17 Aug BROKEN

“The world

breaks everyone,

and afterwards

some are stronger

in the broken

places.” — Ernest

H e m i n g w a y

Broken The simple reading of the story

(recorded twice in Torah, in Exodus, in

this week’s portion, and then again in

Deuteronomy) goes like this: After the

Jews created a Golden Calf, Moses

smashed the stone tablets created by G-d,

engraved with the Ten Commandments.

Moses and G-d then “debated” the

appropriate response to this transgression

and it was decided that if the people

would truly repent, G-d would give them

a second chance. Moses hewed a second

set of stone tablets; G-d engraved them

also with the Ten Commandments, and

Moses gave them to the Jewish people.

Yet a few major questions come to mind.

1. Moses, outraged by the sight of a

golden calf erected by the Hebrews as a

deity, smashed the stone tablets. He

apparently felt that the Jews were

undeserving of them, and that it would

be inappropriate to give them this Divine

gift. But why did Moses have to break

and shatter the heavenly tablets? Moses

could have hidden them or returned them

to their heavenly maker? 2. The rabbis

teach us that “The whole tablets and the

broken tablets nestled inside the Ark of

the Covenant .” The Jews proceeded to

gather the broken fragments of the first

set of tablets and had them stored in the

Ark, in the Tabernacle, together with the

second whole tablets. Both sets of tablets

were later taken into the Land of Israel

and kept side by side in the Ark, situated

in the Holy of Holies in the Temple in

Jerusalem. This seems strange. Why

would they place the broken tablets in

the Holy of Holies, when these

fragments were a constant reminder of

the great moral failure of the Jewish

people . Why not just disregard them, or

deposit them in a safe isolated place? 3.

In its eulogy for Moses, the Torah

chooses this episode of smashing the

tablets as the highlight and climax of

Moses’ achievements. In the closing

verses of Deuteronomy we read:

“Moses, the servant of G-d, died

there in the land of Moab… And

there arose not since a prophet in

Israel like Moses, whom G-d knew

face to face; all the signs and

wonders which G-d sent to do in

the land of Egypt… that mighty

hand, those great fearsome deeds,

which Moses did before the eyes of

all Israel.” What did Moses do

“before the eyes of all Israel?”

Rashi , in his commentary on

Torah, explains “That his heart

emboldened him to break the tablets

before their eyes, as it is written, ‘and I

broke them before your eyes.’ G-d’s

opinion then concurred with his opinion,

as it is written, ‘which you broke—I

affirm your strength for having broken

them.” This is shocking. Following all of

the grand achievements of Moses, the

Torah chooses to conclude its tribute to

Moses by alluding to this episode of

breaking the tablets! Granted that Moses

was justified in breaking the tablets, but

can this be said to embody his greatest

achievement? How about his taking the

Jews out of Egypt? Molding them

into a people? Splitting the Red Sea?

Receiving the Torah from G-d and

transmitting it to humanity?

Shepherding them for forty years in

a wilderness? Why does the Torah

choose this tragic and devastating

episode to capture the zenith of

Moses’ life and as the theme with

which to conclude the entire Torah,

all five books of Moses?! In the

Fragments We need to examine this

entire episode from a deeper

vantage point. Moses did not break

the tablets because he was angry and

lost his control. Rather, the breaking

of the tablets was the beginning of

the healing process. Before the

golden calf was created, the Jews

could find G-d within the

wholesomeness of the tablets,

within the spiritual wholesomeness

of life. Now, after the people have

created the golden calf, hope was

not lost. Now they would find G-d

in the shattered pieces of a once

beautiful dream. Moses was

teaching the Jewish people the

greatest message of Judaism: Truth

could be crafted not only from the

spiritually perfected life, but also

from the broken pieces of the human

corrupt and demoralized psyche.

The broken tablets, too, possess the

light of G-d. Which is why the sages

tell us that not only the whole

tablets, but also the broken ones,

were situated in the holy of holies.

This conveyed the message

articulated at the very genesis of Judaism:

From the broken pieces of life you can

create a holy of holies. G-d, the sages tell

us, affirmed Moses’ decision to break the

tablets. G-d told him, “Thank you for

breaking them .” Because the broken

tablets, representing the shattered pieces

of human existence, have their own story

to tell; they contain a light all their own.

Truth is found not only in

wholesomeness, but also—sometimes

primarily—in the broken fragments of

the human spirit . There are moments

when G-d desires that we connect to Him

as wholesome people, with clarity and a

sense of fullness; there are yet deeper

moments when He desires that we find

Him in the shattered experiences of our

lives. We hope and pray to always enjoy

the “whole tablets,” but when we

encounter the broken ones, we ought not

to run from them or become dejected by

them; with tenderness we ought to

embrace them and bring them into our

“holy of holies,” recalling the

observation of one of the Rebbe’s, “there

is nothing more whole than a broken

heart.” We often believe that G-d can be

found in our moments of spiritual

wholesomeness. But how about in the

conflicts which torment our psyches?

How about when we are struggling with

depression, addiction or confusion? How

about when we fece despair and pain?

How about in very conflict between a

godless existence and a G-d-centered

existence? We associate “religion” with

“religious” moments. But how about our

“non-religious” moments? What Moses

accomplished with breaking the tablets

was the demonstration of the truth that

the stuff we call holiness can be carved

out from the very alienation of a person

from G-d. From the very turmoil of his or

her psychological and spiritual

brokenness, a new holiness can be

discovered. It is on this note that the

Torah chooses to culminate its tribute to

Moses’ life. The greatest achievement of

Moses was his ability to show humanity

how we can take our brokenness and turn

it into a holy of holies. There is light and

joy to be found in the fragments of

sacredness.