Questions tagged [parashat-ki-tisa]

The weekly Torah portion of Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11-34:35)

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Original Aliyah breaks for Ki Tisa

The Magen Avraham (OC 428 sk 8) records a custom to give a Levi the Aliyah containing the story of the Golden Calf. Indeed in many Chumashim nowadays I see the first two portions of Ki Tisa are ...
Double AA's user avatar
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What did the 70 elders see?

Parshat Mishpatim says of the 70 elders who went up on Har Sinai with Moshe and Aharon: וַיִּרְאוּ, אֵת אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל; וְתַחַת רַגְלָיו, כְּמַעֲשֵׂה לִבְנַת הַסַּפִּיר, וּכְעֶצֶם הַשָּׁמַיִם, ...
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Seeing Elohim and live?

Shemot 33:20 teaches us that: ‘One can’t see G-ds face and live, for man shall not see G-d and live‘ (לֹא תוּכַל לִרְאֹת אֶת-פָּנָי: כִּי לֹא-יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם, וָחָי.). When Ya’akov named the ...
Levi's user avatar
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How and why is sin passed to one's children?

We see that the Torah is talking about sin and that it is passed on to the third and fourth generation. How and why? Genetics? How should I understand this? Exoudus 34:7: keeping mercy unto the ...
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Ki Tisa with no Kohen

The first two aliyot of Ki Tisa are very long. This is to ensure that a Levi has the aliyah about the golden calf, since his ancestors didn't participate. Yesterday I was in a shul with no kohen. ...
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Why is the torah reading for minor fast days different by just one verse from when that reading occurs in the regular cycle?

On minor fast days we read Sh'mot 32:11-14 and 34:1-10. The latter is almost the fifth aliyah of Ki Tisa, which is Sh'mot 34:1-9. I've been taught that aliyah boundaries are thoughtful (not ...
Monica Cellio's user avatar
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Did Moshe have a son with Ethiopian Queen prior to Exodus

According to Josephus, Moshe was a great military leader who lead in battle for Egypt when Egypt and Ethiopia was at war and Moshe married the Ethiopian Queen and had a child with her who became the ...
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The Golden calf - why wasn't Aharon asked to lead instead of Moses?

As I understand, the Israelites thought Moses was dead. It seems very logical that the vice-president takes the lead. Aharon was Moses' brother, a prominent prophet, chosen by G-d, and Moses' vice. ...
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Ki Tissa vs. Vaykhel - Shabbat & Mishkan

In the reading of Ki Tissa (Shemot 30:17 - 31:11) we find mentioning of laws and rules related to the Mishkan followed by a mentioning of Shabbat (31:12-17). In the beginning of the reading of ...
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What's the importance of the Tablets being written with G-d's finger?

"וַיִּתֵּן אֶל־מֹשֶׁה כְּכַלֹּתוֹ לְדַבֵּר אִתּוֹ בְּהַר סִינַי שְׁנֵי לֻחֹת הָעֵדֻת לֻחֹת אֶבֶן כְּתֻבִים בְּאֶצְבַּע אֱלֹהִים׃" (Ex 31:18) He gave Moses the two tablets of the Pact, stone ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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Moshe's Mask and Purim?

Is there a connection between Purim masks and the mask Moshe begins wearing at the end of Parshat Ki Tisa? (see Exodus 34:29-35) It seems too much of a coincidence that it's read near Purim for there ...
zaq's user avatar
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Did all of Bnei Israel worship the golden calf?

When Prophet Moses went up to the mountain, did all the people end up worshiping the cow, or were there some who remained aloof? What happened to such people who did not become idolaters? Were they ...
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מחני נא -- Moshe's real name isn't mentioned

In Shemot 32:32, Moshe tells Hashem: וְעַתָּה אִם תִּשָּׂא חַטָּאתָם וְאִם אַיִן מְחֵנִי נָא מִסִּפְרְךָ אֲשֶׁר כָּתָבְתָּ: And now, if You forgive their sin But if not, erase me now from Your book, ...
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God's Pair of Teffilin

How is it that when Moshe turns his head not to see God's face, he sees He's got on teffilin? I thought God had no physical form.
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Why are we so concerned about 1/2 of 1% (Golden Calf episode)

We just read (in Parshat Ki Tisa) that the Levites punished the 3,000 men who took part in the golden calf episode. But 3,000 is only 1/2 of 1% of the 600,000 Israelite men who left Egypt. Why is the ...
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How many people participated in the golden calf?

When Moshe comes down from Har Sinai & sees the golden calf he says ‘Whoever is for God, join me.’ After the Leviim gather he orders them to grab their swords & execute anyone involved. They ...
Lages's user avatar
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Symbolism behind earrings used for the golden calf?

Shemos 32:2-3 tells us that the gold materials requested and used for the making of the golden calf were earrings. The Jews clearly had other gold items, including other golden jewlery (ibid 35:22). ...
not-allowed to change my name's user avatar
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Who says that keneh bosem is cannabis?

R' Aryeh Kaplan in The Living Torah quotes four opinions as to the identity of keneh bosem (page pictured below, paragraph beginning "fragrant cane"): calamus (Septuagint, Rambam Peirush ...
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What was Moshe's "masveh"?

The Torah relates that Moshe donned a מסוה to hid the luminescence of his face, when addressing the community. What was the nature/appearance of this "masveh"?
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Parshat Ki Tisa on Shabbat Shekalim

According to my Artscroll Chumash, it appears that parshat Ki Tisa can not be the scheduled Shabbat reading on Shabbat Shekalim (I assume this because the potential maftir and haftarah readings listed ...
rosends's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
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Levi'im drinking from the ground-up golden calf waters

Moshe made everyone drink from the ground-up golden calf waters (Sh'mos 32:20). Did he force the Levi'im as well?
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How many Israelites were punished for the golden calf?

We know that 3,000 were killed by sword as punishment for the sin of the golden calf. But how many were killed by the plague, and how many by the water ordeal? (How many of these were B'nei Yisroel ...
SAH's user avatar
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Why is there an enlarged Nun in Exodus 34:7?

... keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgressions and sin. In some Torah scrolls, the Nun in the word נצר "keeping" is written larger than normal. What is the significance of ...
B A Malinowski's user avatar
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The realistic expectations from the Golden Calf

It is difficult for me to understand people's expectations from the Golden Calf they made. Strangely Aharon and others didn't try to argue on the logic of creating a dummy. So the calf was magically ...
Al Berko's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
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What's significant about starting the parsha at Ki Tisa?

The first two aliyot of Parshat Ki Tisa are pretty long. Then the rest are all very short. I was told that the reason for this is that we want to give the Levi the aliyah that praises him, when ...
Scimonster's user avatar
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2 votes
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What do the words 'Hinei Makom Iti' mean if Makom is also a title for G-d?

In Shemot 33:21 HaShem utters the words: 'הִנֵּה מָקוֹם אִתִּי'. I noticed HaShem uses the word 'makom', which reminded me of another teaching in which the word Makom is considered to be some sort of ...
Levi's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Shabbos pushes off Mishkan twice

Rashi to Shemos 35:2 explains that by teaching about Shabbos before the Mishkan, Moshe was emphasizing that Shabbos could not be pushed off to build the Mishkan. However, Rashi made the statement ...
DonielF's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Mi La'Hashem Eilai - Was this an appropriate response?

This question weaves together a couple different sources. The first nekudah comes from 32:32 where we have the phrase: וְאִם-אַיִן--מְחֵנִי נָא, מִסִּפְרְךָ אֲשֶׁר כָּתָבְתָּ - If you will not [...
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1 answer
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Why didn't Moses leave the chain of command?

This is a follow-up to "why-didnt-they-ask-aharon-to-lead". In Parshas Yisro and later we learn that the Jewish People had some kind of "the chain of command" or at least "the chain of judgment": ...
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