who suffers, that the former is a complete tzadik [tzadik gamur] and

the latter an incomplete tzadik; but the difference

between complete and incomplete is not explained. This matter can be clarified

by referring to the verse in Isaiah (3:10-11), Praise the righteous man

reference to this they said in Kiddushin 40:

"But is there such a thing as a good tzadik and

a bad tzadik? Rather, one who is good both to Heaven

and to people is a good tzadik. [One who is] good to

Heaven but bad to people is a tzadik who is not good.

Similarly [it may be asked regarding the phrase] Woe to the wicked [who does]

evil [or: Woe to the evil wicked man] – is there an evil wicked man

and one who is not evil? Rather, one who is bad both to Heaven and to people is

an evil wicked man." We have learned that the verse for the

fruit of their deeds they shall eat applies to the tzadik

who is good both to Heaven and to people – that is, he will eat his fruit [his

divine reward] in this world.

(HaAmek Davar Bereishit 6:9)

This man Moses, who brought us up from

the land of Egypt

Charisma and the Golden Calf

Ronen Ahituv

Many have tried to understand

what brought the Israelites to commit the terrible sin of the Golden calf so

soon after witnessing so many miracles. Various solutions have been offered to

this problem, most of which treat it as a theological question. Let us try to

discuss it in terms of the verse in which the sinners themselves explain their

actions:

The people gathered against

we don't know what has become of him." (Shemot

32:1)

The Israelites' request is based

upon the assumption that Moses is the god who goes before the people and that

it was he who took them out of Egypt.

Since Moses went missing, a replacement had to be found.

We see that Moses' role in the

people's imagination was an important factor in the sin of the Calf. The sin

was not only a function of the relationship between the people and God; Moses

also had a part in it – albeit a passive role. Moses was seen by the people as

a divine figure and not a mere human being. Moses may not have been the only

god they believed in, and perhaps they thought there was another god above him,

but it they certainly thought that Moses was the particular god who took them

out of Egypt.

At first glance the Israelites

appear to be seriously and dangerously wrongheaded. However, upon closer

examination of Scripture – and of the midrashim

– we find their belief has some basis. Let us consider four verses and one midrash that support the idea of

Moses being superhuman:

And the Lord said to Moses: See,

Aaron will be your prophet. (Shemot 7:1)

And the people feared the Lord,

and they believed in the Lord and in Moses, His servant.(Shemot 14:31)

And we cried out to the Lord,

and He heard out voices and sent an angel, and he took us out of Egypt.(Bamidbar 20:16)

And this is the blessing which

Moses, the man of God, gave (Devarim

33:1)

A prayer of

Moses, man of God. If man, then why god? And if god, why man?

Rather, when he stood before

Pharaoh he was called "god," for it is said: See, I have given you

as a god to Pharaoh (Shemot 7:1); but when he

fled from him, he was called a "man."

Another thing: when he was cast

into the Nile he was called a "man,"

but when he changed it into blood he was called "god"…

R. Abin

said: His bottom half was called "man" [his top half,

"god"] (Midrash Tehillim

90)

The verses listed above support

the notion that Moses was superhuman. He is explicitly referred to as a

"god," and, together with God, he is an object of faith. He is also

called an "angel," but perhaps the clearest indication of his status

is given by the expression the man of God, which the midrash understands literally: Moses was – at least

in part – a god.

True, the midrash can be read as reacting to "that

man" who is believed by his followers to combine the human and the divine,

but it cannot be denied that the cited verses seem to support Moses' divinity.

If Moses was in fact divine, and

the Israelites were dependent upon him, how could they survive without their

leader-god? The call for a replacement is genuine and justified, but Aaron

cannot fill Moses' shoes, so no replacement is to be found. Thus, there is

nothing at all surprising about the sin of the Golden Calf.

God first reacts to the sin by

telling Moses, Go, descend, for your people that

corruptly. God, perhaps ironically, repeats the claim held by those who

worship the Calf: It was Moses who brought Israel

up from Egypt!

Not by a seraph, nor by God, but rather Moses, in person…

It seems that God's jealousy is

not directed against the Calf, which is nothing but a lump of gold, but rather

against His prophet Moses, to whom was misdirected praise deserved by the

God who saved them from Egypt.

Moses corrects the description,

and says; Why, O Lord, should Your anger be kindled

against Your people whom You have brought up from the land of Egypt?

(Shemot 32:11). So – Moses had no part in the cult of

personality surrounding him; rather, he correctly states that God and God alone

is the redeemer. It is the only way to assuage God's anger.

Moses, with great modesty,

emphasizes his awareness of the division of roles between himself and God. True,

the people do not share Moses' understanding, but at least he himself is not

personally caught up in delusions. Moses' personal awareness of how things

truly stand does have some influence, and it prevents the popular error from

gaining further ground.

Who are these words aimed at? The charismatic men of God who continue to be found among us even

today. Indeed, the word "charisma" derives from the Greek; it

means "gift of god." A person's ability to charm people and pull them

after him was understood to be a divine gift; this serves to justify the common

image of the charismatic person as blessed by God or even serving as His

representative on earth. Such people are not to be blamed for possessing

phenomenal abilities or for being viewed as superhuman by the masses. Their

great powers can be used towards holy and important goals of redemption, repair,

and education.

However, when those charismatic

leaders start believing in the superlatives spoken of them, they and the entire

community become endangered by the terrible sin of "hubris." The more

they succeed and achieve communal results, the greater the danger will become.

If a "man of God"

leader fails, how will we contend with the calamity? Will we blame God Himself

for the fiasco?

And if he never does fail, who

will replace this Moses when we don't know what has become of him?

The biblical story implies that

even though Moses completely avoided the trap of hubris, he failed to prevent

the sin of the Calf that was connected with his popular image. This shows us

that at the end of the day, responsibility rests on the believers themselves

and not solely on the charismatic leader. A venerated leader is limited in his

ability to avoid being deified, and he should not be alone in contending with

that danger. The sin of the Calf teaches us that the public must also take

pains to overcome its spiritual dependency in order not to find itself dancing once more around a holy Golden Calf.

Ronen Ahituv from Mitzpe Netufa is a teacher and a darshan.

This is what they are to give, everyone

that goes through the counting: half a shekel…

Rabbi Abba bar Aha said: It is impossible to determine the

nature of this people; they are asked to contribute for the calf and they do

so, they are asked to contribute to the Tabernacle and they comply.

(J. Shekalim

1:1)

The symbol with which everyone expresses personal commitment

to giving and doing is the Mahatzit Hashekel — the half-shekel. The individual's

contribution – even though it be as complete as

possible – can, objectively speaking, never be complete. An individual's action

is never more than a small part of something; for his action to be whole, there must be equal devotion on the part of his

brother. The individual is not expected to complete anything: "You are not

obliged to complete the work." But he is expected to contribute his share

towards the whole, through the half-shekel [The shekel is the equivalent of 20 gera,

and the individual offering is 10 gera]; his contribution is,

in itself, subjectively complete and rounded-off. His contribution is the most

perfect thing which he is able to do, and he must weigh on the scales of his

conscience. His action is only partial, infinitesimal in comparison with the

whole which must be done, but his duty is to not conserve any effort, talent or

wealth in advancing attainment of the whole and of the general well-being. Even

though "You are not required to complete the work – you are not free to

desist there from." His half-shekel will be 10 gera

of the Holy-Shrine shekel.

(Rabbi S. R. Hirsch on Shemot 30:13)

When He had finished speaking with him

of the testimony, stone tablets, written with the finger of God.

When the people saw that Moses was late

we don't know what has become of him."

(Shemot

31:18; 32:1)

Is it possible that the Children of Israel –

only forty days after the Revelation at Sinai, while the words I am the

Lord and You shall have no gods still echo in their ears – are

seeking other gods?!

It appears that the Torah wished to teach us,

by presenting a number of examples, that indeed, such things can occur. The

assumption that people who stood at the foot of Mt. Sinai are incapable of

again sinking into ignorance, into foolishness, into the abomination of

idolatry – such an assumption is basically fallacious…

Overt miracles – one-time wondrous happenings

– do not change a person, his personality, his habits. They may strongly

impress him temporarily, but they do not cut him off from his world, his

accomplishments, his past, his lifetime habits.

(From N. Leibowitz, Iyyunim Besefer

Shemot, pg. 399)

All of the types of holiness, [that of] the Land of Israel,

Jerusalem and the Temple, they are but details and branches of

the Torah, and they are sanctified through the Torah's holiness… Do not

imagine, God forbid, that the Temple and the Tabernacle are intrinsically

holy objects! God dwells among His sons, and if they, to a man, have

transgressed the Covenant (Hosea 6:7), all holiness is removed from them, and they become like

profane vessels "intruders came and desecrated it." Titus entered the

Holy of Holies with a prostitute and was not harmed (Gittin 56b) because its holiness had been removed. More than that – the

Tablets – the writing of God – are not holy in themselves, but only for your

sake when you observe that which is written in them…no created thing is holy

in itself, but only in that Israel observes the Torah.

…None of the holy places are founded in religion… [As

for] Mount Sinai, the place of religion, as soon as the Divine Presence left it

– the sheep and cattle climbed up it (Shemot

19:13)!

(Meshekh

Hokhmah Shemot 32:19;12: 21)

Our Rabbi Moses exemplified this when he broke the tablets

as soon as he saw the people transgress the commandment make no idol or image

for yourself. We must understand that the expression

idol or any image applies not only to the golden calf made by Israel, but to every natural

existent: Nation, land, homeland, flag, army, idea, a personality, and so

forth, whenever they are treated as being holy.

(Y. Leibowitz:

Sheva Shanim shel Sihot al Parashiyot

HaShavu'a, pg. 401)

Face to face

And the Lord spoke to Moses face to

face

– The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Did I not stipulate with you

that if your face expresses anger, My face will

placate your face, and when My face expresses anger, your face will placate

Mine? Go back and enter the camp!" For it is said, and

the Lord spoke to Moses face to face.

(Shemot Rabbah 45)

And the Lord spoke to Moses face to

face

– We do not know whether the lower one raised himself up, or if the higher one

lowered Himself down. R. Yehoshua ben

Levi said: It was, so to speak, that the Exalted One of the Universe bent

Himself down, for it is said: And the Lord descended into the tent.

(Tanhuma Ki Tissa 27)

…Moses, our teacher, [would prophesize] without the medium

of an angel, as [Bamidbar 12:8] states: Mouth to

mouth I speak to him, and [Shemot 33:11] states: And

God spoke to Moses face to face. [Bamidbar

12:8]

states: He gazes upon the image of God – i.e., there was no metaphor.

Rather, he would perceive the matter in its fullness, without metaphor or

allegory. The Torah testifies concerning him [Bamidbar

12:8]:

I speak to him…] manifestly, without allegory. His appreciation of

prophecy would not be through metaphor, but through open revelation,

appreciating the matter in its fullness. All the [other] prophets are overawed,

terrified, and confounded [by the revelations they experience], but Moses, our

teacher, would not [respond in this manner], as [Shemot

33:11]

relates: [God spoke to Moses…] as a man speaks to a friend – i.e.,

just as a person will not be awe-struck from hearing his friend's words, so,

too, Moses' mental power was sufficient to comprehend the words of prophecy

while he was standing in a composed state.

(RaMBaM Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah 7:6, Based on Tauger

translation)

And the word of the Lord came to me,

of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

(From the haftara

for Parashat Parah, Ezekiel

36)

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