Torah Thoughts – Ki Tisa

When most people hear the words, “he threw down the Tablets from his hands and smashed them,” they think of the most dramatic moments in all of Torah. These words come from this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa, and the story of the Golden Calf, when Moses sees the Israelites sin and breaks the Ten Commandments. But, I hear something different in the verse. It is the voice of my old High School principal, Dr. Marc Rosenthal, who would always celebrate important school sports victories with a verse from Torah. And, the verse he would choose somehow evoked the particular sport in question, whether that be tennis, basketball, soccer, etc. A slight man, with a beard, and a warm smile, his voice always stuttered slightly in full school gatherings. But, I loved how he was able to turn tradition on its head and creatively tie a sports victory into Judaism.

This week witnessed the miraculous rise of Israel’s national baseball team in the World Baseball Classic. Filled mostly with American Jews who either played in the Major or Minor leagues, Israel’s team started out red hot, winning its first four games. This is remarkable considering it was ranked dead last, forty-first out of forty-one teams, and included victories over number three ranked South Korea and fourth ranked Taiwan. And, that is what brought this particular verse to mind, as the mostly American born players “threw down their bats and smashed homeruns,” shattering records instead of Tablets. Leading to three words I never thought would go together, “Yeah Israeli Baseball!!!”

Shabbat Shalom,