This week’s Torah portion tells the story of the building of the Golden Calf. After the revelation at Sinai, Moses ascends the mountain for forty days to receive the rest of the Torah. The Israelites grow nervous at Moses’ prolonged absence. This leads to the creation of the Golden Calf which they begin to worship. Moses descends the mountain and when he sees what is happening, smashes the tablets containing the ten commandments.
      We also read a special portion about the red heifer, parah adumah. This cow, rare because of its color, was used by the priests in a purification ritual for those who had become ta’meh/impure. For a number of rabbinic commentators, the red heifer is considered the perfect example of a paradox. While the ritual purified those who were impure, it simultaneously made impure the priests performing the ritual!
      I would like to suggest that instead of paradox, this ritual reflects the complexity of life. Two people can engage in the same activity, and for one it can be beneficial and for the other harmful. It is also obvious that people are very diverse—for some people being an introvert or extrovert seems to be a natural fit, for others they strive to be what they are not. Even that striving can be an act of growth for some and an unhealthy obsession for others.
      We live at a time when people look for simple answers as to why things are not working the way “they are supposed to.” Disruption and conflict abound. Too often the simple answers involve blaming someone else for what is wrong. Conspiracy theories can be very useful in finding one group responsible for all our current ills.
      Later, when Moses returned with the second set of tablets, they were placed in the aron/the ark in the Sanctuary. The midrash says the broken pieces of the first tablet were placed there as well. Why? Perhaps because we can only fix something when we realize it is broken. Too often we ignore the problems in our lives and in society. We tell ourselves they are intractable or that “those people” stand in a way to a solution. The broken pieces in the ark remind us that we are all broken and that we all see life from different perspectives.
      We live in the tension between the truth that we are imperfect people and that our aspiration is to live up to the vision of the ten commandments. The tension between what is what should be is captured in the Ramban’s image of the Torah scroll as being written in black fire on white fire.
      This past week, we saw what happens when people believe that life is simple not complex and they own the Truth. After Palestinians killed two Israelis, Jews set fire to the houses and cars of Arab neighbors in Huwara only stopping to form a minyan to daven ma’ariv.

That night the Torah became only black fire.