Parshat Eikev states, “At that time G-d said to me, carve out two tablets of stone like the first…. And I (G-d) will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets…  And I put the tablets in the Ark which I made.” (D’varim 10)

Rav S.R. Hirsch notes that whenever the Torah discusses the LUCHOT – TABLETS, it mentions the material, that they were composed of stone. This teaches us that the words of the Torah are engraved in stone. They are unalterable and unchanging as stone. This lesson is especially significant in our times when there are those who would tamper with the Torah, attempting to “modify” its laws to suit their own needs and desires. In the past, this practice has been the exclusive domain of non-observant Jews. Today, however, this malady has spread even to some Jews who consider themselves observant but also Politically Correct.

G-d does not alter the Torah in order to accommodate the moral lapses in a person. We cannot reform or change the Torah to fit our agenda or to suit our needs and desires. G-d wrote the same text on the Second LUCHOT – TABLETS that He had written on the original ones, both in stone. Thus, Simon and Garfunkel had a number One song called “I AM A ROCK”. And the Torah in D’varim 32 refers to G-d as “THE ROCK”.

The lesson is that people change, but G-d and His Torah do not. Therefore, the Second LUCHOT were placed in the Ark together with the broken pieces of the First LUCHOT - TABLETS. This serves to reinforce a dual memory. First, our sinful behavior broke the First LUCHOT - TABLETS. The second lesson is that atonement can be achieved only by a complete and uncompromising return to the Torah.