Ki Tisa 2026 - Mistakes are OK

In Parshat Ki Tisa we read of the sin of the golden calf and the destruction of the tablets containing the ten commandments, but earlier we also read about Betzalel, who is responsible for the design of the traveling temple.
Shemot Rabbah 46:1 tells us that when Moses began to regret the loss of the tablets "The Holy One blessed be He said to him: ‘Do not regret the first tablets, as they were only the Ten Commandments alone. But on the second tablets that I am giving you there will be halakhot, midrash, and aggadot.’" In other words it will be stronger the second time.
As an artist I think that the juxtaposition of the Betzalel, the sin of the golden calf, and the smashing of the tablets is not accidental.
It is easy when making art, and in life in general to see our mistakes and be frustrated, but if God was willing to work with Moshe to make a second set of commandments, we can also fail, and the results will be even better for that failure.
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