Can a relationship ever heal from betrayal and infidelity? Well, you should absolutely read "The State of Affairs" by the phenomenal @estherperelofficial but to summarise what she says - yes, at least maybe.
It's a lesson our parasha gives as well. Our people commit the hugest, maddest infidelity at the foot of the mountain where Revelation took place by building the golden calf. The legacy of that moment never leaves us, and while our relationship with God could easily have been over, it wasn't and still isn't today.
And the quality of the relationship afterwards shifts too. There's a correction of some of the power inbalace that existed before - the first set of tablets was a miraculous God-inscribed set with writing visible from both sides. The second was chiseled by Moshe himself. And an intimacy and humility in the relationship is born in the wake of the trauma which could never have existed before. May we never know pain and rupture in our relationships... but if it comes, and if it is right (because not every relationship should be rebuilt) may we be granted the possibility of reconstructing.
Comments