Sin of the Golden Calf/2

Sin of the Golden Calf

Exegetical Approaches

Foreign God

The nation viewed the calf as a god and worshiped it either together with or instead of Hashem.

Sources:PhiloThe Special Laws, III XXII:125About Philo, BavliSanhedrin 63aAvodah Zarah 53bAbout the Bavli, Targum Pseudo-JonathanShemot 32:3-6About Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer45About Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, R. Saadia GaonCommentary Shemot 32:1-6About R. Saadia Gaon, RashiShemot 32:1-6About R. Shelomo Yitzchaki, Lekach TovBereshit 32:1About R. Toviah b. Eliezer, R. Avraham b. HaRambamShemot 32:4-9Shemot 32:22About R. Avraham Maimonides,

"עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים" – These sources understand the word "אֱלֹהִים" to mean god/s.  However, they disagree whether, in building the calf, the nation was totally forsaking Hashem in favor of a new god,¹ or if they were planning on worshiping the calf together with Hashem (שיתוף).‎²

Why does Moshe's delay spur the sin? R. Avraham b. HaRambam claims that the Israelites believed that only someone as perfect as Moshe could access Hashem and that without him, they did not have the power to do so.  As such, when they assumed that Moshe was not coming back,³ they decided to return to the idolatry they had known earlier.

Why a calf? Philo and R. Avraham b. HaRambam assert that the choice was intentional as a bull held significance for the people:⁴

• Egyptian god –Philo maintains that the people chose a bull to imitate the Egyptian God, Typhos, with whom they would have been familiar.⁵
• Astrological sign – R. Avraham b. HaRambam cites his father who posits instead that the people might have asked for a calf thinking that it was under the influence of that astrological sign that they left Egypt.  Thus, they refer to it as, "אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם".

Offering sacrifices – The fact that the people offer sacrifices before the calf supports the idea that they were worshiping it as a god.

"אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם"

"חַג לַי"י מָחָר" – Rashi asserts that Aharon, who had no idolatrous thoughts, was speaking about Hashem rather than the calf.  He was certain that by the morrow, Moshe would arrive and the people would return to serving Hashem.

Drinking of the calf's ashes – Rashi, following R. Yose in Bavli Avodah ZarahAvodah Zarah 43b-44aAbout Bavli Avodah Zarah,  asserts that this was comparable to the test of a suspected adulteress (sotah).  Moshe used the water to test who had been unfaithful to Hashem.

Breaking of the Luchot – According to Rashi, after Moshe saw how the people had betrayed Hashem he considered them unworthy of receiving the Torah.  This position might also suggest that since the people proven themselves disloyal to the covenant, Moshe broke the tablets which testified to it.

Role of Aharon – These sources agree that Aharon did not worship the calf, but defend him in different ways:

• R. Saadia compares Aharon to Yehu, who gathered the people to worship the Baal so as to test who was guilty and then kill them.  So too, Aharon only acquiesced to the request so as to determine who was guilty of idolatry.

Sinning so soon after Matan Torah

3,000 killed

Biblical parallels

People's perception of Moshe

Graven Image of Hashem

The people viewed the calf as a means through which they could worship Hashem.  They did not transgress the command of "you shall have no other gods besides me" but only the prohibition against making a graven image, even representing Hashem Himself.

Sources:Kuzari1:97About R. Yehuda HaLevi, Ibn Ezra,Shemot Long Commentary 20:19About R. Avraham ibn Ezra RadakMelakhim I 12:28About R. David Kimchi, Cassuto, Bazak

Guide in the Wilderness

Bereft of Moshe's leadership and his connection to the Divine, the people looked for an alternative to guide them in the wilderness.

Sources:Ibn EzraShemot Long Commentary 32:1Shemot Short Commentary 32:1About R. Avraham ibn Ezra, R. Yosef Bekhor ShorShemot 32:1-8Shemot 32:20Shemot 32:25-26Shemot 33:7Shemot 34:30About R. Yosef Bekhor Shor, RambanShemot 32:1About R. Moshe b. Nachman, RalbagShemot Beur HaParashah 31:18About R. Levi b. Gershom, AbarbanelShemot 32:1-7About R. Yitzchak Abarbanel, R. Eliezer AshkenaziMa'asei Hashem Ma'asei Torah 11Ma'asei Hashem Ma'asei Torah 12About R. Eliezer Ashkenazi (Ma'asei Hashem), ShadalShemot 32:4Shemot 32:8-9Shemot 32:27About R. Shemuel David Luzzatto,

"עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ לְפָנֵינוּ"

Polemical motivations

Tehillim 106:19-20

Combination

As the nation was not a homogeneous group, it is possible that while some people viewed the calf as an alternative god, others believed that it was simply a tangible representation of Hashem and yet others looked to it to guide them in their travels.

¹ See Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezer who claims that they "forgot Hashem".

² R. Yochanan in Bavli Sanhedrin points to the plural form of the statement, "אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם" to prove that the people still believed in Hashem, but had just added another god to their pantheon.  R. Shimon b. Yochai, in contrast, says the plural form does not lessen the sin's severity but rather intensifies it, as it implies that the nation desired multiple gods even beyond the calf.  See Rashi who explains similarly, but picks up on the plural form of the verb "יֵלְכוּ" in the pharse "עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ לְפָנֵינוּ".

³ Cf. Rashi who asserts that the Satan had brought chaos and darkness to the world, leading the people to conclude that Moshe had died.

⁴ According to Rashi, Aharon had no intention of making a calf specifically but the  mixed multitudes which had joined from Egypt (הערב רב) used their magic to make this form.

⁵ Cf. Hoil Moshe who connects the choice to Apis, the bull-deity of Egypt.