G-d said to Moshe, “Carve out two tablets for yourself, just like the first ones ...” (Shemos 34:1)
Well, not exactly. The first set of Ten Commandments that Moshe had descended with at the time of the Golden Calf had not only been inscribed by G-d, but the Tablets themselves had been carved out by G-d as well. Though the “replacement” tablets were also going to be inscribed by G-d, the actual carving out of the tablets, it seemed, was to be Moshe’s doing.
How much of a difference did this make? The difference was as great as that between the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil – all the difference in the world!
This is because G-d’s making of the First Tablets represented their having emanated from a higher source, one which is outside the realm of evil. Embodied in these tablets was the Hidden Light of creation, which shone briefly during the six days of creation, and then was hidden again after Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Bringing the First Tablets down from Heaven was the same as returning this supernal light to physical creation. When these tablets were broken because of the sin of the Golden Calf, the light returned to its “hiding place.”
And though Moshe’s prayer on behalf of the Jewish nation after the incident was enough to avoid Divine wrath, it had not been enough to return the First Tablets and the light revealed through them. Instead, Moshe was told to create new tablets from the physical world itself, tablets which could not shine with this holy light, and therefore were not above the world of evil. For this reason, the Second Tablets were considered to be on the level of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
In fact, had the Jewish people not transgressed with the Golden Calf (which meant not preventing the Erev Rav from constructing it), Torah would have been revealed to everyone on the most sublime level from the time it was given. This was because all of creation would have been elevated back to the level it had been on before Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was only the episode of the Golden Calf that resulted in a Torah that is hidden behind words that do not directly reveal their Divine wisdom, demanding instead that we labor intellectually and spiritually to learn, comprehend, and retain Torah (Eiruvin 54a).
On the other hand, though the holy letters of the First Tablets flew back to Heaven, and the tablets themselves had been reduced to dust, still, they had been placed inside the Aron HaKodesh.
What does this mean? It means that, even though we are starting off on a much lower spiritual level than we would have had we been able to possess the First Tablets, still, there is a connection, albeit a tenuous one, to the light of the First Tablets. This is why the Sages could teach with confidence: “The Tablets were the work of G-d and the writing was that of G-d engraved (charus) on the Tablets.” Don’t read charus (engraved), but cheirus (freedom), for there is no one freer than one who studies the Torah. (Pirke Avos, 6:2) Clearly this statement refers to the tablets carved by G-d – the First Tablets. Then what relevance does this teaching have to us, the Second Tablet community?
The answer is, the Second Tablets were not just a replacement for the First Tablets, but a medium through which to access them. Just as eye glasses act as a corrective device for one whose vision has become impaired, so too did the Second Tablets act as a “corrective device” to help us recover what was lost when Moshe broke the First Tablets.
And this is precisely what we try to achieve every time we sit down to learn Torah.
