Parashat Ki Tisa and Purim 5785
by HaRav Nachman Kahana
Where in our parasha is the one pasuk, actually the one word, that embodies the essence of HaShem’s relationship with Am Yisrael as a distinct and independent entity unrelated to any other nation or race? Additionally, what is its parallel in Megillat Esther? (hint: Shemot 33:16)
Our parasha relates the enormity of the rebellion against HaShem by many of the eruv rav (mixed multitude). They numbered, according to some accounts, over a million people, who with the agreement of Moshe accompanied the Jews when exiting Egypt and were permitted to convert.
For their role in inciting many Jews to take part in the Golden Calf sin, the tribe of Levi volunteered to kill the hardcore sinners, numbering 3000, which was followed by a plague that decimated many more.
The exact composition of this “mixed multitude” is not known, but they probably included Egyptians and other nationalities who witnessed the miracles of HaShem. These “mixed multitude”, despite their acceptance to Judaism, during the 40-year journey in the desert incited the Jews to complain at every challenge and even to threaten returning to Egypt.
HaShem appeared to Moshe while alluding to the possibility that the eruv rav had polluted the nation’s soul to the extent that the centuries-long covenant between HaShem and the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov was no longer relevant. And HaShem raised the possibility that a new covenant be created between HaShem and the offspring of Moshe himself.
Moshe rejected the proposal, adding that if the Jewish nation would be eradicated, then he wished that HaShem would erase the name “Moshe” from the Torah.
Moshe began pleading to HaShem to forgive the sins of the Jewish nation, adding a radical request totally outside of the parameters of what was transpiring at the time. That not only should HaShem continue the historic covenant until eternity but…
אני ועמך מכל העם אשר על פני האדמה” ונפלינו
May it be Your will to relate to Am Yisrael with favoritism, positive prejudice and loving discrimination than to any other nation or race.
And HaShem replied:
ויאמר ה’ אל משה גם את הדבר הזה אשר דברת אעשה כי מצאת חן בעיני ואדעך בשם
And HaShem said to Moshe, “What you request I will do, because I am pleased with you….”
The heavenly pendulum swung from one extreme to the other. From eradicating the Jewish nation for partaking in, or not preventing, the sin of Golden Calf, to employing extreme apartheid in HaShem’s dealing with all the gentile peoples. That only upon Am Yisrael will HaShem bestow His sanctity, but not upon any gentile nation, religion or individual.
Problem: Apartheid is a policy that is rejected by all morally advanced societies. Equality is the path to harmony between peoples in the recognition that all men are created equal before the law with inherent rights and privileges.
And also, the call of Avraham to HaShem when informed of the imminent destruction of the five evil cities – Sedom, Amora, Adma, Tzevoryim, and Tzorar (Bereishiet 18:25):
השפט כל הארץ לא יעשה משפט
Will the Judge of all the earth not do justice!
I submit:
When all the factors are present in the equation; meaning when considering all humanity, it is immoral to show favoritism for a particular group, as in the case when blacks and whites were on a bus and the blacks were relegated to sitting in the back. That is apartheid. However, Am Yisrael was never “in the bus” and therefore we are not a part of the apartheid. HaShem and Am Yisrael are together in a different dimension, where Am Yisrael is not competing with the other nations for HaShem’s attention, hence there is no expression of bias.
Where do we see this extreme spiritual separation of the Jewish nation from all others as a fundamental rudiment of Judaism?
Answer: the Gemara (Brachot 6a) states a fact that cannot be taken literally, but only in kabbalistic terms, that HaShem dons tefillin, as do the Jews.
And what is written in HaShem’s tefillin which differs from ours?
Our tefillin has written inside of its small chambers:
שמע ישראל ה’ א’ ה’ אחד
Listen (comprehend) Yisrael the Lord our God is one (unique and singular in every way).
In HaShem’s tefillin appears the verse:
מי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ
Who is likened to your nation, Yisrael, singular and unique among the nation of the world.
We are like the Creator in the sense that there is no entity that can compare to HaShem just as no earthly entity that can compare to Am Yisrael.
How does Hashem exhibit His bias towards the Jewish nation?
One way is our miraculous survival against all odds.
Meaning: HaShem does not ignore our sins – a sin is a sin. But in order to permit our miraculous history, HaShem punishes us bit by bit, so the Quality of Justice does not accumulate our sins into one atomic punishment. Whereas the sins of the nations are left to accumulate until they reach the point of no return and the heavenly retribution for their sins explodes with suffering until that society can no longer sustain itself.
In one sentence: We are not on the bus; we have our own personal limousine!
Where is HaShem’s partiality made real in the 167 verses of Megillat Esther?
The Megillah relates that when Haman informed his wife Zeresh and his advisors about the demeaning manner in which he was treated by the king, having to lead Mordechai on a royal horse through the city, they replied (Megillah 6:13):
… אם מזרע היהודים מרדכי אשר החלות לנפל לפניו לא תוכל לו כי נפול תפול לפניו
If Mordechai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you will not defeat him. You will surely fall!
Haman’s family and personal advisors were well versed in world history. They knew that the ultimate absolute downfall of an enemy of the Jewish people, when it begins by Jewish hands, has no way of reversing the inevitable defeat.
After the astonishing turn of events in the 127 regions of the Persian empire – when the citizens prepared to murder all the Jews in one day on the 13th of Adar, and the Jews defended themselves by killing 75,000 across the land, and another 800 in the city of Shushan – the reaction of the Persians was:
מְקוֹם אֲשֶר דְבַר הַמֶלֶךְ וְדָתוֹ מַגִיעַ שִמְחָה וְשָשׂוֹן לַיְהוּדִים מִשְתֶה וְיוֹם טוֹב וְרַבִים מֵעַמֵי הָאָרֶץ מִתְיַהֲדִים כִי נָפַל פַחַד הַיְהוּדִים עֲלֵיהֶם.
In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.
At the present time, our Arab enemies have begun their fast descent to oblivion. HaShem is exhibiting His love for His chosen people, with the beginning of the defeat of Hamas in Azza, of Hezbollah in Lebanon, of the Persians in Iran, of the Arabs in Judea and Samaria and of the Houthis in Yemen. And this chain of miraculous victories will continue until we could be seeing great numbers of gentiles the world over leaving their religious beliefs to convert to Judaism, as stated by the prophet Yirmiyahu (16:19):
…אליך גוים יבאו מאפסי ארץ ויאמרו אך שקר נחלו אבותינו הבל ואין בם מועיל:
…the nations will come from the ends of the earth and say, “Our ancestors bequeathed us false gods, worthless idols that bring no benefit”.
Conclusion: Something big is happening in the world – changes on a biblical scale.
As it appears, the destiny of Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael under HaShem’s guidance will affect all mankind. Some by wars, others by natural calamities, while others will undergo spiritual transitions. Our destiny is to return home and restore what was lost to us by our not having fulfilled the functions of being HaShem’s chosen people.
We might yet prove to be the greatest generation in Jewish history.
Shabbat Shalom and be joyous in the spirit of our Purim victories,
Nachman Kahana
Copyright © 5785/2025 Nachman Kahana
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