Ki Tissa

The Eigel Hazahav

One of the focal points in this week's parasha is the unfortunate event of the eigel hazahav (golden calf). When one reads the pesukim that describe bnei yisrael coming forward, requesting from Aharon Hakohen that he creates for them an "elokim" (literally "a deity") and actually implementing this idea and creating the egel, one wonders how was it possible for bnei yisrael to do such a terrible mistake?  How could the same bnei yisrael who less than six months ago had experienced and seen, first-hand, yetziat mitzrayim, keriyat yam suf and matan torah forsake Hashem and His Torah, and transgress one of the most severe aveirot in the Torah – a mere six weeks after kabbalat hatorah?

The Demise of Moshe Rabbeinu
Rashi tells us that the satan showed bnei yisrael a false image, to persuade them that Moshe Rabbeinu had died. And furthermore, bnei yisrael misunderstood the day that Moshe Rabbeinu had said that he would return to them. But surely, even if bnei yisrael were convinced that Moshe Rabbeinu was in fact dead and would no longer return to them, this was no legitimate reason to create for themselves a new deity. Even if Moshe Rabbeinu had died, they needed a new leader, but how did this justify seeking a new deity?

The Egel Hazahav: An Intermediate
Both the Ramban and Ibn Ezra explain that bnei yisrael were not intending to replace Hashem with another deity, chass veshalom. Indeed, bnei yisrael who had witnessed the esser makkot, keriyat yam suf and matan torah and had total faith and emunah in Hashem. All they were intending to do by creating the eigel hazahav, was to create a replacement for Moshe Rabbeinu, and they intended that the eigel should serve as an intermediate between them and Hashem, in a similar way that Moshe Rabbeinu had been, until this point. 

Vulnerable in the Wilderness
In fact, bnei yisrael at that point presumably numbered millions (if we consider all the souls of men women and children, who were not counted in the census, since those counted were only men between  twenty and sixty) and were in the midbar, a wilderness with no natural food or water supply. Whenever a challenge arose, it was Moshe Rabbeinu who directed bnei yisrael and acted as the intermediate between bnei yisrael and Hashem to provide the salvation. This was demonstrated at keriyat yam suf and when there was no water or food to be had. It is understandable that bnei yisrael felt vulnerable when they thought that Moshe Rabbeinu had died. According to these Rishonim when they created the eigel they were trying to create a new intermediate to replace Moshe Rabbeinu, but not a new deity, chass veshalom.

And the proof to this, says the Ramban, is that as soon as Moshe Rabbeinu returned, bnei yisrael rejected the eigel completely, and allowed it to be burnt. Had they treated the eigel as a deity, they would not have abandoned their new deity so quickly and allowed it to be destroyed. Therefore, says the Ramban, it is clear that bnei yisrael had never intended that the eigel should be an avodah zarah, rather an intermediate between them and Hashem, to replace Moshe Rabbeinu.

Shabbat Shalom!