Which takes precedence, the Torah or the Jewish people? Is Israel here only to fulfill the Torah? Or is the Torah here only to reveal the depth of Israel? Or are they both together one indivisible whole?

When the people worshipped the golden calf at the foot of Sinai, Moses had two options. On the one hand, Torah; on the other, the Jewish people. But he could not have both. Because if Israel would receive the Torah in the sorry state to which they had fallen, they would be destroyed.

Without hesitation, Moses threw down the tablets and saved his people.

There is obviously something very special about these people, even when they commit a sin, that it makes them more valuable even than Divine wisdom.

It would seem, then, that the soul is greater than the Torah.

Yet, we know this only because the Torah tells us this story. Without the Torah, we would not know to appreciate the greatness of Israel.

So we have here two sides of the same coin: The soul cannot realize its greatness without the Torah. And the Torah cannot be fathomed until it is shattered for the sake of Israel.

Therefore, the ultimate Torah as G-d truly wanted it to be received, could be realized only after Moses had sacrificed it for his people. Only then came the Torah with room for forgiveness, for human input, beyond the letter of the law. The essential Torah, as it is one with the people receiving it.

Everything we get comes in finite packages. The omnipotent Source of Wisdom and blessing, is infinite. But we are not. So, we can only receive this infinite wisdom and blessing piece by piece.

Even the holy tablets Moses carried down from Mt. Sinai were defined; a specific set of laws, no more and no less. If you obeyed them, you were good. If not, you were bad.

So, when G-d saw Moses mourning over the broken tablets, He actually thanked him, "You’ve done well by smashing the tablets. For now you will receive an upgraded Torah that you may extend wider than the sea."

With the second tablets came the ability for the human mind to extend the Torah within the framework of the Oral Law. It also represents the possibility that a Jew could fail, and yet restore his place with G-d.

So it is with every failure. Only one thing can put you ahead of success, and that is failure. When you are successful, you are whole and complete. That is wonderful, but with wholeness you cannot break out beyond your own universe.

When we fail, we are broken. We look at the pieces lying on the ground and say, "This is worthless. I must go beyond this."

Now you can grow to join the Infinite. The shell is broken, the shell of a created being. Now you discover that G-d Himself was hidden inside. You discover the Infinite.

Why not remain broken? When broken, you can achieve the highest heights. When you are nothing, you can receive everything.

But we are not made only to receive. We must also face the real world and challenge its chutzpah over and over. To do that, we need supreme wholeness, as though we were Adam in the Garden before his fall. We need wholeness, as the second tablets were whole.

Once Israel achieved forgiveness and atonement for their failure, Moses was told to carve a second set of tablets. These were not the work of G-d, as the first ones. Rather, they were the result of human work and effort, attained through Israel’s repentance and Moses’ stubborn prayer. These remained whole.

Both the second, whole tablets and the original, broken ones were kept together in the Ark. Deep in the Ark of our heart lie two sets of tablets, one broken and one whole. After all, when you find the Infinite, where will you put it? In your broken vessel? It will not stay. In a new, whole one? It will not fit.

So we allow our heart to feel broken in bitterness for its confines. And yet it is whole in the joy of a boundless soul.

And if you wonder, "But this is impossible! It is beyond the capacity of a created being to be both something and nothing at once."

You are right. It is impossible. That is precisely the advantage that man has over the angels: Only the human heart can be broken and whole at once. That is why G-d created you. To join heaven and earth, Nothingness and Being. To make the impossible real.