Ask almost anyone and they'll answer: Moshe wrote the second tablets. It's a rooted mistake. The truth — God wrote both sets.
First tablets: God's stone and God's writing. Second (Ki Tisa): Moshe quarries the stone blank — "carve for yourself" — and God says "I will write." Who settles it? Moshe himself, in our parasha, Ekev.
In Ekev, Moshe speaks in the first person — "I carved," "I ascended" — yet says "and He wrote," not "and I wrote." The letters were bored through, and the samech and final mem hung in the air by miracle.
And more: from the ashes of destruction — the Keruvim embracing — the soul of Mashiach was born. Tisha B'Av mirrors Simchat Torah (21 days of Bein HaMetzarim against 21 days of Tishrei). The key to the Redemption — Torah.
Devarim is the "second Torah" — Moshe retells Israel what happened. The heart of Devarim is the sin of the spies; of Vaetchanan, Sinai and the Ten Commandments; and of Ekev, the sin of the Golden Calf after Sinai.
On the first tablets there is no dispute: God brought the stone, and God wrote the commandments.
Moshe descends with them on the 17th of Tammuz, sees the calf, and shatters them.
After the Golden Calf, God tells Moshe not to bring the stone, but to quarry it himself — and to ascend with it blank.
Who resolves the doubt? Moshe himself, when he tells the truth in his address.
Moshe speaks in the first person — "I carved," "I ascended," "I placed" — but suddenly "and He wrote," not "and I wrote." The writer is God. Conclusion: first tablets — God's stone and God's writing; second — Moshe's stone and God's writing.
The Arizal: from midday of Tisha B'Av onward, the soul of Mashiach was born — hence the custom (Moroccan and others) to begin cleaning, baking, and cooking from midday.
The 21 days of Bein HaMetzarim (17 Tammuz to Tisha B'Av) mirror the 21 days from Rosh Hashana to the eve of Simchat Torah, which sweeten the judgments. Tisha B'Av, the 22nd day, mirrors Simchat Torah.
In the Musaf of Simchat Torah, at the word "ayeh" (in Keter), Knesset Yisrael and God unite — the union from which Mashiach's soul was born. The key to hastening the Redemption is Torah; even one who learns draws down the Shechina. And baseless love itself is learned in the Torah.
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