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Parshas Ki Sisa - Mind Power

Dear Friends,

Yogi Berra, famous for his nonsensical comments that somehow contain deep wisdom, once quipped:

"Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical."

While the math may be questionable, the insight is undeniably true. Mindset plays a tremendous role in achievement. The mental component is often the deciding factor in competition. Our minds have the power to determine what we believe we can or cannot accomplish, and when we believe we can succeed, we are far more likely to do so.

In this week’s Parsha, we read about the Cheit Hegel, the sin of the Golden Calf, which led to the breaking of the Luchot. The standard explanation is that Moshe Rabbeinu, despondent by the actions of Bnei Yisrael, intentionally smashed the tablets. However, the Midrash offers a different perspective:

נסתכל משה בלוחות וראה הכתב שבהן שפורח וכבדו על ידי משה ונפלו מידיו ונשתברו.

“Moshe looked at the tablets and saw the letters flying away. The tablets became heavy in his hands, and they fell from his grasp and shattered.” (Yalkut Shimoni 393).

Moshe was devastated by the actions of the Jewish people, and in that moment the Luchot simply slipped from his hands.

Rav Soloveitchik zt”l raises an intriguing question. When it came time for the second Luchot, Hashem instructed Moshe to carve a new set of stones and carry them up the mountain. Logically, it should have been easier to carry the tablets down the mountain than up it. How could Moshe have been unable to carry them down, yet later manage to carry them up?

Rav Soloveitchik explains that sometimes a person lives as a “subject,” and sometimes as an “object.”

When external forces control us, when circumstances weigh on us, we become an object, acted upon by the world around us. But when we rise above those forces and take control of our inner world, we become a subject, the active agent shaping our reality.

When Moshe saw the people sinning with the Golden Calf, the emotional weight overwhelmed him. In that moment, he was like an object, burdened by the crushing reality before him, and the tablets became too heavy to hold.

But after Hashem forgave the Jewish people and invited Moshe back up the mountain, Moshe returned as a subject. Empowered by purpose and renewed mission, he was able to climb the mountain carrying the heavy stones. In that role, Moshe could overcome both psychological and physical barriers.

This idea carries a powerful lesson for all of us.

We all have goals and aspirations, but sometimes we hold ourselves back because we believe we lack the ability, whether physical, emotional, or intellectual, to achieve them. Our minds can turn our challenges into heavy stones that feel impossible to lift.

Often, however, the real barrier is not the weight of the task, but the weight of our mindset.

When we shift our perspective and see ourselves not as passive objects acted upon by circumstance, but as subjects capable of growth and determination, the very same stones that once felt impossible to carry suddenly become manageable.

Sometimes all it takes is a change in mindset to unlock strengths we never realized we had.

Wishing you a wonderful Shabbos,

Rabbi Shlomo Gabay