March 1st: Ki Tisa
THIS WEEK IN THE TORAH
Rabbi David E. Ostrich
Imagine if we could go back in time and stop disasters. If we could explain to Eve and Adam the dire consequences of tasting the forbidden fruit that probably was not that tasty or “good for eating and a delight to the eyes” (Genesis 3.6), could we stop them? If we could counsel Cain (as God tries!) and get him to project his disappointment and anger in a more positive direction, could we save Abel’s life—and save Cain from a life of ceaseless wandering? And what about the Golden Calf incident? Are our ancient ancestors intent on idolatry? Do they have any notion of the severity of such a sin? Could it be nothing more than a misunderstanding about Moses’ delay up on the mountain—and something we could explain, saving them from a great sin?
As you may remember from the end of Parshat Mishpatim, Moses goes up on Mount Sinai and leaves Aaron and Hur in charge. The plan is for him to be up there for forty days and forty nights, but this understanding does not count the extra days of preparation God requires. “When Moses had ascended the mountain, the cloud covered the mountain. The Presence of the Lord abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days. On the seventh day, God called to Moses from the midst of the cloud…Moses went inside the cloud and ascended the mountain; and Moses remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” (Exodus 24.15-18) In other words, he is up there for forty days and nights AND an extra week. No wonder the people wonder what happened to Moses. “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered against Aaron and said to him, ‘Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for that man, Moses, who brought us from the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’” (Exodus 32.1) There is also the issue of the apparent volcano on the top of the mountain. “Now the Presence of the Lord appeared in the sight of the Israelites as a consuming fire on the top of the mountain.” (Exodus 24.17)
If we could go back, could we talk them out of their irrationality? Could they listen to logic, or is it a mob scene in which panic and group hysteria take over—and logic and facts are abandoned?
One can see a similar emotional storm up on Mount Sinai. Upon seeing the Golden Calf and the Israelites worshipping it, God turns to Moses and explodes: “Let Me be, that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation.” (Exodus 32.10) “But Moses implored the Lord his God,” and offers three arguments against God’s murderous urge. (1) You have put a lot of effort into freeing this people. Do not destroy them in anger and waste all that energy and time. (2) Your message to the world is that You are a good God Who insists on justice and mercy. If you destroy the Israelites, the Egyptians will tell everyone that you took Israel out into the desert to destroy them—and it will destroy Your good reputation. (3) You made a promise to the Patriarchs to continue their line and make it into a great nation—and give them the Land of Israel. If you kill everyone, you’ll be breaking that promise. We do not know which of these arguments works, but the logic of Moses’ counsel sways the Lord away from an emotional and self-sabotaging outburst. “The Lord renounced the punishment planned for the people.” (Exodus 32.14)
There are many lessons to be drawn from this story, but I would like to focus on two.
The first is that emotions can take over our intellectual functioning and lead us to bad decisions. The people panic at Moses delayed return, let their fear decide that he is already dead, and then then misremember their own recent experiences. Whereas God brought them out of Egypt with incredible signs and wonders, they exclaim to the Golden Calf, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” (Exodus 32.4) Though they know better, their agitation and panic make them forget the facts. The same could be said of God’s initial fury. Yes, the Israelites’ behavior is maddening, but, as Moses reminds God, there are lots of reasons to work with the Israelites rather than to destroy them. Fortunately, God has the benefit of Moses’ calming and logical counsel—while the Israelites down at the foot of Mount Sinai do not have any ameliorating guidance. Calm and thoughtful minds might spare them a terrible apostasy.
A second lesson regards the unanimity or lack of unanimity of the Israelites’ idolatrous tendencies. The story makes it sound like everyone—all the Israelites!—are intent on evil. “They have made themselves a molten calf…this is a stiff-necked people.” (Exodus 32.8-9) But is it really everyone, or is it just a vocal group that seizes power? With 600,000 Israelites (or, according to the Midrash, 2,500,000!), the idea of everyone doing anything together is hard to fathom. I think of the million disgruntled Egyptians in Tahrir Square during the “Arab Spring” and wonder how any democratic decisions could have possibly been reached. When this mass of people was taken over by the Muslim Brotherhood—who then started a murderous rampage, one wonders how many in the Square desired such a result. One does not wonder then about why the military felt the need to seize power. It was a mess and a mob scene—and certainly not the democratic voice of the Egyptian people—and I suspect that the leaderless mob of Israelites in Exodus 32 is similar. A small group with idolatrous tendencies—or other agendas—seizes power and leads “the people” into actions they neither want nor affirm. One can even see a hint of this minority-seizing-power in the punishment. “Moses took the calf that they had made and burned it; he ground it to powder and strewed it upon the water and so made the Israelites drink it.” (Exodus 32.20) Water for 600,000 people (or 2,500,000!)? Perhaps only the perpetrating idolaters are punished—identified, castigated, and forced to drink the gold-dusted water.
Another hint about this small group seizing power comes at the conclusion of the chapter. Moses asks about atonement for the entire people, and God answers, “Only those who have sinned against Me will I erase from My record…when I make an accounting, I will bring them to account for their sins. Then the Lord sent a plague upon the people, for what they did with the calf that Aaron made.” (Exodus 32.33-35) We may think of a plague as being indiscriminate, but the implication is that only those who sinned are punished—and thus it seems that the entire Israelite people are not guilty: the entire people did not commit the sin of the Golden Calf.
Think of all the groups—political, social, religious, and national—that are seized and led by small groups who purport to represent the entire group but do not. When assessing an entire group, let us look carefully. And, when spurred by outrage, let us take a breath and think. It can help us make better decisions.
Next week: a third lesson from the Golden Calf Incident.