Why Moses Broke the First Pair of Tablets
Wabi is the mystery
where the words in wonder glow,
sabi is the history
of serenity, repose.
Elegance is understated,
perfect in its modesty,
porcelain from which is tasted,
when we serve a goddess tea,
it repairing with kintsugi,
recalling Moses, who repaired
broken tablets whose bi-beauty
to God’s first pair can be compared.
Comparisons, though, can’t be made,
since of two pairs of tablets, half
were smashed by Moses, most afraid
they would just like the golden calf
be idolized, as masterpieces
whose first commandment had by God
been signed, their theophoric thesis
hushed, as Hashem’s Homeric nod.
—
Meir Soloveichik explained on 2/28/24 in a Tikvah lecture, “Wabi Sabi and the Second Tablets”:
Let us ponder the Japanese notion of wabi sabi, a phrase that combines two very different words, each difficult to translate. Together, they connote a joy in the uniqueness and beauty of the imperfect object, in the recognition that such an object reflects its human creator, and therefore the nature of human existence. The concept is described in a book by Nobuo Suzuki, titled Wabi Sabi: The Wisdom in Imperfection: