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KI TISA
The Talmud teaches us that in every generation a portion of the punishment for the construction of the Golden calf in the desert by the Jewish people is exacted. I think that in a greater measure we can state that the sin of the Golden Calf itself is repeated in every generation.
The obvious problem arising out of the Golden Calf is how could the Jewish people, fresh from the miracles of Egypt, Yam Suf, manna and the revelation at Sinai revert to paganism and to the worship of a man-made deity. What possessed them to be so blind as to their own recent experiences and to their stated destiny?
Of course, this incident is the ultimate proof of the allowance for free will in human affairs, even for the most destructive form of free will. And, yet, it is most troubling to realize how seriously error prone the Jewish people can be.
And, the fact that this weakness constantly asserts itself in every generation is itself part of the punishment. This portion has been meted out to us over the many generations since that Golden Calf was constructed and worshipped in the desert of Sinai. After all, one could hope that after 3321 years something might have been learned.
And yet we are witness to the fact that the Golden Calf in all of its modern and secular manifestations still dances and prances amongst us. Apparently this punishment still exacts its pain and finds its victims even though much time has elapsed since the original sin of the Golden Calf.
There appears to have been multiple causes for the construction of the original Golden Calf. The absence of Moshe, Aharon’s vacillation, the presence of a large and vocal non-Jewish section within the Jewish people – the eirev rav, - the always present memories of Egypt and its pagan society and culture, and the uncertain self-worth of a recently emancipated people from slavery, are all contributory factors in the unfolding tragedy of the Golden Calf.
Almost all of these factors exist in our time as well. The absence of inspiring religious leadership, the inability to formulate a positive vision for the people and the state, the influences of a non-Jewish world that has turned all basic human values on its face, the revival of pagan ideas and lifestyles of the ancient world in the guise of new liberal ideas and permissive values, the difficulties of adjusting to national independence after millennia of exile, all combine in our time to allow the Golden Calf to still exist within us.
The failures of assimilation, secularism, and Westernization at all costs, are all visible to all of us. Yet, we are all reluctant to abandon the allure of the shine of the Golden Calf.
Only when we will have our fill of these false hopes and retrograde ideas will we be free to accept Moshe’s dramatic act of destroying the Golden Calf to dust and powder. Perhaps then will our bill for the original Golden Calf be finally stamped as being paid in full.
Shabat shalom.
Happy Purim.
Rabbi Berel Wein
