Elul Day 22

Dear Elul Writers,

The forty days from Elul to Yom Kippur, according to our sages, correspond to Moses’ time ascending the mountain to receive the second set of tablets. The shofar blowing that is a part of this season is, in fact, meant to serve as a reminder not to be so impatient this time around. We hear the sound of the ram’s horn and we recall that Moses had not abandoned us, but, rather, was up on the mountaintop, communing with the Holy One, hewing stone, writing the law. Yet, when it comes to who exactly is doing the writing on these second tablets, the verses in the Torah are not completely clear.

In Exodus 34:1 we are given the impression that it’s the Kadosh Baruch Hu doing the writing.

And Adonai said to Moshe "Hew for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones. And I will inscribe upon the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

But, just 27 verses later, we read:

He was there with the Adonai for forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water, and he inscribed upon the tablets the words of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Though some commentators try to pull apart this verse, contending that the first part is about Moses, the latter about God, there is undoubtedly some level of discrepancy.

In his work, Meshech Chochmah, R’ Meir Simcha of Dvinsk tries to split the difference. To reconcile the two verses he asserts that Moshe does an initial inscription and only then does the Holy one of Blessing arrive to place the miraculous finishing touches on the tablets. It is a vision of revelation through co-authorship, a human/Divine collab, and it feels pretty true to life. Much of this self-growth that we undertake this season is about our own hard work, and maybe, in the end, we might receive a touch of holy help. 
 

Prompt

There is, according to this teaching, a fundamental difference between the first and second tablets. In a perfect world we might simply receive the tradition, glorious and whole, inscribed by a Divine hand. In the world that we live in, a world rife with screw-ups and hurt, with impatience and carelessness, our active participation and hard work are a requirement. Today, consider the places where you can begin the task of bettering yourself. What would that initial inscription, that first draft, look like? How might you invite the Holy One in to be your collaborator, ghost-writer, editor? Where, in particular, can you use some help in putting the finishing touches on yourself?

Take care,
Jordan