Having gone through all the stages of life in Egypt and the exodus from Egypt, the people of Israel reach a state called Mt. Sinai. They begin to understand that they are facing a huge mountain of evil, the word “Sinai” stems from the word “hate” (mutual hate) in Hebrew, the deep repulsion that people feel towards one another which is much greater than what they felt in Egypt.
While in Egypt or in ancient Babylon they didn’t understand it and were not fully aware of it; now the evil is revealed to them to it’s fullest.
As a result the people feel perplexed, helpless, and cannot even imagine what they should do. But Moses eases their mind, promising them to arrange and fix the connection between them and Creator. This is his role since he is the link between the people of Israel and the upper force. The people wouldn’t be able to do anything without his help and guidance, without his connection to the Creator.
He climbs Mt. Sinai while the people don’t feel this connection and are ready to go back to Egypt. The main thing for them is to feel that they have something, something to hold on to! Hatred scares simple people.
Imagine you are living in an apartment building in which everyone hates you deeply. You are afraid to come out of your apartment, to open a window, you feel currents of great hatred on all sides, you cannot sleep, and are losing your appetite. This is a terrible situation! This is exactly what the people standing at the feet of Mt. Sinai feel. The true nature of their ego is revealed to them and they see that they cannot overcome it in any way since the connection with the Creator who helped them not long ago is gone.
But Moses promises them that he will ascend to this level of connection, establish the contact between them, and take them out of this hatred. Only he can ascend above the mountain of the ego, but it is only one small attribute in us.
The moment he detaches from the people they lose hope of connecting to the Creator and the only hope they see is in creating the golden calf, which they believe can bring them together. There is nothing else they can hold on to.
They are ready to take off their gold jewelry and to donate it so that something will unite them. Because compared to the deep hatred they feel, the small ego that is embodied in the golden calf egotistically connects them at least to some extent.
When he comes down from Mt. Sinai, Moses comes closer to the people wanting to connect them to the Creator through him and to establish the contact between them, but he sees that once again they bow to their ego (the golden calf). Then he breaks the two tablets of the covenant received on Mt. Sinai, which is now unsuitable for the people since they have fallen to a different level.
Moses climbs the mountain, meaning the ego again, and when he connects to the upper level of love and bestowal above it, he receives a second instruction from the Creator. When he descends from this spiritual level he brings the people the plan for unity: the revelation of the Creator by their getting closer in the inner unity between them.
The plan includes all the major laws of the Torah, and the most important one is “love thy neighbor as thyself,” and the people are ready to keep it and to unite.
The day that Moses descends the second time from Mt. Sinai is called Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). He brings the people the two tables, which means the ten conditions in contrast to the ten plagues of Egypt. By fulfilling these conditions on the spiritual level, they reach a level of unity between them in which the Creator is revealed and they merge into complete unity with Him. This is the purpose of their correction.
[146719]
From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/22/14
[146719]
From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/22/14
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