The Brick and the Jaguar [Parashat Ki Tissa (Exodus 33:5,6)] 3/21/17

Tue, March 21, 2017

Sometimes, I wonder why God ever forgave the Israelites for building the Golden Calf.   Moses goes up to the mountain to get the Torah and, when he doesn’t come back down quickly enough, the people take their gold and their jewelry and build a golden calf, completely forgetting Adonai, the Source of their freedom and good fortune.   They get swept up by their wealth and go speeding along, dancing in a frenzy of mindless excess.

And then Moses, comes down from the mountain with tablets written with the finger of God, only to behold their selfishness.   Moses smashes the tablets in the sight of their thoughtless greed and idolatry.   He then burned the calf, and ground it into a powder, and mixed it with water and made the Israelites drink it. (Exodus 32: 20) I can’t imagine that was particularly healthy or tasty.

The people were out of control.   Three thousand people died, as the Levites tried to control the crowd. And then, to those who survived God sends a message to our ancestors in Exodus 33:5&6:

“The Lord said to Moses, Say to the Israelite people, “You are a stiff-necked people.   If I were to go in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you.  Now, then, leave off your finery, and I will consider what to do to you.”   So the Israelites remained stripped of their finery from Mount Horeb on.”

Stripping them of their finery… what does that mean?   How is that the ultimate punishment for not believing?  I never really understood this passage until I happened upon an old story in my files, from the days when we got a story with every weekly temple e-mail.

A young successful executive was traveling down a neighborhood street, going a bit too fast in his new Jaguar.  He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars.  He was driving along, didn’t see any children, when a brick comes flying at his car into the Jaguar’s side door.

He slammed on the breaks, jumped out of the car and ran back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.  He was out of control and grabbed the boy who threw the brick and pushed him up against his car and began screaming, “What was that all about and who are you?  What the heck are you doing?   He kept ranting and screaming at the boy, “That’s a brand new car and that brick you threw is going to cost your parents a lot of money!  I am going to call the police!  You’re going to pay for this!”

“Please, mister, please, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do,” pleaded the youngster.  “I threw the brick, because no one else would stop.”  Tears were dripping down the boy’s chin and he pointed around the parked car.   “It’s my brother,” he said.  “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.”  Sobbing the boy asked the executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair.  He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the lump in his throat.   He lifted the boy’s brother back into his wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped his scrapes and cuts, checking to see that he was okay.

“Thank you,” said the grateful boy.   “I will pay for your car.   You can follow us home.”   But, the man just stood there motioning for the brothers to go.  He stood and watched the little boy push his big brother down the sidewalk toward their home.   It was a long walk back to his Jaguar… a long, slow walk.

He never did repair the side door.  He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention and remind him that there are far more important things than speeding in his fancy car.   [Pause]

Somehow the Jaguar became a symbol of what he could have lost – his humanity and his compassion.  It was a forever reminder that greed and speed are not what life is about.

So, God never lifted the punishment imposed at Sinai.  Until this day, technically, we Israelites remain stripped of our finery.   We are never to have so much that we forget what matters in life, that we forget those in need, that we forget to stop and care.

For that very reason, the broken tablets resided with the new ones in the ark.   We were taught never to forget how we broke faith with God.   We were stripped of our finery to remind us that at any moment we are capable of turning our possessions into a Golden Calf  Our priority must be treasuring the riches and wisdom of a Torah that teaches us to treasure life, love, and the well-being of others.

It is so easy to zoom through life in gleaming cars in search of streets paved with gold.   Too often we are so worried about “things”; and they are the wrong “things.”   What does it take for us to stop and realize what is truly important in life?

Three thousand people died in our portion this week.  How many lives must be lost before we “get it?”  When we stop, we realize we are all tired of people who care only about their house, their car, their busy schedule, their tax break, and their religion.   We are all guilty and yet, we are not clueless.   “Beware how easy it is to build a calf, and get carried away with your finery,” the Torah screams out at us.  It is so easy to rush to judgment, to put our need, our greed, and our speed, before the needs of others.

Having to drink the Golden Calf potion and not repairing the Jaguar, taught me a great deal about this week’s portion.   We need visible reminders of our selfishness.  Sometimes, not replastering the wall you put your fist through is a good idea.   We all need a brick thrown at us from time to time to remind us what is really important.  And many people need to stop screaming and start listening.  We need to taste the bitter waters of the reality we create when we put “Me” before “We.”

That all sounds good and wise, but, over and over again, when an event is in the distance, relegated to the past, how quickly we forget.   Commandments… got ‘em, on two tablets, they’ll be there next week.  So if I don’t feel like Shabbat this week, or being faithful, or if I feel like making idols of money, sports, things or pleasures, so what?  We got new commandments after the old were broken, so what if I break a few?

After 9/11, we hoped people would focus on togetherness and hope, rather than hatred and fear.  But, we are a nation with a very short memory, and we are a humanity ever impatient and ready to build Golden Calves.   Every time there is a tragedy, we think the nation will be kinder and gentler.   And some people always are, but too many are not.  I just pray, every day, that I can always count myself among those who care.

“My brother has fallen, help me.”   And 13 years ago, I stood here and said something that is still relevant today:  “My brother has fallen, help me!” – yet, too often the response is, “Does he have insurance? What is my liability?  It’s not my problem. You are going to pay!”

The list of “Golden Calf” responses go on and on.   Too often people respond with only their wallet in mind, rather than their heart.  We shouldn’t need someone to throw a brick at us, to get us to stop and help.   We live in a nation that builds far more calves of gold, and far too few sanctuaries of God.

Every Yom Kippur we sing words from our portion this week, we cry them before the open ark at the Torah service, twice:

“Adonai Adonai El Rachum v’chanun, erech apayim v’rav chesed v’emet, notsair chesed la’alafim, nosay avon vafesha, v’chata’ah v’naake.”/“The Lord! The Lord! A God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness, extending kindness to the 1000th generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin.”

Thank God, for a God who understands that we so often lack these qualities.  Thank God for a God who reminds us to stop, to help, to heal, to care.

It may be March and we just finished celebrating Purim, but let us lead our lives with Yom Kippur in our hearts, ever mindful that a brick need not hit our car for us to realize that there is so much more to life than speeding through Springfield.   There are lots of wheelchairs out there.  And there are lots of people who need our support, who need us to stop and help them along the way.

The ban on finery was never lifted.   That is the lesson. It doesn’t mean that we can’t have gold and beautiful things.  It means that we can’t worship them at the expense of the needs of others.  Helping others who are in need is one of our greatest Jewish values.

The Torah reminds us to stop for Shabbat.  The Torah reminds us to never build a golden calf again.  The Torah teaches us, week after week, commandment after commandment, to care and share and see the pain and suffering of others and do something!  We need to feel someone else’s pain more than we feel our own need, or give in to our own greed.

Sometimes, we all need a brick to remind us what is important in life.  I am throwing a brick your way tonight.  You know what you are supposed to do with bricks?  Take your brick and build a brighter tomorrow for someone else.  And then, work to encourage others to do the same.

Shabbat Shalom.

You can hear the actual sermon, with all the additions I made during the giving of the sermon on the TBS podcast from 3/17/2017.