Parshat Ki Tissa

This week’s parashah, Ki Tissa, tells the story of the golden calf, and of the second tablets that Moshe brought down from Mount Sinai after having broken the first ones. The second tablets differed from the first in that Moshe wrote the second set with his own hands.

According to Rabbi Yitzhak Nissenbaum, God insisted that Moshe write the second tablets himself so that he would be less likely to break them again. We always take better care of things in which we have invested sweat equity. Or to say it more broadly: The Torah that we hold most precious, that we carry with us in our hearts, is the Torah that we have taken the trouble to make our own. We write that Torah when we put God’s call — a call deeper than language — into our own words.

That is what Jewish learning is really about. It is about making Torah truly ours. When we succeed, we experience its words as an expression of our own deepest voice.

• The New Shul’s Shabbat morning service is from 9 am to about 11:45 am. In accordance with the latest Covid guidance from the CDC, we require all those over the age of 2 to wear a mask while in our building. Our kiddush-lunch is outdoors, so masks are not required.
• This Shabbat morning, February 19, the kiddush-lunch will be sponsored by Sophie Rehrig.
• Weekday minyanim at The New Shul are on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm, and on Sunday mornings at 9:30 am. Kabbalat Shabbat is on Friday evenings at 6 pm at our rabbis’ home (please contact us for directions).
• The annual meeting of The New Shul community will be on Sunday March 6 at 10:30 am. All are invited.
• Purim begins on Wednesday evening March 16. Join us in The New Shul parking lot at 7 pm for our megillah reading and shpiel.