Ki Tisa
Exodus 30:11 – 34:35
God commands a census through the half-shekel offering and gives instructions for the copper laver, the anointing oil, and the incense. Bezalel and Oholiab are appointed as master craftsmen. While Moses is on the mountain for forty days, the people lose faith and fashion a golden calf. God threatens to destroy the nation, but Moses intercedes, descends, shatters the tablets in fury, and punishes the idolaters. Moses ascends again to plead for forgiveness, God reveals His Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, and a renewed covenant is established. Moses descends with the second tablets, his face radiant with divine light.
Key figures
- Moses — Intercedes for the people, breaks and receives new tablets, his face shines with divine light
- Aaron — Fashions the golden calf under pressure from the people
- Bezalel — Master craftsman of the tribe of Judah, filled with the spirit of God
- Oholiab — Craftsman of the tribe of Dan, assists Bezalel in building the Tabernacle
Famous verses
- 31:17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days Hashem made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and rested."
- 32:4 And he received it at their hand, and bound it in a cloth, and made it a molten calf; and they said: "This is your god, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt."
- 34:6-7 And Hashem passed by before him, and proclaimed: "Hashem, Hashem, God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in goodness and truth;
Haftarah: {'ref': 'I Kings 18:1-39', 'connection': "Elijah confronts the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, mirroring Moses's confrontation with the golden calf — both are dramatic showdowns between the worship of the true God and idolatry."}
Total gematria 521,251 is a prime number.