<b>Hew these two tablets of stone (Exod. 34:1).</b> Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: <i>The wrath of a king is as messengers of death; but a wise man will pacify it</i> (Prov. 16:14). <i>The wrath of a king is as messengers of death</i> alludes to the Holy One, blessed be He. After the people had made the golden calf the demons attacked Moses. He pleaded for mercy, recalling the merit of the patriarchs and they departed from him. When he broke the tablets his anger diminished. What did Moses witness that compelled him to break the tablets? It may be compared to a king who travels abroad while his wife remains at home with the servants. Because she was alone with them, rumors began to circulate concerning her behavior. The king heard them, and when he returned home, he wanted to kill her. His advisor learned this and tore up her marriage certificate. He said: “If the king should say, my wife has done such and such, we can reply, she is no longer your wife.” The king inquired about her and found that she had done nothing wrong. Only the maidservants had acted shamefully. He became reconciled with her immediately. His advisor then said to him: “Master, write another marriage contract, since the first one was torn up.” “You tore it up,” the king replied, “so now you must bring the parchment and I will write the document with my own hand.” So too here. When the Israelites made the calf, the Holy One, blessed be He, felt the same way. He said to Moses: <i>Go, get thee down, for thy people have dealt corruptly</i>. Whereupon he replied: They are Your people and Your inheritance. Then the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: This act proves that <i>The ox knoweth his owner</i> (Isa. 1:3). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the calf: Who made you? The calf answered: The mixed multitude that departed from Egypt with the Israelites, for it is written about them: <i>Whose flesh is as the flesh of asses</i> (Ezek. 23:20). Then the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Did I not tell you: <i>Go, get thee down, for thy people that thou broughtest up out of the land of Egypt have dealt corruptly</i> (Exod. 32:7) and have made the golden calf. My people did not do it, as it is said: <i>But Israel doth not know, My people doth not consider</i> (Isa. 1:3). Immediately Moses arose and pleaded in their defense: <i>O Lord God, destroy not Thy people and Thine inheritance that Thou hast redeemed through Thy greatness</i> (Deut. 9:26). And he went ahead and broke the tablets. When the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled, He told him: <i>Go, hew these two tablets</i> of stone.
Why did he shatter them? R. Ishmael said: Moses arrived at his decision through an argument <i>ad minorem</i>. Since the paschal sacrifice, which is but one commandment, was not permitted to idolaters, as it is written: <i>There shall no alien eat thereof</i> (Exod. 12:43), how much more so would it not be fitting to give the entire law to idolaters! That is why he broke them.
R. Akiba stated: The Holy One, blessed be He, told him to break them. Our sages were of the opinion that while the writing was on the tablets Moses did not feel their weight, but when the writing flew away, they became heavy in his hands and he dropped them and they were broken. Another explanation of why he broke them. When Moses saw that they were doomed, he sought a pretext through which to save them. He said: It is written on the tablets that he who sacrifices to gods will be excommunicated, and so, I will break them and say to the Holy One, blessed be He: Until now they did not know the punishment for idolatry. If they had, they would not have done it.