Pikudei: Rav Chizkiah Eliezer Kahane: Starting Over

“These are the reckonings of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of Testimony.” “These,” “eileh,” led the Holy One, Blessed is He, to say to Israel; “When you made the Golden Calf you declared, ‘eileh – This is your lord, Israel!’ Now that you have made the Mishkan and said, ‘eileh – These are the reckonings of the Mishkan,’ I will forgive you for the sin of the Golden Calf.” (Shemot Rabbah 51)

Was God more upset with their declaration of, ‘eileh – This is your lord, Israel!’ than He was with the actual Golden Calf? Was He more pleased with, ‘eileh – These are the reckonings of the Mishkan,’ than He was with the actual Mishkan?

There is a rule that “eileh,” is a break from the past, but, “v’eileh,” is a continuation. When Israel said, ‘eileh – This is your lord, Israel!’ they were breaking from all they had experienced in the past. When they declared, ‘eileh – These are the reckonings of the Mishkan,’ they were breaking from their past of sin and announcing their commitment to start again. God rejoiced over that commitment, and He forgave them the sin of the Golden Calf. (Rabbi Chizkiah Eliezer Kahane)

Teshuvah begins with a sense of “Starting Over,” “eileh,” not, changing the past.”I’m working on changing,” implies, “v’eileh,” a continuation of the past with some adjustments. Teshuvah should begin without the burden of the past, with a sense of “eileh.In”