"It (Shabbos) is an everlasting sign between me and the Children of Israel." (31:17)

A shoemaker's shop - the door is barred, all the windows are shuttered; not a crack of light can be seen from within. One would think the shoemaker has moved out of town. Only the sign above the door - "Shoemaker" - gives any clue that the shoemaker is still in business.

Similarly with the Jew: However far he wanders from the faith of his fathers, and even if all the mitzvos that should lighten his home are like darkened windows - but if he still keeps Shabbos then there is yet a sign that Jewish life is smoldering within; that the light of Yiddishkeit has not gone out completely.

But when that sign - "Shabbos" - comes down, it is as though the Shoemaker has left town for good.

"Hew for yourself two tablets of stone." (34:1)

Once, there was a traveler who wanted to visit an exotic and remote country on the roof of the world. This country had the reputation of being almost impossible for tourists to enter. So, when our traveler was granted his tourist visa, it came to him as something of a surprise. However, in spite of this, he was convinced that he would be stopped at the border and refused entry to his destination.

He had set his heart on the trip, so he enlisted the services of a "special agent," a certain Mr. Shaker, who had contacts in high places in the government of the country. Shaker was able to magically open "locked doors." All of this came at a price. Quite a tidy sum was deposited in a numbered bank account. And then the word came. All clear. He would be met at the airport by an official who would usher him through the customs and immigration formalities. He needed to bring nothing with him. Not even his visa. He would be recognized immediately and whisked through the airport in a flash.

On arrival, our traveler bounded off the plane and presented himself at the immigration desk. "Visa please!" asked a uniformed official. "I'm sorry?" said the traveler. "I said: Visa Please!" repeated the official, somewhat irritated. "But, don't you recognize me?"

"If you gave me your visa, maybe I'd be able to recognize you, said the official, sarcastically.

"But Mr. Shaker said..."

"Look" said the official, "I've no idea who this Mr. Shaker is, but all you need to enter the country is a valid visa. Without that, there's nothing I can do."

Why was it that the first Tablets of the covenant were hewn by Hashem himself, whereas the second Tablets were hewn by Moshe?

The sin of the golden calf was not real idol worship, but it was based on a mistake: That, because Hashem himself had made the first Tablets, it was impossible to fathom their depths without the assistance of lofty spiritual powers. For this reason the people fashioned the likeness of an ox to worship, for the ox is one of the mystical creatures surrounding the heavenly throne. By worshipping a calf, they thought, the mystical powers of the ox would help them transcend the boundaries of human reach and be close to Hashem and to understand His Torah.

While Moshe was still with them, they relied on Moshe to bring them close to Hashem and did not seek other means. However, when they thought Moshe was dead, they turned to other ways of elevating themselves.

The truth is that every Jew has his own passport to spirituality. It's called the Torah. It contains all the visas we need to reach out of this world. We need no special agents or intermediaries. With our own human abilities we can achieve the sublime.

It was for this reason that Hashem commanded Moshe to hew the second Tablets: To demonstrate that human hands were involved in their making; that through our own efforts, we can earn the help of Hashem to understand all of the words of the Holy Torah and to climb to great heights. For that reason the Torah is called Toras Moshe - the Torah of Moshe. It's possible to gain entry to its most esoteric and remote regions via the visa of human effort alone.

"Aaron said to them: Remove the golden earrings that are in the ears of your wives, sons, and daughters, and bring them to me." (32:2)

Aharon's part in the incident of the golden calf is difficult to understand. It cannot be that he deliberately incited the people to make an idol to worship. Rather, his intention was the reverse.

A person's will is represented by the heart. And the heart is expressed through the "pocket." By gathering gold from all the Jews and making it into a single unit, Aharon was trying to create a tangible symbol of the unity of the will of Jewish People. The gold would be cast into the fire and the fire would remove the impurities of the latent tendency to idol worship.

What would be left would be pure and united, a symbol of the unity of the Jewish People and Hashem.

However, the "mixed multitude" who came up from Egypt with the Jewish People, and whose intentions were truly idolatrous, introduced the powers of spiritual impurity into the gold. The Jews were then drawn after this, and what resulted was the golden calf.

"How long will you dance between two opinions? If Hashem is the G­d, follow Him! And if the Ba'al, follow it." (18:21)

When Moshe Rabbeinu was descending from Mount Sinai with the Tablets and the Jewish People were busy with the golden calf, Yehoshua tried to comfort Moshe by saying "The sound of battle is in the camp." He meant that not all the Jews were infected by idol worship; there is still a battle between the worshippers of the golden calf and those faithful to Hashem.

Moshe replied to him that it was "not a sound shouting strength nor a sound shouting weakness," meaning: "I don't hear an ounce of resolve in either the worshippers of the calf nor in those loyal to Hashem."

Even those not worshipping the calf were taking the stance of tolerance, of neutrality. They were "open to both opinions." That was "the sound shouting weakness." Just a voice, nothing more; the voice of appeasement, devoid of action and expectation of improving the situation.

In the fight against idol-worship, whatever that idol may be, only the "sound shouting strength" must be heard, because then it is impossible to dance between two opinions.

Sources

• The Ink Of Eternity - Beis Halevi, Drasha 18
• Sign Of The Times - Chafetz Chaim
• A Valid Visa - Rabbi Moshe Feinstein
• The Gold Standard -Rabbi Shmuel M'Sokhachov
• The Voice of Appeasement - D'var Hamelacha