Parsha Talk Ki Tisa Shabbat Parah 5786 2026

Parashat Ki Tisa [Exodus 30:11-34:35] this year coincides with Shabbat Parah [maftir, Numbers 19:1-22; haftarah, Ezekiel 36:16-38], the third special Shabbat before Pesah. It comes the week before Shabbat Ha-Hodesh, which occurs on Shabbat Rosh Hodesh Nisan, or the Shabbat before, as is the case this year.

There are some final details about the plans for the mishkan [Tabernacle] and a concluding chapter which Nahum Sarna entitles “Renewal of the Covenant”, but the main focus is the two chapters devoted to the Golden Calf [32:1-33:23]. It is this episode which was the subject of our conversation.

Once again, soldiers in Israel’s Defense Forces are at war, together with soldiers in the United States’ Armed Forces. May they be removed from harm’s way; may a just peace descend upon the Middle East. Shabbat Shalom.