The Carpenter and the Mountain

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One morning the halakha arose and hammered into place the ways of a people.  And near an impressive mountain, to the accompaniment of sounds and lightening and horrifying claps of thunder, the multitude accepted the law, and the nation heard and the community ratified that this is indeed their framework for all time.  The next day, a carpenter arose, a simple and honest man, and removed one peg in order to fix an imperfection that was created near that same mountain in the great hubbub during which the halakha was set as supreme.  But before he was able to complete his task, those in charge came and forbade changes, and they set fences and stringencies so that we would not, God forbid, tamper with those halakhot.  But that man persisted stubbornly, saying: "It is the Lord whom I seek to serve" and, following his example, others came, women and men, they too demanding to fix the imperfections so that in the coming mornings we will all be able to wake up, and to look with pride and satisfaction, with joy and without fear, upon the system of halakha that makes us uniquely who we are as a people, in the present and in the future.

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