Preaching Goes Viral

Birthing the New Year 5781: Break. Breathe. Push. (Rosh Hashanah)

Theodicy (M): Misc. beliefs about why God lets a pandemic happen

Analogies to Mythic Narratives

The first time we see the Hebrew root of mashber comes in Exodus. Moses has been on top of Mt. Sinai for 40 days, while God inscribed a Covenant with the Israelites. But the Jewish people are impatient and fearful—they lose faith. When Moses comes down and sees the Israelites dancing in front of a Golden Calf, the Torah tells us: Vayashleych M’yadav…v’yishaber otam “he throws down the tablets in a rage and breaks them.” V’yishaber—the first appearance of this word for crisis is in BREAKING. But why does Moses shatter the Covenant? He already knows what the Israelites have done because God has told him, along with God’s plan to destroy them all. And level-headed Moses has pleaded on their behalf, and convinced God NOT to destroy them. So why then does he break the Tablets when he descends the mountain? Perhaps it wasn’t internal rage, but rather an external show: when the Israelites built that golden calf, they had already broken their covenant— but they weren’t yet ready or willing to acknowledge it. Only after seeing the broken tablets do the Israelites repent, and rededicate themselves. God forgives and gives them a new set of Tablets, which human beings help inscribe, on which a stronger, better covenant could be made.

2022-12-13

Angela W. Buchdahl

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