There is a Time to be Stubburn - Parasha Ki Tisa, Parashat Parah, Exodus 30:11-34:25, Num. 22:1-19 and Ezek. 36:16-38

Parasha Ki Tisa continues with the instructions for building the Mishkan, yet it also deals with he taxation of the people and the unfortunate incident of the Golden Calf.  This Shabbat is also called Parashat Parah where we read Numbers 19:1-22 that deals with the rites of the Red Heifer regarding the spiritual purification process of the Holy Temple; a reminder that we too should aspire for spiritual purity as we enter the holiday of Passover.  But during this past week we also celebrated Purim where we recall the downfall of Haman (boo!) who attempted to eradicate the Jews of Persia.  Accordingly on Purim we read Exodus 17 that talks about Amalek, the perpetual enemy of the Jewish people, Megillat Esther reminding us that Haman (boo!) was a descendant of Amalek (Esther 3:1).  In the case of Haman (boo!), and the Hitler’s of the world (past, present and future), like Amalek they also desired the destruction of the Jews.  Purim admonishes us to rid the world of all forms of hate.

Regarding the Golden Calf, in particular, we read it this narrative that while Moses was up on Mt Sinai God warned him about the acts of the Hebrews below who had built an idol.  Furthermore God characterizes these people as am k’shay o’rehf, or “a stiff necked people” because of their unfaithfulness.  In anger God wants to destroy them and begin again from scratch with Moses and those who will truly follow him (Ex. 32:10, v.26).  So bad is this egregious act we learn from Rabbi Eliezer in the Talmud (Berachot 32a) that Moses was told by God, “Moses, descend from your greatness. The only reason why I gave you greatness was for the sake of Israel, and now that Israel has sinned, why do I need you?”  Yet in Exodus 34:9 Moses in turn says to God, “If I have gained Your favor, O my lord, pray, let my lord go in our midst, even though this is a stiff-necked people. Pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Your own!” Again, looking at the Talmud (Berachot 32b) we read a bit of Moses' attitude who “grabbed the Holy One as a person who grabs his friend by his garment would, and he said: Master of the Universe, I will not leave You be until You forgive and pardon them.” What might have happened if Moses was not stiff-necked himself and failed to oppose God in that moment? (also see Ex. 32:9-14 where Moses calls God out).
 
It seems insensitive of God to call people names like “stiff-necked.”  Remember these people were used to idols, they had just came from Egypt only 40 days earlier and did what was familiar; surely a God who is "slow to anger" and a "forgiver of iniquity" would have understood this. No? (Ex. 34:6-7).  God in this story is presented as mad but also simultaneously willing to forgive, therefore our classical commentators have tried to offer some understanding.  So, when refereeing to the Torah text where Moses asks God to see the people favorably despite their sin, we read; “let my lord go in our midst, even though (ki) this is a stiff-necked people.”  In commenting on these stiff-necked people and in particular the word ki, Rashi translates it as “if," speaking to the fee-will of their faithfulness, hence "if they do not listen" vs. "if they do," the outcome will be proportional.  Ibn Ezra read it as “although,” meaning that despite the fact that they may sin God will still forgive.  Yet many years later Rabbi Yitzchak Nissenbaum, a Polish/Zionist Rabbi who died in 1942, maintained that “what was their great vice will one day be their most heroic value,” referring not only to the Jews who came out of Egypt but those who would follow.  In other words for R’ Nissenbaum this stiff-neck disobedience became their fortune, hence if the Jews were not am k’shay o’rehf we would have suffered extinction and mass assimilations, forced conversations or missed life opportunities when others told us no or we can't.  In this case Jewish obstinacy became the key to Jewish survival and success, and while it began in the days of Moses, it continues today. Think about what the Jewish world look like if we did/do not stand up for what is important in all areas of life? 
  
Here are the facts: without Jewish obstinacy we would have not stood up to Pharaoh, Haman (boo!) or Hitler.  Sure, in general we can be stubborn, dig our feet in and damn the torpedoes; we all know where that can get us if we are stubborn about the wrong thing!  But here I want to read this text like Rabbi Yitzchak Nissenbaum.  Just think of the stubbornness of Dr. Martin Luther King; if it were not for King's pure stubbornness to fight for the rights of Black people how might things look today for all people of color, even though clearly the task is not finished?  What about the march in Charlottesville, VA back in 2017 with the chants of “Jews will not replace us.”  In response Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said in a statement, “The vile presence and rhetoric of the neo-Nazis who marched this weekend in Charlottesville is a reminder of the ever-present need for people of good will to stand strong, to speak loudly against hate, and act both to delegitimize those who spread such messages and to mitigate the harm done to the commonweal of our nation and to those that are the targets of hate messages.”  That is when we need to be stiff-necked, within reason, in order to overcome those of Amalek who use hate as a weapon, we must all stand up to this type of social ill.

We all have to choose where being stiff-necked helps, when to stand upon it as well as with whom. If Moses does not stand up to God who knows what things would look like today.  Likewise, without stiff-necks how much can we oppose what is wrong or accomplish all that is good.  Sometimes it pays dividends to be stubborn. 

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Adam