Breaking the Luchos

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Parshas Eikev, Moshe Rabbeinu reviews the events of the Revelation at Mt. Sinai, as well as the sin of the Golden Calf that followed. Moshe told the nation, “I witnessed that you had sinned … and I grasped the two Luchos and I sent them from my grasp, smashing them in front of your eyes.” (Devarim 9:16-17)

How could Moshe have smashed the Luchos? The creation of the world depended on the nation receiving the Torah (Rashi, Bereishis 1:31), which was represented by those very Luchos! What if Hashem would not have given him a second set? After all, Moshe did not know this in advance. Even if the nation sinned, was that a reason to break the Luchos? On the contrary, perhaps rebuking them while holding the Luchos would have been more effective!

We also need to understand why, when Hashem did give Moshe the second Luchos, He commanded Moshe to carve them out of rock by himself (Devarim 10:1). If Hashem had forgiven them for their sin (Rashi, ibid.) and was now giving them the Luchos once more, why were they not the same?

Rav Chaim Friedlander explains that the sin of the Golden Calf demonstrated that the nation was not ready to receive the Torah. When Moshe recognized that this was the case, he had to smash the Luchos. The nation was clearly not prepared for them. Rav Friedlander infers this from the Sages’ teaching (Shabbos 87a), “Moshe did three acts on his own accord, and Hashem agreed with each of them. He separated from his wife (so that he would be prepared to receive prophecy at all times). He added a day (when Hashem commanded that the Jews take two days to prepare for the Giving of the Torah, Moshe added an additional day to the prep time). He broke the (first) Luchos.”

Rav Friedlander points out that the first two acts mentioned involved preparation for the Torah. It follows that the third act—the smashing of the Luchos—was also connected to preparation for Torah. The nation was not ready. Without sufficient preparation, it was impossible for them to receive the Torah.

Rav Shimon Shkop notes that this was why Moshe needed to carve out the second Luchos by himself. Doing so was a sign that from this point on, Torah would only be received in accordance with one’s preparation for it. Like Moshe carving out the stones by himself, we must also prepare ourselves, with yiras shamayim and middos (fear of heaven and polished character), to acquire the Torah.

These second, man-made Luchos were susceptible to the scourges of nature. This demonstrates that even after acquiring Torah, one may lose it if he does not continually grow in yiras shamayim and good middos; he may lose the Torah.

Moshe broke the Luchos because, as they were, they would not benefit the nation. The first Luchos contained the entire Torah, and whatever was learned from them would never be forgotten. When the Jews became worthy of them at the foot of Mt. Sinai (before the sin), they had reached a state of unity and purity equaled only by Adam HaRishon before the first sin. They did not possess the Evil Inclination that would have hindered them from studying the Torah (see Beis HaLevy, Drush 18). For such a nation, Luchos that imparted knowledge of the whole Torah automatically and for all eternity would have been a benefit.

However, this all changed after the sin of the Golden Calf. The Evil Inclination was absorbed back inside of them. True, the Sages say that Torah is a remedy for the Evil Inclination (Kiddushin 30b), but this only works for one who exerts himself in its study. The Chazon Ish (Igeres 1:37) explains that toil in Torah study brings us to purity of heart, and enables us to sever ourselves from the Evil Inclination’s empty desires. This is why only the second Luchos were needed after the Golden Calf. This Torah required labor to understand it, and even after it was understood, it would require still more effort to be retained. This form of toil enables us to vanquish the Evil Inclination.

“Toiling in Torah” sounds like something that applies to young yeshiva students. However, Rav Dessler points out that it is within every Jew’s reach. When one learns, one must apply all of his energy to it. Even when one must stop learning to go work, one must only do so with the attitude that a different task is required of him, and he will return to learning as soon as he can. One with this attitude is really not stopping, because whatever he does in the interim is also for the sake of the Torah he will learn when he is done. He earns a livelihood so that his children can study in Torah institutions and his family can live among others who share his aspirations. The Torah of a Jew who lives this way, even if he is not learning all day, will help him vanquish his Evil Inclination (see Tosafos, Brachos 11a).

The Vilna Gaon (Aderes Eliyahu, Shoftim) states that exertion in Torah study can change one’s very nature. Base desires – and even sinful desires – become redirected to good and proper avenues.

Many students from outside of Eretz Yisrael arrive feeling that they cannot live without dangerous, modern technology. Others insist that they have to take a day off here and there to play ball or go hiking. However, after applying themselves for some time, they may discover that they have the ability to do without these things. Indeed, during their break, when they are back home on “vacation,” some are even able to keep a solid learning seder and maintain their elevated stature! Their Torah study channeled their Evil Inclination, and now, all that they desire is more achievement in learning.

Rav Aharon Cohen, one of the earlier Roshei Yeshivos of Chevron, was once asked what one could do to rein in their desire to overeat. Rav Cohen asked the Chazon Ish what he should tell his students.

The Chazon Ish answered that of course, one must work at reining in his desires. However, one will be helped by accepting the yoke of Torah upon himself. The Chazon Ish added that from the time that he himself had accepted upon himself to toil in Torah, the desire for food left him.

May we be zocheh to exert ourselves in Torah, and be saved from sin!