The incident of the Golden Calf is one of the strangest narratives
in the Torah. How could everything degenerate so fast? How could Bnei Yisrael
go from hearing Hashem’s voice at Har Sinai to demanding that Aaron make an
idol for them, and how could Aaron actually help them? And one last question might be, why does it
seem as if Hashem is surprised; couldn’t Hashem have sent Moshe earlier to correct
their mistake?
The Chait Haegel, the incident of the Golden Calf, is a
critical moment not just in Jewish history, but in the development of the
relationship of Hashem and Bnei Yisrael. In some ways, one could say that it is
a crucial narrative to understanding the concept of bechira, free will.
“And Hashem said to Moshe,” Go, descend, for your people
whom you have brought from the land of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have
quickly turned away from the path that I have commanded them; they have made themselves
a molten calf! And they have prostrated themselves before it, slaughtered
sacrifices to it, and said: ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought
you up from the land of Egypt.’ And Hashem said to Moshe: ‘I have seen this
people and behold they are a stiff-necked people’” (32:7-9).
Why does Hashem tell Moshe as if Hashem had not known what was
happening? After all, Hashem is omniscient. Hashem was aware of the actions of
the people before they were fully aware of their own actions. The intent of the
people is explained as the people’s panicking over a miscalculation of when
Moshe would return, so all Hashem had to do was demonstrate that Moshe was fine
or send Moshe down early. Instead, Hashem let the people run their course.
Forty days earlier, Bnei Yisrael made a choice that,
according to the Midrash, was not 100% a choice. At Har Sinai, Bnei Yisreal
accept the Torah when they declared Naaseh v’nishmah, we will do and we will
listen. But, according to the Midrash, they accepted the Torah with a mountain
over their head, with a threat of destruction. Commentaries who discuss this
midrash discuss its impact on the concept of bechira, free will.
Receiving the Torah at Har Sinai was an exceptional moment
in many, many ways. The very nature of the world was altered at that moment. The
desert mountain sprouted flowers. Lightening was seen and thunder was heard (a
poetic take on the text – sorry). It was
now the time to enter into the era of the Torah, and so, on some level, even
bechira was suspended.
Forty days later – forty days into having accepted the covenant
with Hashem – the nature of the world was back in order. The people had full
bechira, and, therefore, Hashem could not intervene. And since the people acted of their own free
will, Hashem could, and did, react to their choices (which, of course, put in motion
so many other critical moments to the world, as it was designed).
The Chait Haegel was Bnei Yisrael’s first great misstep, but
– as all parents know – one has to let a child make mistakes in order for them
to grow. Falling is part of learning to walk.
There are many questions one might ask on the text of Shemos
32, both because one wants to understand how those who, only a little over a
month before, had heard Hashem and accepted the Torah could cry our for and
celebrate an idol and because the text itself is filled with fascinating
nuances. And in this, too, there is a lesson.
Life is not simple. No person and no people act from one
singular motivation. Hashem is aware of all of the factors that impact each and
every one of us, as an individual and as a nation. But Hashem leaves it up to
us to choose our responses, to put our choices into action. We do not control
the shape of the world, but we have been given the ability to take an active
role in shaping our individual lives.
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