On Tuesday we celebrated the marriage of my sister Leah to the wonderful Yanky Baron and it was a beautiful affair.
The Jewish wedding ceremony is conducted under a Chupa (canopy) with a plethora of nuanced customs all meant to emulate (in various ways) the wedding between G-d and the Jewish Nation at Mt. Sinai 3,330 years ago. The event called “Matan Torah - The Giving of the Torah” was not merely the communication of ideas and laws; it was the moment we became one with G-d.
On the surface, G-d gave us the Torah to enable us to reveal divinity in every detail of reality and to live life on a divine mission. If this is the case, give us the book, teach us how to learn and apply it and wish us luck in their mission. Must we really be married to G-d to succeed?
Following “Matan Torah,”, Moshe was summoned to ascend Mt. Sinai and remain there for forty days and nights to learn the rest of the Torah - 603 more commandments and their myriads of details. The Israelites miscalculated Moshe’s ETA, panicked when he did not return on time and were manipulated into creating a Golden Calf and serving it as a deity, in direct violation of the most serious prohibition against idolatry.
G-d was enraged and notified Moshe that the nation would be wiped out and a new and improved nation would emerge from Moshe’s descendants.
Moshe would hear nothing of it. “If they are not granted forgiveness, erase me from your book (Exodus 32:32)”. In other words - kill me first. He did not justify their catastrophic sin nor did he seek to minimize its severity, but he valiantly declared that the destruction of the nation would happen only over his dead body. (Read more about this in last year’s message).
G-d relented but stipulated that the Divine Presence would cease to dwell in the Israelite camp for their own safety. If the Divine Presence dwelled within them, another sin would be fatal. An angel would lead their journey to the Promised Land instead.
Moshe was not satisfied. He continued to pray and beseech G-d to dwell within the nation in a revealed way. “If Your Presence does not accompany us, we would rather not go up from here to the Land (Exodus 33:15).”
And about the high risks of further sin and further divine vengeance - this was Moshe’s answer: If they will sin again - G-d will pardon them again!
This is the bottom line of Moshe’s argument. The Jews did not enter into a behavioral relationship with G-d. We became family. This is not to suggest that the rules can be taken lightly, but our relationship is not terminated due of bad behavior. Family finds a way to work things out.
Nurture a loving relationship with G-d through learning more Torah and doing more Mitzvot, and if you mess up on the way, know there is always a way forward.
ב"ה