PARSHAT KEE TEESA A GATHERING By Rabbi Michael Gold

"When the people saw that Moses was so long coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, Come make us a god who shall go before us, for that man Moses, who brought us from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him." (Exodus 32:1)

Sometimes Judaism is lost in translation. The original Hebrew contains insights that disappear when translated into English. Let me share an example from this week and next week's portion. The Hebrew root pronounced k-h-l kahal means "to gather together." We often use the term kahal to mean "the public". The Conservative Movement has decided that they will call their synagogues and institutions kehilot (singular kehila) gatherings of people. If you look at the sign in front of an old synagogue, you often see the Hebrew letters k.k. which stands

for kehila kedosha - "a holy community." At the heart of our tradition is kehila - Jews gathered together for a holy purpose. But just as people gather for a holy purpose, so they sometimes gather for an unholy purpose. So we turn to this week's portion which speaks about the sin of the Golden Calf. It begins with a word with the same root vayikahel - literally "gathered themselves." One sees the image of a mob gathering themselves to challenge Aaron to build a calf. The Midrash teaches that the reason Aaron built the calf was that he feared for his life in the presence of a mob. It is a gathering, but a gathering for a nefarious purpose. And the verb form is passive; there is no one gathering the people together. They are bringing themselves together, ready to sin against God. In next week's portion we have the same verb in a different form - vayakhel. "Moses gathered the whole community of Israel together and said to them " (Exodus 35:1) Moses first gives instructions on the laws of the Sabbath. He then commands them to build a tabernacle, a portable tent which they will carry through the desert. We have the same verb but an altogether different mood. This time someone causes the people

to gather together. They are gathering for a holy purpose. They are organized in a way to do the will of God. So we have two stories in the Torah, one right after the other. Both use the same verb in different form. The people gather themselves together to build a Golden Calf, creating a false God. Then the people are gathered together to build a holy tabernacle, fulfilling God's will. The fact that the same verb is used in both examples is no coincidence. People can gather together for nefarious purposes. Or people can gather together for holy purposes. Whenever I think of a mob gathering themselves, I recall the true story of Reginald Denny. Denny was a truck driver who was caught in the wrong place during the 1992 Los Angeles riots over Rodney King. Denny was beaten nearly to death by four men who dragged him from his truck. He is still suffering from disabilities from the beating. The men who beat him were arrested and tried. Part of their defense was that they were caught up in the moment, swayed by the action of the mob. It was in situations like this that the Torah teaches, "You shall not go after the majority to do wrong." (Exodus 23:2) It is easy to be swept along by the mob. These are gatherings to be avoided.

On the other hand, there are gatherings where people are brought together for a higher purpose. I will confess - I love the Olympics. And I particularly love the Opening Ceremonies. I watched spellbound last week as the Winter Olympics opened in Sochi, Russia. Here were thousands of people gathered together to perform a history of Russia. Someone had to gather them, train them, and rehearse them. And out of all this training came something beautiful. It is a simple example of gathering for a higher purpose. Our tradition calls upon us to gather for a higher purpose to work together and perfect this world as a kingdom of God.