From Rabbi Bergman:
Earlier in the Torah, we read how God protected the Jewish people throughout their time in the desert:
And God went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they may go by day and by night: He did not take away the pillar of the cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people (Shmot 13:21-22)
In the book of Nechemia (9:17-21) we see that despite their mistakes, God continued to protect the Jewish people for 40 years in the wilderness and beyond:
...But You, being a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, long-suffering and abounding in faithfulness, did not abandon them. Even though they made themselves a molten calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you out of Egypt,’ thus committing great blasphemies; You, in Your abundant compassion, did not abandon them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud did not depart from them to lead them on the way by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to give them light in the way they were to go. You endowed them with Your good spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth; You gave them water when they were thirsty. Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness so that they lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell…
God forgave the Jewish people for the sin of the Golden calf and continued to dwell within them. Furthermore, out of this episode, God revealed the 13 attributes of mercy which are Sages says is a sort of "secret weapon" to be used when our hearts lead us to Teshuva. Out of this episode came Yom Kippur, a day of forgiveness and reconciliation which our Sages say was the most joyous of all days in the year. In addition, out of this episode came the second Tablets, which our Sages say, that unlike the first ones, are eternal, having resulted from the efforts and Teshuva of the Jewish people.
Yehuda HaLevi in Sefer HaKuzari puts the sin of the Golden Calf in perspective:
The worshippers of the Golden Calf were punished and put to death, 3,000 persons in all out of 600,000; but the manna did not stop, the pillar of fire continued to lead them and the prophetic spirit persisted in their midst. The only thing that they were deprived of was the two tablets which Moshe broke and interceded with God to restore. These were restored and that iniquity was expiated.
Ramban comments that as soon as the people caught sight of Moshe, they left the calf, rejected it and let him burn it and sprinkle its dust over the water. No one took issue with him, Moshe did not have to reprimand them or say anything to them. When he reached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing they immediately packed stopped what they were doing and left the scene. Moses took the calf, burnt it and gave them to drink of it, which they did without a murmur. Had they truly acknowledged it as a god- no one would allow his king and god to be burnt.
Rabbi Steinsaltz perceptively says that when a person goes through a traumatic or fearful event, they may often regress to their old and comforting ways to protect themselves. For the Jews, their perception of a leader came from Egypt, where the leader, Pharaoh, was also considered a god. As a nation that had been living in Egypt for generations, steeped in idol worship and such thinking, perhaps it is not surprising that when some members of the Jewish people panicked when they didn’t see Moshe come down from Mt. Sinai, they tried to replace him eventually veering towards idol worship.
However, as soon as he returned, they let him lead them back on the path to God showing that their error, though grave, was skin deep.
A lesson from the sin of the golden calf is the eternal bond and love between the Jewish people and God. A bond which persists even in times when me may not have been worthy.
Shabbat Shalom
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