Ki Sisa                                                                                             Cohn

This week’s parsha, Ki Sisah, is most often associated with the chayt ha’egel (sin of the golden calf).  People always wonder how a generation who witnessed the miracles G-d wrought in Egypt, at the Yam Suf (Reed Sea) and in the desert could all of a sudden want to build an idol and believe this would be a representation of G-d.   Some commentators hold that Israel didn’t really believe that this idol they were creating would be G-d.  Instead as time ticked closer and closer to Moshe coming down from Sinai with the Torah, they reacted with the want and desire for a physical manifestation experience of G-d prior to receiving the Torah.  This unfortunately seems to parallel the experience and sin of Adam in Gan Eden.  There were two key trees located in Gan Eden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge.  There are commentators who teach us that the Tree of Life represented Torah and the Tree of Knowledge represented Experience.  Adam made the mistake of believing that he needed to gain experience before Torah.  Once again history unfortunately repeats itself and Israel makes the mistake of believing they needed a physical experience rather than waiting for Moshe to descend and receive the Torah.

If an individual as great as Adam who was created directly by G-d and Israel at Sinai who witnessed firsthand the awe of G-d could make such grievous errors of judgment, what hope is there for us?  Unlike Adam who should have chosen the tree representing Torah first and Israel who should have waited to receive the Torah, we of this generation already have the Torah given to us.  While we may not be on the madrega (spiritual level) of Adam and Israel at Sinai, we do have Torah already interspersed on a regular basis in our everyday lives. For example, keeping Shabbat and Kashrut requires us to put Torah first and learn how to apply it to our physical experiences.  I believe this is one of the key lessons to be learnt from this week’s parsha and the story of the egel.