Daf Ditty Shabbes 87

Daf Ditty Shabbes 87: Broken Luchot

(Rembrandt,1659)
Daf Ditty Shabbes 87

One of the three acts Moses performed on his own initiative without divine instruction was the
breaking of the tablets,
(Talmud Tractate Shabbat 87a :We have learned: Three things Moshe did of his own accord and
HaShem agreed to his judgment… He broke the Luchot. What was his reasoning? He said, “The
Passover Offering which is only one of the 613 mitzvot, the Torah says, ‘any strange person (idol
worshiper) should not eat from it;’ the Luchot contain the entire Torah and the Jewish people are
transgressors, how much more so [that it should not be given to them]!”)
Our Daf wishes to find scriptural support for God’s concurrence.

The prooftext brought is Ex 34:1

In fact God congratulated Moshe for realizing that the tablets should be broken, and for actually
smashing them.

Rashi explains that the inference in the verse is from the word “‫ אשר‬,“which suggests the
approval phrase “‫ כחך יישר‬.“ For he was moved to smash the Tablets before their very eyes, as it
is written (above, Deut. 9:17), "smashing them before your eyes," and the Holy One, blessed be
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He, was of like mind with him, for it is written (Ex. 34:1), "which you shattered"—the more
power to you (Yasher Koach!)

Ramban asks that the word “‫“ אשר‬appears many times in the Torah, and it does not consistently
indicate any element of approval. For example, Moshe was told to take and grind up the Golden
Calf “‫ עשו אשר‬.“This was certainly not an expression of approval! Rather, Ramban says that the
approval was from the very fact that the broken pieces were to be gathered and stored in the ark
next to the second tablets. If Moshe’s actions been considered sinful, these pieces would never be
allowed to be in the ark.

A darker psychological moment that precipitated his casting the tablets came from
Seforno.Sforno comments, “when Moshe saw the dancing, he despaired of their eventual
penitence and therefore broke the tablets, for they were not worthy to receive them.”

Midrashic Reflections:

Midrash Avot DeRabi Natan chapter 2

He looked at them and saw that the words had flown out of them. He said, “How can I give the
Jewish people the Luchot with no substance? Rather, I will grab them and break them.”

Midrash Rabba Ex 46:1

, ‫ ל ִַָאַחר ימים יצא‬,‫ משׁל לשׂר שׁנּטל אשּׁהוכתב להּ כּתבּה וּנתנהּ בּיד השּׁוֹשׁבין‬.‫ר ְִֵֶַָָֻאָה משׁה שׁחטאוּ ושׁבּר את הלּוּחוֹת‬
,‫ כְּך עשׂה משׁה‬,‫ ְִֵֶַָאָמר מוּטב שׁתּהא נדּוֹנית כּפנוּיה וֹלא כּאשׁת אישׁ‬,‫ מה עשׂה השּׁוֹשׁבין קרע את הכּתבּה‬,‫עליה שׁם רע‬ ְִֵֶַָֻ
,‫ מה עשׂה שׁבּרם‬,‫ זבח לאֹלהים יחרם‬:(‫ יט‬,‫ שׁנּאמר )שמות כב‬,‫אָמר אם אין אני משׁבּר את הלּוּחוֹת אין לישׂראל עמידה‬ ֹ ְֱֲֳִֵֶַָ
‫אָמַר לוֹ ְל ַהקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוְּך הוּא ֹלא הָיוּ יוֹדְ עִין מָה ָהי ָה כָּתוּב ָבּהֶם‬

What did Moshe do? He took the Luchot from the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, in order
to calm His anger. To what is this compared? To a king who sent someone to betroth a woman
through a middleman. She went and acted inappropriately with another man. The middleman,
who was innocent, what did he do? He took the ketubah which the king gave him to betroth her
and tore it. His intention being that it is better she is judged as an unmarried woman than a
woman who is married.What Moshe did was the same. When the Jewish people sinned, he took
the Luchot and broke them, so as to say that if they would have seen their punishment, they
would have not sinned.

The Gemorro (Bava Basra 14b) adds:

‫ור"מ עמודין היכא הוו קיימי מבראי ור"מ שברי לוחות דמונחין בארון מנא ליה נפקא ליה מדרב הונא דאמר רב הונא מאי‬
‫ ב( אשר נקרא שם שם ה' צבאות יושב הכרובים עליו מלמד שלוחות ושברי לוחות מונחים בארון‬,‫דכתיב )שמואל ב ו‬
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The Gemara asks: And according to Rabbi Meir, where were the silver columns placed? The
Gemara answers: Outside the Ark. The Gemara further asks: And from where does Rabbi Meir
derive that the broken pieces of the first set of tablets were placed in the Ark, as the verse from
which Rabbi Yehuda learns this: “There was nothing in the Ark except” (I Kings 8:9), is needed
by Rabbi Meir to teach that the Torah scroll was placed there?

The Gemara answers: He derives this point from what Rav Huna expounded, as Rav Huna says:
What is the meaning of that which is written: “The Ark of God, whereupon is called the Name,
the name of the Lord of hosts that sits upon the cherubs” (II Samuel 6:2)? The phrase “the name,
the name of the Lord” teaches that both the second tablets and the broken pieces of the first set
of tablets were placed in the Ark.

Whatever became of the tablets smashed by Moses?1

The Talmud answers: The broken tablets were placed in the holy Ark along with the second,
intact set ; ‘luchot ve’shivrey luchot munachim be’aron”(Talmud Bava Batra 14b).

The broken tablets were not buried, which is what we generally do with holy items no longer in
use. They were placed in the most sacred place, in the Aaron Hakodesh, the holy Ark. Eventually
they sat next to the second tablets, the whole set of the Ten Commandments. Together they
remained securely protected as the nation journeyed through the wilderness.

Why do the broken pieces remain precious? If they represent the Jewish people disregarding the
covenant with God, would we not wish to simply forget about them?

The idea of brokenness appears in a number of significant places in Judaism: We sound the
shofar with the broken notes of the shevarim; the Hebrew root word ‘shever’ means ‘broken’. We
begin the Seder breaking a whole piece of matzah. When the bride and groom stand under the
wedding canopy, a glass is shattered into pieces. These important symbolic rituals represent
shattered and broken events in both our personal and communal lives. Breaking the matzah
represents the broken life of the slave, the repentant spirit of a remorseful person is symbolized
by the broken sounds of the Shofar, and breaking of the glass represents a world that is
incomplete without the presence of the holy Temple in Jerusalem.2

The two sets of tablets in the Ark offer a striking metaphor. Namely, that brokenness and
wholeness coexist side by side, even in Judaism’s holiest spot – in the heart of the holy Ark.

1 Moshav Zekeinim on Shemot 32:19 says: He should have buried them under the mountain in a respectful manner. One cannot
say that just because the letters flew out, the holiness therefore completely left them. As the Talmud states (in chapter “Kol
Kitvei”—Tractate Shabbat 115b, where it discusses when the laws of Shabbat are overridden to save holy writings): A Sefer
Torah which was erased, if it does not have 85 letters it is not saved from a fire on Shabbat. However, even that law is only true in
regards to desecrating the Shabbat in order to save the Torah from the fire; but it is certainly forbidden to act with it in a
disgraceful manner. The Talmud states in Tractate Megilah (26b): A Sefer Torah which is worn out needs burial.
2 Aaron Goldshneider https://www.aish.com/print/?contentID=310623621&section=/h/9av/oal
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The 16th century Kabbalistic work, Reshit Chochmah, teaches that the Ark is a symbol of the
human heart.

Rav Huna said… the [full] Luchot and the broken Luchot lay [side by side] in the Aron (Holy
Ark). The second tablets had an intrinsic quality that the first lacked however:

Midrash Shemot Rabah 46:1

, ‫ שֶׁ ֹלא הָ יוּאֶ לָּ א‬,‫ ו ְַָאָמר לוֹ הקּדוֹשׁ בּרוְּך הוּא אַל תִּ צְ טָ עֵ ר בַּ לּוּחוֹת הָ ִראשׁוֹנוֹת‬,‫הִתְחִיל מִצְטַעֵר עַל שִׁבּוּר הַלּוּחוֹת‬
‫ ְו ַיגֶּד לְ ָך‬:‫ הֲ דָ א הוּא דִ כְתִ יב‬,‫ וּבַ לּוּחוֹת הַ שְּׁ ִניִּים אֲ נִי נוֹתֵ ן לְ ָך שֶׁ יְהֵ א בָ הֶ ם הֲ לָ כוֹת מִ דְ ָרשׁ וְאַ גָּדוֹת‬,‫עֲ שֶׂ ֶרת הַ דִּ בְּ רוֹת לְ בָ ד‬
:(‫ ו‬,‫ שֶׁ נֶּאֱ מַ ר )איוב יא‬,‫ אֶ לָּ א שֶׁ אַ תָּ ה מְ בֻ שָֹּׂר שֶׁ מָּ חַ לְ תִּ י לְ ָך עַ ל חַ טָּ יָה שֶׁ לְּ ָך‬,‫ וְֹלא עוֹד‬,‫תַּ עֲ לֻ מוֹת חָ כְמָ ה כִּי ִכפְלַ יִם לְ תוּשִׁ יָּה‬
‫וְדַ ע כִּי יַשֶּׁ ה לְ ָך אֱ לוֹהַּ מֵ עֲ וֹנֶָך‬.

Moshe began to be pained over the breaking of the Luchot. HaShem said to him, “Do not be
pained over the first Luchot, for they were only the Ten Commandments. The second Luchot I
will give to you, will be accompanied by Halachot (laws), Midrash (extrapolations)
and Agadah (homily).” this is what is said: (Job 11): I will tell you hidden wisdom for it shall be
double comforting…

Rav Kook Torah3

Why did Moses need to break the luchot? He could have put them aside for a later time, when
the Jewish people would be worthy of them. The Torah does not record that Moses was criticized
for destroying the holy tablets. On the contrary, the Talmud teaches that God complemented
Moses for this act: “Yashar Kochacha!” “Good job that you broke them” (Shabbat 87a). Why did
they have to be broken?

The question becomes stronger when we note the exceptional nature of these unique luchot. They
were “the handiwork of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the
tablets” (Ex. 32:16). The second luchot did not possess this extraordinary level of sanctity.
When God desired that a second set of tablets be prepared, He commanded Moses, “Carve out
two tablets for yourself” (Ex. 34:1), emphasizing that these tablets were to be man-made.
Furthermore, unlike the engraved writing of the first luchot, God said, “I will write the words on
the tablets” (ibid). The letters were written, not engraved, on the second tablets, like ink on paper.
Why were the second luchot made differently?

Beyond Man-Made Morality

3 Midbar Shur
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The two sets of luchot correspond to two different paths to serve God.
The first path is when we utilize our natural capabilities to live an ethical life. We perform good
deeds and acts of kindness out of a natural sense of integrity and morality.

However, God meant for the Jewish people to aspire to a higher level, beyond that which can be
attained naturally, beyond the ethical dictates of the intellect. It is not enough to help the needy,
for example, because of natural feelings of compassion. This is praiseworthy. But the higher path
is to help those in need because through this act one fulfills ratzon Hashem, God’s will.
Ethical deeds that are the product of human nature are like a candle’s feeble light in the bright
midday sun , compared to the Divine light that can be gained through these same actions. The
loftier path is when the Torah is the light illuminating our soul. We do not follow the Torah
because its teachings correspond to our sense of morality, but due to our soul’s complete
identification soul with the Torah, which is ratzon Hashem.

The Sages hinted to this level in the Passover Haggadah. “If God had brought us near to Mount
Sinai and not given us the Torah, it would be enough [to praise Him].” What was so wonderful
about being close to Mount Sinai?

As the Jewish people stood at Mount Sinai, and prepared themselves to accept the Torah, God
planted in their souls a readiness to fulfill His will. This preparation was similar to the natural
inclination of moral individuals to perform acts of kindness.

See how Rav Kook struggles with the notion of the Divine Law in Torah and the moral ethical
sensibility of man, taking to a mystical solution.