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Parsha Ki Tisa – What Is Our Idol?

March 6, 2015 by Russell McAlmond

Money_Cash

This week’s parsha of Ki Tisa is probably most known for the “Golden Calf”, the idol that the Israelites decided to worship when Moses did not show up when they expected him.  We may think it is ridiculous that the Israelites of that day thought an idol should be made out of gold, but how many modern individuals worship making money?  There is nothing inherently wrong with money unless an individual elevates it to the most important value in their life.  Do we have our own “Golden Calf” today?

I have worked in the financial services world for over thirty years and have seen the effects of money on people and families.  I have seen families torn apart by money issues and people commit terrible crimes just to obtain more of it.  The worship of money, and all of things one can buy with it, is very powerful in our society.  Money is good to have, but it needs to be balanced with all of our other values.  There are values that are more important.

It is unfortunate when any person places money above their family, their faith or their people.  If they do this, they are creating their own “Golden Calf.”

The Talmud says that when anyone reaches the World to Come, one of the first questions they will be asked is whether or not they conducted your business affairs (money) in a “fair manner.”  It is not important whether one became rich or not, but how they used the money.  Keeping money in perspective, but not an idol one is constantly trying to get more of, will lead to a more balanced life.  There are wonderful opportunities for everyone to obtain the money they need to create a good life in our country.  What we should not think, however, is that the pursuit of money alone is enough to fulfill that objective.

All the money in the world will not make you happy.  Happiness is not about material wealth – it truly comes from within yourself.  Invest money wisely, be responsible with it, respect it, but never think of it as the most important goal in your life.

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Judaism & Belief Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, finance, golden calf, happiness, ki tisa, Money, online conversion, parsha ki tisa, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, talmud

Parsha Ki Tisa: Right Belief by the Right Brigade (Ex. 30:11 – 34:35)

February 10, 2014 by Patrick Beaulier

golden calf

Well. . . Our people are up to their old ways this week. Not only do the ancient Hebrews convince themselves that Hashem and Moses have abandoned them once again, they also plead with Aaron to smelt another golden calf. All this happens after the community is asked to pay half a sheckle in tithes while Bezalel and Oholiab start to craft the past few week’s commandments into physicality. Throw in a commandment to always honor Shabbat and you have a lot of invested effort making a walk away from Hashem highly unlikely.

On the surface so many things take place in Ki Tisa one can very easily come away feeling overwhelmed. If that is not enough to make you say “Woah” just beneath the surface the depths of meaning are endless. If you have yet to read this week’s portion , stop right here and go and do it! Fear not I will be right hear where you left me.

Choices, choices, choices…seriously where to begin? Better to choose just one lesson and run, right? Right! Ki Tisa shows us that being Jewish is easier than it seems. Judaism is simply choosing Hashem and His traditions. That latter part has really been expounded upon throughout the centuries but the former remains as is. The anger in this week’s portion exuded verbally by Hashem and Moses and physically by Levitical sword stems from a heart piercing betrayal by the ancient Hebrews. Once again they chose to turn their backs to Hashem and their faces towards a golden calf. Hardly a coincidence then that Moses sees the back of Hashem and then begins to cover his face with a vale.

Three thousand men are figuratively and literally cut from Judaism for two specific reasons. First, this is the second time their hearts yearned for an inanimate god and second the ancient Hebrew’s society was the first true state of Israel. The Hebrew Tribes were surrounded by non-nomadic people worshiping man made divinity, simply put nothing was stopping those slain from leaving the tribe for more “golden” pastures. They chose to stay, stray, and hope for the day when their agenda was the majority one.

Today drawing swords and cleaning the proverbial house is antiquated to say the least, but that doesn’t mean we can’t turn inwards and cut out those things that are foreign parasites feeding off our sparks. Judaism like ever other religion is not hyphenated you can not choose Hashem and attach a belief in other deities to your faith. If you feel called to another faith don’t be hindered by your upbringing or family name, if you allow that to happen your diminishing yourself and the Jewish faith. In essence go and be the best practitioner you can be.

Learning about and from others is crucial to a fearless and fulfilling life but at some point you have to be true to your spark. The many traditions within Judaism often times seem at odds with each other over Halakha but choosing Hashem and Hashem only is the lynchpin that keeps us who we are.

Filed Under: Community Member Blogs, Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: Circle Pit The Bimah, circlepitbimah, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, D'var Torah, darshan yeshiva, golden calf, idolatry, ki tisa, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier

Haftorah Ki Tisa: Some Jewish Grand Standing

February 28, 2013 by Patrick Beaulier

haftarah

I Kings 18:20-39

Elijah foresees a three-year drought—punishment for the worship of Ba’al, the local deity of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, rulers of the the Northern Kingdom of Israel who championed & encouraged various forms of idolatry. Ahab accuses Elijah of causing the hardship, at which point Elijah suggests a Battle of the Gods.

In this instance, Ba’al is the Northern Semetic title for “lord” used in many cases, both for local spirit deities, such as patron gods of cities, and sometimes for people, and attributed as a primary god of the Phoenicians. Not to be confused with Baal (or Bael) who appears in the 1600’s in some occult writings as a prince of Hell.

Elijah, the Ba’alists and assorted spectators gather on Mount Carmel and challenges the people: “How long will you hop between two ideas? If the L-rd is G-d, go after Him, and if the Baal, go after him.”

In the [Read more…]

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, darshan yeshiva, haftarah, haftarah ki tisa, haftorah, Haftorah Ki Tisa, ki tisa, online conversion, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Some Jewish Grand Standing

Tablets (Parshat Ki Tisa)

February 16, 2011 by Patrick Beaulier

Ki Tisa:

Let’s put this in a more here and now frame of reference, complete with today’s slang. This week, we learn that Moses has a meltdown. He looks around, and the people are worshiping a Golden Calf? What the heck. Hello? Did anyone hear what Moses is saying?

He is trying to be a spokesperson for G_d, and people are just being blind. They have a contract with G_d. So, Moses is like “Oh no you din’t” and is trying to figure out how to get their attention. It does not matter what era it is, we will always find “our time” to be noisy with distractions, temptations and information that may or may not be wrong. Anyway, Moses is furious and needs to keep his job as spokesperson, and he breaks the tablets. OK finally, that gets the crowds attention. But what does this really mean? What symbols can we see here?

I see a few. First, the tablets are like a contract. The contract literally is broken, but the contract spirit is not. We are like the tablets. We may have hard times, and break, and like Moses, even with the best intentions we may fly off the handle, but our spirit is intact, and as long as we look inward, we can heal.

Also, we learn here about having dedication and passion. One really doesn’t get mad unless they have a vested interest or passion. Think about it. If you really don’t care about a job and don’t need the money, do you care if you get fired? No. You probably are not putting your full self into the job either. But if you love a job and feel wrongfully fired or laid off, you probably have emotion brewing, because you felt you put your all into it and you felt it was a part of you. So, when you see Moses with this action, it teaches that a little passion can go a long way. If you love what you do, if you love who you are, if you even try to stand by your beliefs, you’ll probably fare well in life, because your emotion is a result of your inner work, your passion.

Having a passion for Torah and the lessons within is the same. It may or may not always bring emotions upon first read, but if you start to look for the lessons, and how they represent your life you start to feel emotion; the Torah lives within you, it is a part of you. Like the tablets, there may be areas that are broken, but the spirit, the passion, lives.

A question to ask yourself: When is the tablet of your life, beyond the commandments but how you live your entire life, sometimes broken but still very much alive and intact? What keeps it intact?

By Michele Paiva

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud) Tagged With: convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, d'var, darshan yeshiva, ki tisa, online conversion, parshat, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Tablets, Torah

Parshat Ki Tisa

March 3, 2010 by Patrick Beaulier

Michael

A golden calf, and a missing leader.
In this weeks portion we hear the story of the golden calf, one that is familiar to so many of us, and also one that is so very, very heavy with hidden meaning it would take a very long time to unpack it all.
Moses climbed the mountain to meet with Hashem and to receive the Law. Through a counting error, the Israelites expected Moses back sooner than he was planning on returning. The Israelites got nervous and made the golden calf.

Here’s where I learned something new.

The sin of the calf wasn’t one of idolatry per se. Ramban tells us that there is actually a whole different interpretation. “If the sin of the Golden Calf was one of mass idol worship… the entire affair is incomprehensible”.
It seems that through the golden calf the people didn’t deny Hashem, they made the calf as a replacement for Moses. They thought because they had had Moses to speak to G_d, now that they had lost him they needed someone or something new to be a substitute for their vanished leader. Moses had spoken with G_d, he had led them through the sea, to Sinai, and directed them in battle.
It makes me think of different ways that we put people or things in between G_d and us.  Sometimes we value others’ opinions and thoughts more than our own, and we can get caught up in the belief that they can better communicate with G_d, or that we need someone to mediate for us.

But that’s not really true.

We are Hashem’s people, His children. The giving and receiving of the Torah creates a two way relationship, one that is at once communal and intimate.
I guess what I’m saying is, don’t be afraid to take responsibility for yourself before G_d, to own this relationship that was created. There’s no one standing between us and G_d, and there never should be. 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8eyH2F3eJg]

Filed Under: Jewish Text (Torah/Haftarah/Talmud), Podcasts & Videos Tagged With: bible, convert to judaism, convert to judaism online, Counterculture, darshan yeshiva, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, ki tisa, Parsha, patrick "aleph" beaulier, patrick aleph, Punk, punktorah, rabbi beaulier, rabbi patrick aleph beaulier, Religion, Torah

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