5752

At first glance the narrative which deals with Moshe’s breaking the first set of tablets is very puzzling. When Bnei Yisrael made a Golden-Calf, did Moshe have the right to decide that they would forever forfeit their claim to the Torah? Would it not have been more appropriate for Moshe to delay teaching them the Torah until they had repented and mended their ways? Instead, he broke the tablets and subsequently asked Hashem for a second set of tablets.   This question may be answered by explaining a deeper understanding of the unique characteristics of the first set of tablets….

It seems peculiar that those involved in the sin of the Golden-Calf did not choose Aharon as the leader to replace Moshe. Indeed, if Aharon was not acceptable to them, how did they have the audacity to ask him to find another leader? Horav Efraim Tzemel Z”l responds to this question with a simple, but insightful, answer. They desired a leader who was more politically oriented, capable of making prudent decisions which affected the community, while simultaneously maintaining his stature as a statesman and diplomat. Aharon was viewed by them as a great scholar embodying an aura of holiness that…