Divrei Simcha on Parshas Ki Sisa 5767

In this week’s parsha, we have the terrible tragedy of the Chet Ha’Egel, the Golden Calf. The question is asked how could this horrible thing happen. These are the same people that saw the Ten Plagues in Egypt. They saw the splitting of the sea. They saw the Jewish army defeat Amalek. They saw mon (food) fall from the sky every day in their camp. They heard straight from Hashem the first two of the Aseres Ha’Dibros (traditionally translated as the Ten Commandments). How could these great people sink to such a low level?

The Gemara in Avodah Zara gives an answer. Hashem made this happen so we would never lose hope. These people were so great and they stumbled greatly. As we continue in the parsha though we learn an incredible lesson. Although they committed the worse crime in the history of the world, they were forgiven. This is the parsha that we read on fast days to remind us of this. Fast days are on our calendar to remind us of our sins. One of the reasons we read this parsha is to remind us to do teshuvah, repentance, and we will be forgiven. It is so easy to lose hope after we sin. But the lesson of the Golden Calf is that no matter how much we sin, we can still come back.

In the 1980s and 1990s, there was a great speed skater named Dan Jansen. He skated the 500m and 1000m in the Winter Olympics of 1984, 1988, 1992, and 1994, but did not have much luck. In 1984, it was his first appearance in the Olympics and he did not come home with a medal. In 1988, right before he competed, his sister died from cancer. Dan still decided he should compete but fell in both events. In 1992, he had a terrible time skating and did not get a medal again (he could not forget his sister’s death in 1988). In his final Olympics in 1994, he slipped during his first event and finished in fourth place. But on Friday, February 18, 1994, in Dan Jansen’s final Olympic event ever, he finished with a Gold Medal and a World Record in the 1000m. Dan went through a lot during those 10 years, but because he did not give up, he won the Gold and broke the world record!

Rav Hutner, of blessed memory, the great Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chaim Berlin, said that we need to be careful when we read the biographies of our gadolim, our great rabbis. We might read these stories and think these great men lived easy lives. This is very untrue. These people struggled more than anyone else. But the key is they did not lost hope. When they fell, they got back up. Rav Hutner says that we might think the Chofetz Chaim never spoke Lashon Hara. He certainly did. But after he spoke Lashon Hara, he did teshuvah and moved on. He did not lose hope.

This is the lesson of the Golden Calf. We can fall and commit a terrible crime, but we should not lose hope. We can bounce back.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
www.divreisimcha.com
OR www.chesedclub.com (click Torah Study)

By Rabbi Yaacov Seltzer
[email protected]
(305) 652-0186