Parashat Ki Tisa

“When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for we do not know what has happened to Moses—the man who brought us from the land of Egypt.’” Aaron said to them, “‘Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ And all the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. This he took from them and cast in a mold, and made it into a molten calf. And they exclaimed, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” The Israelites were a stiff-necked people, but if we think about their background as slaves and about the generational trauma that they had suffered at the hands of the Egyptians, perhaps we can understand Aaron’s behavior. Moses had gone up the mountain to listen to God and to receive “…the two tablets of the Pact, stone tablets inscribed with the finger of God.” Moses has been gone for forty days and nights. Think of this fact: Their leader, Moses, is “gone.” According to The Etz Hayim, Torah and Commentary, “…his prolonged absence now causes deep anxiety, a mood made worse by the impending departure from Sinai.” Aaron sees that the Israelites, who lived in Egypt for years, cannot seem to comprehend a God without a form; apparently, a cloud that follows them into the wilderness is not “form-enough” for them. Familiar with the visibility of the Egyptian gods, the Israelites needed something to represent their God. A crowd of Israelites demanding that Aaron make them a god clearly unnerved Moses’ brother. Aaron creates the calf from molten gold and declares, “Tomorrow shall be a festival of the Lord! Early next day, the people offered up burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; they sat down to eat and drink, and then rose to dance.” God knows the revelry that is going on and tells Moses that he must “Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely.” Idolatry has taken place, and God wishes to destroy the Israelites, but Moses begs God to spare them. Yet, when Moses comes near to the camp and sees the revelry, he becomes enraged and heaves the tablets, which shatter at the base of Sinai. The people may have presented themselves as a mob, but Aaron was the Kohen Gadol, a leader. At first, Moses does not let Aaron off easily: “What did this people do to you that you have brought such great sin upon them? Aaron said, ‘Let not my lord be enraged. You know that this people is bent on evil.’” Aaron then goes on to explain how the golden calf was created, though his statement is bit “fanciful.” He tells Moses, “They gave it to me [the gold] and I hurled it into the fire and out came this calf.” “Moses saw that the people were out of control —since Aaron had let them get out of control—so that they were a menace to any who might oppose them.” Moses has already taken the golden calf, ground it to powder, thrown it upon water, and forced the Israelites to drink it. Then Moses compels the Levites “to slay brother, neighbor, and kin.” Approximately three thousand people fell that day, and God brought a plague upon the people for the sin of the golden calf. Rabbi Baruch S. Davidson relates that some rabbis feel that Aaron’s making of the golden calf is a tactic “designed to stall for time so that Moses would return from the mountain to prove that G-d and Moses were still there for the House of Israel.” Rabbi Davidson is not impressed by Aaron’s answer to Moses about the Israelites’ evil. He says, “Whatever happened to taking responsibility for your actions?” But maybe the tactic designed to stall for time didn’t work. When God tells Moses to descend the mountain, the Torah says, “They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed low to it and sacrificed to it, saying: ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” Yet, Davidson reminds us that in Parashat Tetzaveh, God tells Moses, “You shall bring forward your brother Aaron, with his sons, from among the Israelites, to serve Me as priests: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron.” Clearly, Aaron is considered the best man to be the Kohen Gadol. Is he a flawed individual? Yes, but so is God’s hand-picked prophet, Moses. We know that Moses makes errors, too. What do we learn from all of this? That we are to worship only God. Only the One God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That idolatry is a grave sin. In the modern era, we must be careful as to what we idolize and “worship.” That God will reveal the flaws in our most notable prophets and priests. That God accepts our repentance for even the most serious sins. That the Israelites’ lack of faith in Moses’ return obviously leads to a grievous sin. Perhaps we must learn to have more faith and more patience in those things for which we work. Pesach and the Omer are about a month away. Parashat Ki Tisa prepares us for the Exodus and the receiving of the Torah at Shavuot. We are supposed to think of ourselves as “Standing at Sinai”; let us prepare to do so. Shabbat Shalom.