With the episode of the Golden Calf and the smashing of the first set of tablets, parashat Ki Tissa reaches a pinnacle of biblical drama. Today, I want to focus on one of the less well-known aspects of this story. After Moses shatters the tablets at the foot of the mountain we read, in Exodus chapter 32 verse 20:
וַיִּקַּח אֶת ־הָעֵגֶל אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ וַיִּשְׂרֹף בָּאֵשׁ וַיִּטְחַן עַד אֲשֶׁר ־דָּק וַיִּזֶר עַל ־פְּנֵי הַמַּיִם וַיַּשְׁק אֶת ־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵֽל:5
“He took the calf that they had made and burned it; he ground it to powder and strewed it upon the water and so made the Israelites drink it.”
The views expressed in this D’var Torah do not necessarily reflect the position of Leo Baeck College.