A Midrash for Monday
“At that time God said said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two stone tablets, like the first…’” (Deuteronomy 10:1).
This is referred to in the verse, “To everything there is a time and a season” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). There was a time for the world to be created and a time for the Generation of the Flood to be destroyed by water.
There was a time for Noah to enter the ark and a time for him to leave it.
There was a time for Avraham to have been created and so too for Yitzchak and for Yaakov.
There was a time for our ancestors to descend to Egypt, a time for them to leave and a time for them to be enslaved.
There was a time for the luchot (tablets of the Ten Commandments) to have been shattered and a time for those others to that deed [of worshiping the Golden Calf]. Thus it says, “Hew for yourself two stone tablets.”
King Solomon said (Ecclesiastes 3:5), “There is a time to cast stones and a time to gather stones.”
There is a time to cast stones—the first luchot.
and a time to gather stones—a time to hew the second luchot.
…
“Hew for yourself.” God said to Moshe, “I said to you, ‘Hew for yourself’—I gave you the Torah, and you turned around and with your kind eye generously gave it to the Jewish people. I promise! You will be the Torah’s king. Whomever you want to disqualify, disqualify. Whomever you want to enlist, enlist.”
Rendered from Midrash Tanchuma, Eikev #9
© Copyright 2011 O. Bergman
