Written by Tracie Guy-Decker

This week’s parsha, Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11 – 35:35) is a really juicy one. In it we see the creation of the golden calf (the timing of this with the golden Trump at last week’s CPAC conference is uncanny), but also the command to “guard the sabbath” and keep it holy. (And lots of other things, but these are the two I’ll focus on today.)

The story of the golden calf is resonating for me this year as a deeply apt metaphor. The idol is not merely made of gold. It is specifically made of the gold “rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters” (Ex 32:2). The people take things from their person—things that seem precious but are separate from themselves—and turn those things into an idol about which they say “this is your god” (Ex 32:4). In that golden calf I see today’s hustle for worthiness. The things that are separate from us that seem precious are productivity, perfection, and pleasing. Instead of earrings melted into a calf, today we meld job titles and salaries into worth and worthiness. We bow down to our idol and serve it, even though the Divine is right here.

When I find this golden idol in the same parsha as the command to guard shabbat, especially since the consequences for not guarding shabbat and for worshiping the idol are both being put to death, I cannot help but make a connection between the two. Shabbat is the chance to interrupt the hustle for worthiness. It is the guard against today’s idolatry, because on shabbat you don’t need to do, you only need to be. On shabbat we are invited to remember our worth—our divinity, if you’ll indulge me—is not based on the external trappings that seem precious but are transitory. Our worth is based on our existence, on our creation b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God. The rest of shabbat invites us to sit with that worthiness, to rest with it, without distraction, for a full day.

I believe shabbat—however you decide to guard it—can interrupt the idolatry we sometimes default into. The golden calf came about because the people were anxious and bored. Moses was on the mountain for a long time, and they didn’t know what had happened to him. They felt leaderless and adrift in the wilderness. They defaulted to idolatry.

What idolatry are you prone to when you’re anxious, bored, afraid, or stressed? What precious and transitory possession or outcome are you transforming into a measure of your worthiness? How could a rest from the hustle for that idol help you to return to the divine that is in you and all around?

Shabbat Shalom, friends. May it be a shabbat of rest and peace for all of us.

To hear more of Tracie’s thoughts, tune into her and April’s podcast, Jews Talk Racial Justice. Check out full episodes with video (CC included) and discussion questions on our website! Listen on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you download your podcasts, and don't forget to leave us a review!