Rabbi's Blog

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Moses came down from Mount Sinai and seeing the Jews worshipping the golden calf, he broke the tablets. G-d said to him: “hew for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones”. G-d did not lecture him about why he broke the tablets, neither did He tell Moses that it was wrong of him. G-d also did not tell him it was a good thing (until later). G-d’s only response was you broke it, you fix it.

As human beings we break things. At times it is a physical item and sometimes by telling another person something we cause a broken heart. In the words of the Talmud: Adam mued l'olam—a person is always responsible. That sense of responsibility is one of the foremost distinctions between human beings and other living creatures.

Responsibility means that you are held accountable for your actions. One must figure out how to fix what was broken or at least to do everything in one’s power to repair it.

When I was younger, I deleted Windows 95™ from my family’s computer. I was responsible to fix it. It took me about 13 hours to retrieve the data and make it work again. That experience started me on a path of enjoying technology and figuring things out. However, if during those 13 hours you would have told me it was a good thing or had my parents taken the computer to the repair shop, would I have gained from the experience?

Back to Moses. The lesson I learned from G-d telling Moses to replace the tablets that he broke was to be responsible and be accountable for my own actions and if I broke it, try to fix it.

What are you going fix this week?

Have a Great Shabbos,

Rabbi Kushi Schusterman

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