The portion discusses the census of the Israelites, the washbasin of the Tabernacle, the anointing oils for the priests and kings, the incense offering, and the Sabbath. The Torah then relates the story of the Golden Calf, God’s anger at the nation, Moses successfully arguing for Divine forgiveness for the sin, the subsequent breaking of the tablets, and the giving of the second tablets.
Please stand with me as I read from the Parsha:
Exo 32:1 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Exo 32:2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
Exo 32:3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.
Exo 32:4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”
Exo 32:5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.”
Exo 32:6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.
Exo 32:7 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
Exo 32:8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'”
The following is based on FFOZ Weekly eDrash from 2009
Aaron said to them, “Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.“
When we attempt to “do religion” without first consulting God’s instructions, we end up with golden calves. The Torah tells the story of the golden calf immediately after the instructions for the building of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle represents God’s way of doing spirituality. The golden calf represents man’s way of doing spirituality. God and Israel were both striving for the same end: they were each attempting to create a way that Israel could worship God and celebrate their relationship with Him. Their methods of accomplishing that end were very different, though.
The golden calf was a poor substitute for the glory of the Tabernacle. The Torah tells about the work of making the golden calf to contrast it against the work of the Tabernacle.
Aaron did not know that God had chosen to make him the high priest over Israel. When the people asked him to make an idol for them, he took the role of priesthood himself. If he had waited for Moses to return, he would have learned that God had chosen to install him as a priest in the Tabernacle.
The people did not know that God had ordered them to raise a contribution of gold and precious materials for the building of the Tabernacle. If they had waited, Moses would have told them. Instead, Aaron told them to donate the gold of their jewelry for the idol.
The people were to fashion the furnishings of the Tabernacle of gold. Instead, Aaron fashioned the idol “with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf”. The people were to build a bronze altar for burnt offerings and a golden altar for incense. Instead, we read that “he built an altar” for the idol. The people were to offer burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar in the Tabernacle. Instead, we read that the people “offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings” to the idol. The Tabernacle was to be a resting place of God’s divine, invisible presence. Instead, the people made a visible, idolatrous representation of God. All the things that Israel desired, God had already planned to give them.
A girl from a poor farmer’s family was ready to be married. Her father promised to find a match for her. He set out for a distant city to find a suitable fellow. In his absence, she grew impatient. She was lonely, and she felt that she needed someone to provide for her. Rather than wait for her father to return, she married the crass and ignorant son of a local farmer. The day after the wedding, her father returned with the match he had found: a wealthy, handsome, and well-educated young noble. Imagine the girl’s shame and disappointment.
Patience really is a virtue. It is always better to wait on God than to waste our resources on a golden calf.
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