The ancient rabbis certainly did. This week, we're diving into a passage from Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, specifically Shemot Rabbah 41, that grapples with this very tension. It all starts with a verse we all know: "He gave to Moses, as He concluded speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of Testimony, stone tablets, written with the finger of God" (Exodus 31:18).
But Rabbi Tanhuma bar Abba finds something deeper in the words "He gave to Moses, as He concluded." He begins with a quote from Daniel (9:7): “With You, Lord, is the righteousness, and with us the shame.” Why this verse? Rabbi Nehemya explains that even when we do righteous deeds, we still feel shame when we examine our actions. We're rarely completely selfless, are we? Even our best deeds can be tinged with ego, or a desire for recognition.
There's one exception, though: tithing. Rabbi Nehemya points out that we only make demands of God after giving our tithes, as it says: “When you conclude tithing” (Deuteronomy 26:12). And what do we say at the end? “Look from Your holy abode, from the heavens, [and bless Your people Israel, and the land that You gave us]” (Deuteronomy 26:15). The Maharzu explains that normally, we wouldn't dare ask for goodness based on our own merit. But tithing comes with a built-in guarantee of reward, as we learn in Ta’anit 9a.
Rabbi Alexandri takes this further: tithing has the power to transform a curse into a blessing. He notes that throughout the Torah, when God "looks," it usually signifies distress, like when He "looked at the camp of Egypt" (Exodus 14:24) or "looked over Sodom" (Genesis 19:28). But in the context of tithing, the "looking" in (Deuteronomy 26:15) is one of blessing. It's a fascinating reversal!
Rabbi Nehemya offers a powerful analogy: Think about sharecropping. Usually, the sharecropper provides the seed and labor, and then splits the harvest equally with the landowner. But with God, it's different. The earth, the produce, the rain, the protection – it's ALL His! Yet, He only asks for a tenth as a tithe, or a fiftieth as terumah (a priestly offering). Hence, "with You, Lord, is the righteousness, and with us the shame."
Rabbi Yehuda adds another layer. He points out that while the Israelites were crossing the sea, the silver for Mikha's idol was also crossing! As it says, "Trouble will cross the sea" (Zechariah 10:11). Even with the miracle of the sea splitting before them, idolatry was present. Again, "with You, Lord, is the righteousness, and with us the shame."
Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahman then asks a pointed question: It was fitting for our ancestors to receive the Torah and declare, "Everything that the Lord spoke we will perform and we will heed" (Exodus 24:7). But was it fitting for them to then proclaim, "This is your God, Israel"? (Exodus 32:4) How could they be so devoted and so faithless at the same time?
The story continues with Moses descending from the mountain, hearing the commotion in the camp. Joshua interprets it as "the sound of battle," but Moses discerns something different. It wasn't the cry of victory (gevura) or the sound of defeat (halusha), but rather a sound of cursing and blasphemy.
The members of the Great Assembly understood it too. Even after creating the Golden Calf and declaring it their god, the Israelites continued to receive manna from heaven. (Nehemiah 9:20) says, "You did not withhold Your manna from them." Despite their egregious sin, God continued to provide.
Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shalom offers a truly disturbing detail: they even sacrificed the manna itself before the idol! As (Ezekiel 16:19) says, "My bread that I gave you, fine flour and oil and honey that I fed you, you placed it before them for a pleasing aroma." Yet, the manna still fell the next day. "With You, Lord, is the righteousness."
Finally, Rabbi Levi offers a powerful image: As the Israelites were below, hewing an idol to anger God, God was above, hewing the tablets of the Law to grant them life. "He gave to Moses, as He concluded [speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God]."
So, what does this all mean for us? Perhaps it's a reminder that even in our imperfections, even in our moments of shame, God's righteousness endures. It's a call to recognize our own shortcomings, but also to appreciate the unwavering grace that surrounds us. We might stumble, we might even fall, but the possibility of redemption, of blessing, always remains. And maybe, just maybe, that's enough.
“He gave to Moses, as He concluded speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of Testimony, stone tablets, written with the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18). “He gave to Moses, as He concluded.” Rabbi Tanḥuma bar Abba began in this way: “With You, Lord, is the righteousness, and with us the shame” (Daniel 9:7). What is the reason that this is so? Rabbi Neḥemya said: Even when we are performing acts of righteousness, we look at our actions and we experience shame. There is no time that we come with demands, other than when we are taking out our tithes, as it is stated: “When you conclude tithing” (Deuteronomy 26:12). What is written at the end? “Look from Your holy abode, from the heavens, [and bless Your people Israel, and the land that You gave us]” (Deuteronomy 26:15).1The point here is that even when we perform mitzvot we dare not ask for goodness on the basis of our merits. The exception to this is when tithing produce, as this mitzva comes with a guarantee of reward in this world (see Ta’anit 9a) (Maharzu). Rabbi Alexandri said: Great is the power of those who take out tithes, as they transform a curse into a blessing. You find that everywhere that looking is written in the Torah, it is an expression of distress, just as it says: “The Lord looked at the camp of Egypt” (Exodus 14:24). Likewise in Sodom, as it is stated; “He looked over Sodom” (Genesis 19:28), except for this one.2The word looking in the verse regarding tithes (Deuteronomy 26:15) is in the context of blessing. Rabbi Alexandri said: Great is the power of those who take out tithes, as they transform a cursed matter into a blessing, as it is stated: “Look from Your holy abode, from the heavens, and bless Your people Israel.”3This statement does not seem to add anything to the previously mentioned statement of Rabbi Alexandri, and some commentaries state that its inclusion is a textual error (see Etz Yosef). Rabbi Neḥemya said: Even when we are looking at our actions we experience shame. How is this manifest? The way of the world is that a person gives his field for sharecropping, and [the sharecropper] provides the seed and provides the labor, and divides it with him equally. But the Holy One blessed be He, may His name be praised and His mention exalted, is not so, but rather, the world and everything that is in it is His, just as it says: “To the Lord is the earth and all it contains” (Psalms 24:1). The land is His, the produce is His, He causes rain to fall and dew to rise to grow them, He protects them, and He does everything. The Holy One blessed be He said to them: ‘I told you to give me only one-tenth as tithe, one-fiftieth as teruma.’ That is, “with You, Lord, is the righteousness, and with us the shame.” Rabbi Yehuda says: With us the shame and with You the righteousness; Israel was crossing the sea and the silver for the idol of Mikha was crossing the sea, as it is stated: “Trouble will cross the sea” (Zechariah 10:11), and the sea was split before them. That is, “with You, Lord, is the righteousness, and with us the shame.” Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: It was befitting for our ancestors to receive the Torah and to say: “Everything that the Lord spoke we will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7). But was it befitting for them to say: “This is your God, Israel”? (Exodus 32:4). The matter is astonishing! At that moment, Moses was descending from above. Joshua said to him: “There is the sound of battle in the camp” (Exodus 32:17). Moses said to him: “There is not the sound of a cry of valor [gevura]” (Exodus 32:18), [as in]: “It was, when Moses raised his hand, Israel prevailed [vegavar]” (Exodus 17:11), “and there is not the sound of a cry of weakness [ḥalusha]” (Exodus 32:18), [as in:] “Joshua weakened [vayaḥalosh] [Amalek]” (Exodus 17:13). What is “the sound of a cry, I hear”? (Exodus 32:18). It is the sound of cursing and blaspheming that I hear. The members of the Great Assembly stood and explained it: “Even when they made themselves a cast figure of a calf and said: This is your God who took you up from Egypt, and they performed great offenses” (Nehemiah 9:18), is there anything missing?4Would there have been anything missing from the description of this sin, if the final clause had been ommitted? What is “and they performed great offenses”? These are the cursing and blaspheming that were there. After everything they did, the manna should not have fallen; however, what is written? “You did not withhold Your manna from them” (Nehemiah 9:20). That is, “with You, Lord, is the righteousness, and with us the shame.” Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Shalom said: That would be sufficient, but furthermore, they would take the manna and sacrifice it before the idol,5It would be sufficiently shameful that Israel sinned while God was performing miracles for them and giving them the manna; but they did even worse than that, and used the manna itself for idolatry. as it is stated: “My bread that I gave you, fine flour and oil and honey that I fed you, you placed it before them for a pleasing aroma” (Ezekiel 16:19), but it would again fall on the next day. That is, “with You, Lord, is the righteousness.” Another matter, “with You, Lord, is the righteousness,” Rabbi Levi said: Israel was standing below and hewing an idol to anger their Maker, as it is written: “He took it from their hand and he fashioned it with a sculpting tool” (Exodus 32:4), and the Holy One blessed be He was sitting above and hewing the tablets for them to grant them life, as it is stated: “He gave to Moses, as He concluded [speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God].” That is, “with You, Lord, is the righteousness.”
