹוָה בֶּעָנָן וַיִּתְיַצֵּב עִמּוֹ שָׁם וַיִּקְרָא בְשֵׁם יְהֹוָה: |
| 6. And the Eternal passed before him and proclaimed: Adonai, Adonai, God, Who is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth, | | ו. וַיַּעֲבֹר יְהֹוָה | עַל פָּנָיו וַיִּקְרָא יְהֹוָה | יְהֹוָה אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת: |
| 7. preserving loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and rebellion and sin; clearing yet not completely clearing [of sin], visiting the iniquity of parents on children and children's children, to the third and fourth generations." | | ז. נצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים נֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וָפֶשַׁע וְחַטָּאָה וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה פֹּקֵד | עֲוֹן אָבוֹת עַל בָּנִים וְעַל בְּנֵי בָנִים עַל שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל רִבֵּעִים: |
| 8. And Moses quickly bowed his head to the ground and prostrated himself. | | ח. וַיְמַהֵר משֶׁה וַיִּקֹּד אַרְצָה וַיִּשְׁתָּחוּ: |
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Guide Questions
1. According to Rashi, why did Moses have to carve the new tablets himself? What does Rashi compare this to (summarize the parable in your own words)? Explain the symbolism behind the parable: who is the king? The bride? What is the wedding contract? What do you think of this imagery?
2. According to Rashi, why must Moses ascend/go up the mountain alone in verse 3? What lesson might this teach us today? According to Etz Hayyim (p. 540), why isn't Aaron included? What do you think of that?
3. According to Rashi, what does "וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה" in verse 7 mean? Compare this to Plaut's Modern Commentary (p. 664, "Four Times"). What is the meaning of "forgiving inquity, transgression, and sin"? What do you think of this?
4. According to the Stone Chumash (p. 509), what are the Thirteen Attributes of God in verses 6-7? Compare them to the Plaut Modern Commentary (p. 663). What is the same in each interpretation? What is different? When are they used in synagogue? Why? If you were to name a quality you felt was "God-like" what would it be?
5. According to the Stone Chumash (p. 508), who called out to who when it says "and he called out in the name of the Eternal" (did Moses call out or God)? Why? What are some of the midrashim based on the words that God "passed" before Moses? What is the lesson at the end? Do you agree? Why or why not?
6. According to Etz Hayyim (p. 540), what is the meaning in verse 1 of having both a broken set of tablets and a new set of tablets, based on the Talmud Berachot 8b? How would you apply this today?
7. In the Plaut Modern Commentary (p. 665), why is the letter nun [נ] written larger in the Torah scroll in this verse? Similar to this what two letters are written larger than the rest in the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4)? Why?
Answering Question 1, using Rashi.
ReplyDeleteRashi says that Moses had to carve the two tablets by himself because he broke the first ones. Rashi explains this with the parable of a king who goes abroad and leaves his bride with her maidservants. Being with them gives the bride a bad reputation, because they were misbehaving. Her bridesman then tore up the marriage contract. The king then investigated and found out that only the maidservants were behaving badly, and that calmed him down. The bridesman told the king that he had to write another marriage contract. In this parable, the king represents God, the maidservants represent the people who came out of Israel with the Jews(the people who were blamed for the golden calf), the bridesman is Moses, and the bride is the Israelites.
Adding on to this:
DeleteIn my opinion, it is fair that Moshe has to carve the two tablets himself, because it was his fault the first ones broke, he lost his temper. This reminds me of something modern. Often today, if you break something, the right thing to do is to replace it with your own money.
Yes, but their is a difference between Moshe having to work and someone having to pull out a credit card a and swipe it.
DeleteI was trying to say that when Moshe carved the second tablets, he had to do it himself, like if you break something, you have to buy it yourself and it comes out of your pocket. I'm not talking about credit cards.
DeleteI'M DOING THE FIRST QUESTION FIRST BECAUSE I HAVE TO DO ALL OF THEM AND I THINK THAT IS UNFAIR AND I HAVE A RIGHT TO PROTEST. So RaShI says that Moshe needed to carve the 2nd ones himself because he broke the 1st set, which was carved by God. RaShI compares this to a king who leaves and goes traveling and stuff wit'out his wife (or fiancée maybe), and the wife hangs out with female non-married servants. The female non-married servants were "immoral" so the fiancée got a bad reputation. Then the bridesman [the person appointed to defend the bride should any problems arise] went and ripped up the Ketubah. He said, “If the king decides to kill her, I will say to him, ‘She is not yet your wife.’” That makes no sense. So...uh... The bride man said t' the king, "if you still wanna marry the chick, make another contract!" But the king was all, "You ripped the old Ketubah, so you buy the paper for the new one, and I'll write the new Ketubah." Basically, the king is like God, he is blessed and stuff, because he wrote the document, but didn't make the document, and Moshe is like the bride man guy. THIS WAS NOT VERY SENSE-MAKING!
ReplyDeleteNow that Rabbi Meszszler has explained the marriage relationship between God and B"Y, I realise that this does make sense, although it was a bit confuzzing.
DeleteThat is NOT how you spell confusing.
DeleteI apologize that I misread read the instructions.
ReplyDeleteShai and Adin:
We summarize Rashi:
Rashi said that if you make a mistake you must fix it.
We say: We can learn from this that when you make a mistake you must fix it. This is a good lesson: Have you ever gotten in trouble for something someone else did?
Have you ever had to clean up someone else's mess (maybe your sibling's?)? You know it's unfair and Rashi says not to do it. (That means YOU parents!!!!)
i dis agree aveery one should cleen up my mess
DeleteBen, you have already made it so your opinion means nothing. :P
Delete2. According to Rashi, why must Moses ascend/go up the mountain alone in verse 3? What lesson might this teach us today? According to Etz Hayyim (p. 540), why isn't Aaron included? What do you think of that?
DeleteAccording to Rashi Moses goes up to Mount Sinai alone because God want there to be modesty and he doesn't want there to be loud noises.
The lesson that this might teach us today is to be quiet so we can listen to what's important.
Aaron is not included because Aaron aloud the Israelites to build the golden calf.
We think this is only fair because Moses dropped the tablets because he saw the golden calf (it surprised him).
Love: Aaron and Aurora
Answering question 2 using Rashi and Etz Hayim.
ReplyDeleteRashi says that Moses has to go up the mountain alone because the first tablets were accompanied by loud noises and a whole bunch of people watching. Rashi says that "the evil eye" then affected them. This teaches us the lesson that modesty is very important.
Etz Hayim says that Aaron is not included because of his role in the whole golden calf incident.
If the evil eye effected them then Hamsas are important too :)
DeleteAdding on:
DeleteIn my opinion, it is fair that Moshe is the only one involved with the tablets this time. If I was Moshe, and I already broke one set of tablets, I would be nervous that the people would do something again that would make me very angry and I would again smash the tablets. In other words, I would feel very sensitive and easily angered.
how does the evil eye or loud noises and such teach us modesty
Delete#2!!!
ReplyDeleteRashi says that Mosh had to go up to up to Sinai (the 2nd time) alone because the 1st time there was too much noise, and such. The loud noise made the evil eye effect the people near the base (too bad they didn't have any Hamsas with them). Rashi concludes that there's nothing better than modesty, and so does Tanchuma 30.
Liora, I mean, Etz Hayim, says that Aaron wasn't there because he worshipped the golden calf
DeleteYou shouldn't brag about doing a mitzvah or getting commandments.
DeleteWe answered question 1 according to Rashi when Moshe broke the tablets and had to make another one. This is like a story Rashi knows about a women who is going to mary a king but then she starts to hang out with some bad people and she gets in trouble and the king says I don't want to mary him so they rip up the contract and hen the man says to the girl hay want to get marred but you must re right the contract this reminds us of the story of remaking of the 10 commandments when moshe smashes them he is like the wife and g-d is like the the husband Jared Josh Bass and Nadav
ReplyDelete1. According to Rashi, why did Moses have to carve the new tablets himself? What does Rashi compare this to (summarize the parable in your own words)? Explain the symbolism behind the parable: who is the king? The bride? What is the wedding contract? What do you think of this imagery?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Rashi Moses has to carve the new tablets himself because Moses broke them.
Rashi compares the tablet situation to a marriage contract between a king and his fiancé. The king and his fiancé get angry at each other and the fiancé rips the marriage contract because the king didn't like the people his fiancé hung out with. But then the king realized that just the fiancé's friends were in the wrong. So then they made up and they both decided they still wanted to get married so the wife had to write a new contract because she was the one who ripped it in the first place.
We think that this comparison is really creative and Rabbi Mezler is the best please give us an "A".
Love: Aurora and Aaron
ben i am starting on 7
ReplyDeletethe letter is bigger because people could miss read it and it would change the whole story
Amazing comment :P
DeleteHey, dont hate on someone just because they arent very good at writing comments or sudying. I had a lot of trouble getting my comment out, and im usualy very good at writing. This parsha is particularly hard, at least for me. Im sorry if you think this is hate, its not intended to be. actualy, at this point its an excuse to type more without thinking much XD
DeleteUmm...
DeleteShe's mad because she knows that Ben is very dilligent and could do better, but is acting stupider than he is, although that's not exactly a habit of mind. I understand that you would really hate hate, being a victim of bullying, but seriously.
DeleteI noticed that god ordered moshe to carve the tablets in preparation for the engraving of the ten commandments. First of all, why cant god just carve them himself, or just make brand new tablets from nothing? Second of all, why cant moshe simply engrave and carve a new set of tablet, after all, remembering ten things must be easy for someone like moshe in a situation like the one he was in!
ReplyDeleteI think God could have carved two new tablets if God wanted to. But God wanted Moshe to do it himself. Why do you think God wanted Moshe to do this for himself?
DeleteWell, lots of people learn better by writing, and probably doubly so for carving it out! Also, god may have decided that that would make it more holy. And you may not have noticed my question about why moshe didnt just do the entire thing from scratch.
DeleteWell, why don't you ask RaShI?
Deleteמספר שלוש
ReplyDeleteRashi said (he said a lot of things) that in verse 7, וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה means that God does not completely overlook the iniquity [what's that?] but exacts retribution for it little by little. However, Plaut thinks that God forgives 3 sins, but the 4th one? No, no, no.
"iniquity" is wrong-doing on purpose
DeleteI'm just going to comment on the 6th attribute on the board. Based on things I've read before, I disagree that God is always slow to anger.
ReplyDelete4
ReplyDeletePlaut says God's artributes are such&such:
1. Tetragrammaton. According to tradition, this divine Name refers to God's attribute of mercy.
2. Tetragrammaton again. It is twice because God is merciful before and after someone sins & repents. The person has changed, but not God.
3. "El". God, like ruling, and being highest and almighty.
4. Rachum. Compassionate, sympathetic. Linguistically this is thought of as a feminate thing being related to a word for a womb. God isn't a He.
5. Chanun. Gracious, hepful.
6. Erech Apayim. Slow to anger.
7. Rav chesed. Lots of kindness.
We already got in the conversation. So, I'll post the comment.
Shai and Adin, question 3:
ReplyDeleteRashi says: "and he called out in the name of the lord"
Plaut says: "if a person sins 3 times he is forgiven but he is punished for time 4"
We say: 4 strikes your out! This makes a lot of sense; we agree with Plaut.
Shai and Adin: question 7
ReplyDeleteThe Plaut says that it is to avoid misinterpreting it as "withholding kindness instead of "extending kindness"
We think this is not like in the Shema because in the Shema the two letters spell something. (witness)
3. According to Rashi, what does "וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה" in verse 7 mean? Compare this to Plaut's Modern Commentary (p. 664, "Four Times"). What is the meaning of "forgiving inquity, transgression, and sin"? What do you think of this?
ReplyDeleteAccording to Rashi וְנַקֵּה לֹא יְנַקֶּ means that he does not completely overlook the iniquity but exacts retribution for it little by little.
The meaning of forgiving in the text of the Plaut's commentary means that is doesn't matter how many times you mess up you will always be a little bit in peace with that person and situation.
We think that it is important to forgive.
Love: Aurora and Aaron