A congregant had the temerity to fall asleep during the rabbi’s sermon. So the rabbi called for the shamash (synagogue secretary) and instructed him to wake the congregant. The shamash responded, “Rabbi, you put him to sleep –you wake him up!”
Upon witnessing the Jewish People bowing to the golden calf, (as recounted in this week’s Torah portion), Moses broke the Two Tablets that he was carrying. Later the Torah tells us how the Jews were forgiven and Moses was instructed by G-d to carve a new set of tablets. You broke the first set, you replace them.
This particular part of our history is especially perplexing. The Jewish people had just experienced the most wondrous series of miracles ever witnessed by mankind, beginning with the Ten Plagues and culminating with the revelation on Mount Sinai and the giving of the Torah. And now, a mere forty days later, they exchange their faith in G-d for idol worship? They place their allegiance in a lump of gold??
Truth is that herein lies a profound message. The Jewish People had transgressed the first two of the Ten Commandments - within forty days of hearing them from G-d’s voice! The Two Tablets that Moses had brought down from Mount Sinai lay smashed and broken. One can think that there is no hope, all is lost. We failed.
So the Torah teaches, that all is NOT lost, there’s hope. We can mend our past.
We can reestablish our connection to Hashem; we can re-strengthen the personal relationships in our life.
It’s not all lost, it’s not too late.