Summary of the Parasha
The parasha begins with the half-shekel each man gives in order to be counted, then describes several elements of the Mishkan: the copper basin (Kiyor) where the Kohanim wash their hands and feet, the anointing oil blended with spices, and the recipe of the incense (Ketoret). God appoints Betzalel son of Uri of the tribe of Judah and Oholiav son of Achisamach of the tribe of Dan to carry out all the work. Then comes a reminder of Shabbat, an eternal sign between God and Israel.
Next comes the best-known episode: the sin of the golden calf. Moses is late coming down from Sinai, the people make an idol, and Moses shatters the first tablets. God calls Israel a “stiff-necked people”, but Moses pleads on its behalf. God then reveals to him the thirteen attributes of mercy (“Hashem, Hashem, merciful and gracious God…”), at the heart of the Selichot prayers and of Yom Kippur.
Moses carves the second tablets and stays another 40 days on the mountain, without food or water. He comes down with his face radiating light. The parasha ends by recalling the pilgrimage festivals (Pesach, Shavuot, Sukkot) and the redemption of the firstborn.
The order of the stories is not necessarily chronological: according to Rashi, the sin of the golden calf came before the command to build the Mishkan, which serves in a way as its repair.
Summary of the Haftara
“Vayishlach Achav” (“And Ahab sent”)
Text in I Kings 18 (verses 20–39 for Sephardim, 1–39 for Ashkenazim)
Under King Ahab and his wife Jezebel, the kingdom of Israel has fallen into the worship of Baal, and a great famine strikes the land. The prophet Elijah gathers the people on Mount Carmel and challenges the 450 prophets of Baal: each side will prepare an offering without lighting it, and the true God will answer. The prophets of Baal cry out all day, in vain. Elijah drenches his altar with water and prays; fire comes down from heaven and consumes everything. The people fall on their faces and cry out twice: “Hashem, He is God!”, the words repeated seven times at the close of Yom Kippur.
Parasha-Haftara Connection
Both texts tell of a fall into idolatry and a return. In the parasha, the people dance around the golden calf at the foot of Sinai; in the haftara, they waver between God and Baal at the foot of Carmel. In both cases, a zealous prophet stands on a mountain to bring Israel back to its God: Moses, then Elijah, who would later travel to Sinai himself (I Kings 19).
Special Shabbat: Parah
Some years, as in 5783, Shabbat Ki Tisa is Shabbat Parah. We read the laws of the red heifer (Numbers 19), whose ashes purified those who had touched the dead, so that everyone could bring the Pesach offering. The haftara (Ezekiel 36) promises Israel’s return to its land and its purification: “I will sprinkle pure water upon you”. The Midrash, quoted by Rashi, links it to our parasha: let the mother come and clean up her calf’s mess. A cow to repair a calf.