Broken tablets: When Moshe hit the brakes

Exodus 30:11 – 34:35

Jack was young and carefree. He enjoyed life and he enjoyed people. Relaxed, well-liked — all wonderful.

Except.

On the road, he was also carefree.

One day, Jack was rounding a bend while glancing at his phone.

SMASH!!

He woke up in the emergency room six hours later to be informed that although his car was no longer, he was fine, thank G-d, aside from a minor concussion.

In the weeks that followed, as he recovered (and searched for a new car), Jack made a decision he has held onto for 10 years: Never touch his phone while his car is in drive. The law required it, but he recognized he needed self-enforcement.

He is still carefree and relaxed. But through that commitment, he gained a profound sense of responsibility — for his own life and for others.

Looking back, Jack was lucky. Not only because he survived — but because he crashed. He needed to be stopped. Someone needed to hit the brakes in Jack’s life for Jack to become Jack.

That said, no one would ever choose to crash.

Presumably.

Less than 40 days after the Jewish people stood trembling at the foot of Mount Sinai, having heard, “I am Hashem your G-d … Do not fashion for yourself an idol,” they were dancing around a golden calf.

Moshe Rabbeinu descended from the mountain holding the Two Tablets — the covenant between G-d and the Jewish people. He entered the camp and saw what had happened. Without hesitation, he cast the Tablets to the ground before the eyes of the entire Jewish people.

SMASH!!

It seemed as if everything was lost. The covenant lay broken. The purpose for which they had left Egypt now hung in the balance. Their continued existence was uncertain.

In the 40 days that followed, the people repented. They took responsibility. They recognized that the catastrophe was of their own making.

Our Sages teach that G-d agreed with Moshe’s decision. Rashi, citing the Talmud at the very end of the Torah, explains that Moshe received Divine praise for this courageous act of leadership.

Even more remarkable: The spiritual level the Jewish people ultimately achieved through the Second Tablets was greater than what might have been possible through the First. The second covenant was deeper — internalized, earned, embodied.

All because Moshe hit the brakes.

Upsets in our lives can become the keys to our greatest growth. An “upset” doesn’t need to be dramatic. It can be any moment that forces us to pause, to reflect, to reconsider the direction we are heading.

Sometimes the SMASH is not destruction.

It is redirection.

Look for this pattern in your own life. You may discover that the moments you would never have chosen were the very moments that made you who you are.

May the reading of this dvar Torah serve as a merit for the safety of the Jewish people. PJC

Rabbi Moshe Levy is the dean of the Kollel Jewish Learning Center. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabonim of Greater Pittsburgh.