Eikev (Deuteronomy 3:23–7:11)
This Week’s Torah Portion: Eikev (Deuteronomy 7:12–11:25)
In this week’s Torah portion Eikev, Moses recounts the story of the breaking of the first tablets of the Ten Commandments – and the making of the second tablets which came to replace them.
But perhaps you are wondering: “What happened to that first set of Ten Commandments, the broken pieces of the ones which Moses shattered?” The Talmud teaches that “both the whole tablets and the fragments of the tablets were placed together in the Ark.” Why keep the broken pieces, now that God had provided us new ones?
Remember how those first tablets were broken. We broke the commandments and Moses broke the tablets which contained them. We repented and resolved to follow these commandments with all our hearts, and God made us new tablets to represent that commitment. There is a lesson here on the meaning of brokenness and repair – and on the ability within each of us to repair the brokenness of our selves and our world.