The-Tragic-Calf
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Remember the following truth from our beloved Torah!
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which
I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM
IT, that ye may keep the commandments of אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloleichem,
which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).
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“The Tragic Calf”
With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
In the yearly cycle of Torah readings, we approach the last chapters of
Exodus with caution.
On the one hand, we celebrate the construction of the Mishkan, the
Tabernacle being the recently freed Israelites’ first shared spiritual project.
Every hook, board and piece of embroidery is described at length, the details
reinforcing the long journey from servitude to the eventual culmination of the
building of a wonderful new sacred space representing the nexus of the
Divine-human partnership with our אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He.
Whilst on the other hand, there is also another part of our national
development that was accompanied by something we much rather prefer to put well
behind us, but there is a reason it remains there in ‘Sefer Shemot’, for it is
there to remind us how easy it is to forget in a short space of time how Great
our אֱלֹהִים - Elohim is and what He has done for us, and I do mean for you and me, yes for us
ALL!
Although, He punished Mitzrayim (Egypt) and we were finally free
from their long and evil slavery, yet after such a short time of freedom B’nei
Yisrael - יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּנֵי -
the ‘Children of Israel’ very quickly forgot all what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim had done for them, and whilst Moshe Rabbeinu was up on ‘Har Horeb’, the
‘Mount of *Horeb’ tragically the people at large (Except for the truly
faithful) somehow decided to build a golden calf, and sadly they worshipped it.
And why did they do this? All because of Moshe not having returned fast enough
for them. But what saddens me most is that sadly somehow ‘Aaron’ should have
known better, yet he decided to play a part in this horrific event.
*For your information: We know that Moshe went up
But let us now read Exodus 32:
1-7. (Please Note: All
verses on this study are from the JPS-1917 version of the Torah).
“And when the people saw that Moses delayed to
come down from the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron,
and said unto him: ‘Up, make us a god who shall go before us; for as for this
Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is
become of him’. And Aaron said unto them: ‘Break off the
golden rings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your
daughters, and bring them unto me’. And all the people broke
off the golden rings which were in their ears, and brought them unto
Aaron. And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it
with a graving tool, and made it a molten calf; and they said: ‘This is thy
god, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the
Tragically this was merely a replay type of idolatry that took place in
Mitzrayim and sadly many of Yisroel had gone astray and fallen far from אֱלֹהִים - Elohim and practiced pagan worship. But, after the great miracles shown by אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה – the LORD Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name, it had no place in
the lives of B’nei Yisrael, for they now had the opportunity to have new lives
and uphold spiritual monogamy. And yet with all what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim had done for them, the plagues, the parting of the sea, the daily manna,
somehow it was still not enough to achieve an exclusive relationship. All it
took for them to go so far astray to return to paganism was for Moshe to be
absent for too long.
I have heard rabbis say that in context, this act of audacity was perhaps
understandable. Excuse me; tell how you figure that out rabbi? This was their
remarkable reply;
“Well they had not long enjoyed their
spiritual freedom, thus it was very new to them and it gave them a new kind of
responsibility, the weight of it simply was very isolating. And that is why
Moses’ temporary disappearance on
How long do we think all the events took from Moshe and Acharon first asking
the Pharaoh “Let My People go” to the actual departure? The Midrash suggests it
could be up to a year, but it could also be as short as around three months.
The point is this, so many miracles occurred in whatever time it took, and they
were not little unnoticed miracles, but huge miracles, not just little ones,
and they obviously affected the entirety of Mitzrayim, but not a single Hebrew
was affected. Then the final miracle at Pesach was, that the evil Pharaoh
finally allowing us to go.
But, did you realise that there was one other miracle, it is one that we
tend to completely forget! If this miracle had not happened, we would have left
as a poor nation, but remember, when B’nei Yisrael departed Mitzrayim, we left
with huge great riches, a huge amount of gold and silver and so much more;
for אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה - the LORD Elohim, blessed be
His Sanctified Name, made sure of it! For He said;
“And I will give this people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. And it shall come to pass, that, when ye go, ye shall not go empty; but every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her that sojourneth in her house, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment; and ye shall put them upon your sons, and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil the Egyptians’” Shemot – Exodus 3: 21-22 - (JPS version of the Torah).
We need to understand that our people were tragically living as a nation as
slaves for so many years and thus they knew no other kind of life, thus when
they departed, they did so not just with more than freedom which our אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, had given them, but He also ensured that they also
departed with a great deal of wealth!
Thus rabbis, these people could not so easily change their faith from the אֱלֹהִים - Elohim who had done so much for them and all those miracles, and what ensured
they could cross the sea and escape the Egyptian army, and then swallowed them
up and kept them safe. Yet all too soon they “murmured”
How massive was it that on the other side of the Red Sea the miracles continued
for אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, continued with the amazing miracles for He not only
provided “manna from heaven”, also “quails”, and a little later at “Rephidim”
water was given by the means of a rock.
“And יְהוָה spoke unto Moshe, saying: ‘I have heard the
murmurings of the children of
“And the people thirsted there (at Rephidim) for water; and the people
murmured against Moshe, and said: ‘Wherefore hast thou brought us up out
of
And we all know well
Now Rabbis, ask yourselves the question, how long was it between departure
and
Thus with the Rabbi’s having stated that they worshiped the golden calf was
mostly because …
“… they had
not long enjoyed their spiritual freedom, thus it was very new to them and it
gave them a new kind of responsibility, the weight of it simply was very
isolating. And that is why Moses’ temporary disappearance on
When Moshe heard what was going on down there, like the faithful man he
was, well let as read more what is written;
“And יְהוָה said unto Moshe: ‘I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moshe besought יְהוָה his Elohim, and said: ‘יְהוָה, why doth Thy wrath wax hot against Thy people, that Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, saying: For evil did He bring them forth, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people. Remember Avraham, Yitzchak - Isaac, and Yisroel - Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou didst swear by Thine own self, and saidst unto them: I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.' And יְהוָה repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people!” Shemot – Exodus 32: 9-14 - (JPS version of the Torah).
Just imagine for a moment the scene that Moshe - Moses witnessed as he
descended the mountain. Sefer (Book of) Exodus - Shemot sadly describes most of
our people Yisroel were caught up in a mutinous free-for-all, kind of violent
out of control and unstoppable rabble to put it nicely. Moshe waited a day, but
then his reaction was swift and unambiguous after the punishment upon the three
thousand guilty ones:
“And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moshe
said unto the people: ‘Ye have sinned a great sin; and now I will go up unto 
,
peradventure I shall make atonement for your sin.’ And Moshe
returned unto יְהוָה, and said: ‘Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them a god of gold. Yet
now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of
Thy book which Thou hast written.’ And יְהוָה said unto Moshe: ‘Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out
of My book’”. Shemot – Exodus 32: 30-33 - (JPS version of the Torah).
With Moshe being ever the leader he named their wrongdoing and then took
responsibility for seeking forgiveness. No doubt he was angry and disappointed,
perhaps even with himself for not recognizing that their faith might have been
too fragile that his absence would lead to recidivism. But he was committed. He
understood the power of a covenant that should not be shaken.
When Moshe approached אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, he named the sin and offered to every leader who followed a model of
integrity: Name the wrongdoing and don’t try to couch it in ambiguous language.
But then Moshe behaves in a way that his new congregation would never have
expected, telling אֱלֹהִים - Elohim: “Now, if You will forgive their sin;
but if not, erase me from the record which You have written.”
“Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written.’ And יְהוָה said unto Moses: ‘Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book. And now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee; behold, Mine angel shall go before thee; nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And יְהוָה smote the people, because they made the calf” Shemot – Exodus 32: 32-35 - (JPS version of the Torah).
It is as if Moshe is saying to אֱלֹהִים - Elohim: My people have sinned, but they are still my people. If they are erased,
then I am erased. We must see the construction of the Mishkan through so that
these lapses do not happen again. We must build a home together where You, אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, can dwell to strengthen this nascent covenant.
Moshe sought to turn regret into improvement. And isn’t that the most basic
human project, and believe me, building a portable Mishkan is certainly far
harder to construct than just an altar.
Have you ever thought about regret, and the power of it? Sometimes, if we
look backward, it actually can move us forward. Indeed, we should understand
that we can learn from our mistakes! We should also realise that moral regrets
tend to last the longest, for often they are rooted in betrayals, deceptions
and sadly they can be due to infidelities. But regrets can also be harnessed
and help you to fuel improvement. The truth is if we will only understand the
errors we have made and straighten up, we can reverse our lives and reveal what
we value the most and if we will only place our faith in אֱלֹהִים - Elohim our Creator first and foremost and build our lives on being a good and
active Hebrews. Believe me, you will be so much more successful and will not be
tempted and fail as sadly the
Please remember to say the “Shema Yisroel” at least twice per day!