He took [them] from their hand[s], fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into a molten calf, upon which they said: "These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought you up from the land of Egypt!"

                                                                (Shemot 32:4)

 

These

And this should be explained in accordance with their midrash, may they be blessed, on the verse, One man out of a thousand I found, but a woman among all these I did not find (Kohelet 7:28): One man out of a thousand refers to the deed of the calf in which one man out of a thousand sinned, but a woman among all these I did not find. For a woman among all these relates to [the verse from the story of the Golden Calf which also contains the word these,] These are your gods, O Israel. [That is to say] I did not find [even a single woman who participated in the sin of the Golden Calf], as it has been made clear (in Bamidbar Rabbah 21:10; Shir HaShirim Rabbah 4:9; Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 45) that the women were proper and did not sin [with the calf].

(Kol Eliyahu Shemot 32:28)

 

And God saw the Children of Israel and God knew God realized that He must redeem them for the sake of His name and the covenant He had made with their fathers, for so it says: And God remembered His covenant (Shemot 2: 24). Ezekiel also says: But I wrought for My name's sake (Ezekiel 20: 9). Resh Lakish offers another explanation of and God saw: He saw that they would be rebellious at the Red Sea, as it is written: But were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea (Psalms 106:7). And God Knew. He knew that they would later say: This is my God (Shemot 15:2). R. Joshua b. Levi said, He saw that they would say: These are your gods, O Israel (32:4). And God Knew -that they would later make the words we will do take precedence of we will obey (Shemot 24:7). The Sages say, And God Knew that the average among them were repenting and that also the wicked contemplated reforming, as it is written: The fig-tree puts forth her green figs (Song of Songs 2:13). And God Knew - one did not know even his friend's intentions, save God alone. Each one made up his mind to repent, yet although they repented they would not have departed from Egypt but for the "merit of the fathers"; for the attribute of strict Justice was accusing them on account of the Golden Calf which they would one day make.

(Shemot Rabbah 1:36, Soncino translation)

 

A Red, Unblemished, Cow

Pinchas Leiser

Dedicated to the blessed memory of my dear friend

Gerald Cromer

Who passed away on the 23^rd of Adar, 5768

If the new moon of Adar falls on the Sabbath, Parashat Shekalim is read [on that day]. If it falls in the middle of the week, it is read on the Sabbath before, and on the next Sabbath there is a break. On the second [of the special Sabbaths] Zakhor is read, on the third Parashat Parah, on the fourth HaHodesh Hazeh Lakhem. On the fifth the regular order is resumed. [The regular reading] is interrupted for any special occasion: for New Moons, for Hanukkah, for Purim, for fasts, for ma'amadot, and for Yom Kippur. (Mishnah Megillah 3:4, based on the Soncino translation)

In our own days we complete the reading of the entire Torah every year, so that this Mishnah applies only to the maftir and the haftora. However, it could be that in the times of the Mishnah, when the Jews of the Land of Israel would complete the reading of the Torah over the course of about three years, the reading of the "Four Parashiyot" - including Parashat Parah - constituted the entire Torah reading for those special Sabbaths. If so, the expression hozrin lekhisidran - "the regular order is resumed" - means that after the break in the cycle, they would go back to reading the regular parashat hashavua for each Shabbat. The Gemara in Kiddushin 31a tells an interesting story about a heathen who took great care in performing the commandment of honoring his father:

Rav Yehuda said in Shmuel's name: R. Eliezer was asked: How far does the honor of parents [extend]? - He said, Go forth and see what a certain heathen, Dama son of Netina by name, did in Ashkelon. The Sages sought jewels for the ephod, at a profit of six-hundred-thousand [gold denarii] - R. Kahana taught: at a profit of eight-hundred-thousand - but since the key was lying under his father's pillow, he did not trouble him. The following year the Holy One, blessed be He, gave him his reward. A red heifer was born to him in his herd. When the Sages of Israel went to him [to buy it], he said to them, "I know you, that [even] if I asked you for all the money in the world you would pay me. But I ask of you only the money which I lost through my father's honor." Now, R. Hanina said, If one who is not commanded [to honor his parents], yet does so, is thus [rewarded], how much more so one who is commanded and does so! For R. Hanina said: He who is commanded and fulfils [the command], is greater than he who fulfils it though not commanded. (Based on Soncino translation)

The red cow was born to the herd of the heathen who was prepared to forgo tremendous wealth rather than disturb his father's sleep, and his devotion to the commandment of honoring one's parents became the ideal paradigm for our observance of that commandment.

For the Sages, the ephod, the hoshen [breastplate] and the red cow all symbolized atonement. The ephod atones for idolatry; the hoshen (for which the Sages apparently needed the stones) atones for the transgression of laws [dinim]; and, according to tradition, the red cow was meant to atone for the sin of the Golden Calf ("Let the mother come and wipe up her child's dung"). The midrashic tradition connects the calf with the cow which atones for it. Much could be written about this rich story; it might be that one of its themes is the connection between the ability of parents (or mature leaders) to accept responsibility for their children's behavior and the readiness of children to honor their parents. This is similar in spirit to the Talmudic discussion of "commandments regarding obligations of the father to his son and commandments regarding the obligations of the son to his father."

Perhaps a further allusion to the notion of indirect responsibility can be found in the similar wordings of the verses about the red, unblemished cow…upon whom no yoke was placed and the broken-necked calf [egla arufa] that had not pulled the yoke.

Both the cow (the mother) and the broken-necked calf are involved in acts of atonement and represent the responsibility taken by worthy and mature leaders for the deeds of the community.

In addition, of course, the red cow brings purification for the ritual impurity caused by contact with a human corpse - tumat hamet. Tumat hamet halakhically prohibits us from entering the Temple Mount (the parameters of this prohibition is a matter of controversy amongst today's halakhic authorities of our day - a controversy that is influenced by the views of those halakhic authorities regarding issues involving Torah, the State of Israel, and processes of redemption).

Diplomatic moves have made our relationship with the Temple Mount a matter of public discussion. Some religious Zionist rabbis felt the need to make an innovative ruling regarding the obligation to visit certain parts of the Temple Mount in order to express our ties to the site of the Temple. The last issue of Hodesh BeHodsho (a monthly publication edited by some of the rabbis associated with the Meimad Party) contained an illuminating discussion of the connection between sovereignty and holiness. A few years ago the Jerusalem-based journalist Gershom Gorenberg wrote a book in English, titled The End of Days (Oxford University Pres, 2002). In it he described the highly-charged apocalyptic significance of the Temple Mount for Christians, Moslems, and Jews. There is no doubt about the importance of this debate in all of its aspects.

Perhaps the present lack of a tangible red cow and the transformation of this commandment in our days to one that is observed through the reading of Parashat Parah - in the spirit of drosh vekabel sakhar, "explicate it and receive a reward [for Torah study]" - should teach us that the tumat hamet which keeps us from visiting the site of the Temple is not a merely technical prohibition, but rather a genuine development in the worship of God.

Judaism underwent a revolution following the Temple's destruction, replacing it with the Synagogue and House of Study, and replacing the sacrificial rite with the "worship of the heart."

In his Guide for the Perplexed, RaMBaM views these developments in a positive light. Regarding the Messianic era he writes: "No person will know how all these things and others like them shall be until they actually occur" (Hilkhot Melakhim 12:2).

That is to say: RaMBaM views the worship of God as something permanent, while the modes of that worship change and develop in the course of history.

HaRav Kook claims that in the future, only vegetable materials will be sacrificed (Olat RAYaH s.v. Ve'arava laHashem minhat Yehudah veYerushalyim).

Perhaps religious and spiritual leaders should display responsibility and maturity and educate the public to view the Temple and the Temple Mount as offering a genuine opportunity for the contemplation and study of holiness within life - And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I shall dwell among them - it does not say betokho - "inside it" but rather betokham - among them. Education towards holiness within life could keep people from being drawn towards rash and hasty acts that could endanger us, acts which involve "forcing the End" [dehikat haketz]. Holiness requires restraint and moderation - even in connection with Mount Sinai it was said: Beware of ascending the mountain or touching its edge; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

Pinchas Leiser, editor of Shabbat Shalom, is a psychologist

 

These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you out - Were they fools not to know that that the calf which had been made that same day did not take them out of Egypt? Rather, all idolaters realize that our God in heaven created the world. However, they were mistaken to believe that fetishes contain the spirit of impurity in the manner that prophets possess the Holy Spirit. They believed that the calf could give voice to the spirit of impurity as if speaking when inspired with the Holy Spirit from above. That is why they said, This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out - as if to say that it possessed the holy spirit, making it as if the holy spirit passed before them and in order to test Israel it endowed it with the spirit of impurity of witches, and a ghost and familiar spirit endowed it with the ability to spurn the celestial retinue and foretell the future, in order to see if they would be wholeheartedly loyal to the Lord their God, that there be no soothsayer, diviner or sorcerer amongst them, nor one who believes in the signs and wonders of the prophets of the spirit of impurity, as is written, for the Lord your God is testing you to see whether you really love the Lord your God... (Devarim 13:4).

(RaShBaM on Shemot 32:4)

 

This is your god, O Israel - There is no fool in the world who could think that the gold which hung from their ears until that day and which was formed into a calf, had taken them out from Egypt. However, they did believe that the power of that form and the spirit residing within it had brought them up from there.

(R. Yitzhak Shemuel Reggio, ad loc)

 

A soon as Moses came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing... (Shemot 32: 19): Rabbi Hilkiyah said in the name of Rabbi Aha: "From here we learn that a person should not judge on the basis of an assumption."

(J. Ta'anit 4:5)

 

Saw the calf and the dancing: around it. Another says: The writing on the Tablets disappeared, so he broke them.

And some say that God commanded him to break them. It seems most reasonable to me that it happened as it is written, that he was zealous for God and broke them in his anger.

And I have already told you about the allegory of "the husband of youth" in the beginning of the parasha [i.e., God is the husband of Israel in her youth, the sin of the golden calf was Israel's infidelity, etc.]. The Tablets were the marriage contract, their shattering the tearing-up of the contract.

(Ibn Ezra's Short Commentary on Shemot 32:19)

 

No one shall ascend with you Since the first ones [i.e., Tablets] were accompanied by loud noises, sounds, and with a multitude, the evil eye affected them. [Our conclusion is that] there is nothing better than modesty.

(Rashi Shemot 34:3)

 

Rabbi Meir said: Moses did not break the tablets [of his own volition] , but was directed to do so by the All Powerful, as is written asher shibarta [Literally which you broke]: [Understand it thus] Ye-yasher kochacha sheh-shibarta [More power to you] for having broken them.

(Avot DeRabbi Natan, 2:3)

 

When Moses saw how they had sinned by making the calf, he said: How can I give them the Tablets? I will be obligating them to observe serious commandments and I will be condemning them to death by divine power [when they transgress those commandments], for it is inscribed upon them You shall have no other gods before Me. He turned to go back. Seventy elders saw him, and ran after him; he held the top of the Tablet, and they held the top of the Tablet. Moses was stronger than all of them, as is written (Devarim 34): And in all the strong hand and in all the great, awe-inspiring acts that Moses did before the eyes of all Israel.

(Avot DeRabbi Natan 2:3)

 

and he flung the Tablets from his hands, shattering them - not out of shock; it seems that he did this in order to frighten the people and show them that the covenant between them and God had been broken.

(ShaDaL Shemot 32:19)

 

Hidden Strata in Moses' Dialogue with God

Now leave Me alone, and My anger will be kindled against them so that I will annihilate them, and I will make you into a great nation

R. Abbahu said: Were it not explicitly written, it would be impossible to say such a thing: this teaches that Moses took hold of the Holy One, blessed be He, like a man who seizes his fellow by his garment and said before Him: Sovereign of the Universe, I will not let You go until You forgive and pardon them.

(Berakhot 32a)

 

Now leave Me alone. Was Moses holding Him? To what can the thing he compared? To a king who was angry with his son, and when the son was brought into the chamber and about to be beaten, the king cried from the chamber: "Let me alone, that I may smite him." Now, the instructor [of the son] happened to be standing without and he thought to himself: "If both the king and the son are within the chamber, then why does he say: 'Let me alone'? It must be because the king is desirous that I should entreat him on his son's behalf and for this reason does he say: 'Let me alone.'" Similarly, God said to Moses: Now leave Me alone, and from this Moses inferred, "God is desirous that I should intercede with Him on Israel's behalf, and hence is He saying: Now leave Me alone." Forthwith Moses began to plead for mercy on their behalf, as it says, And Moses besought the Lord his God.

(Shemot Rabbah 42, based on Soncino translation)

 

 

Then the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man would speak to his companion...

This does not contradict what he said later, You will not be able to see My face, because the intention here is that the speech came to him clearly and while he was awake rather than in a vision at night; not as a parable or riddle, but rather as one man speaks to his companion. The expression face to face is similar to that which was said of Moses, who knew the Lord face to face (Devarim 34:10), which refers to the overflow of the light of wisdom from he who overflows to him who receives the overflow without mediation. Of this it is said I shall speak to him mouth to mouth, and that is the difference between Moses' prophecy and the prophecy of the other prophets.

(R. Yitzhak Shemuel Reggio, 32:11)

 

And He said, "You will not be able to see My face, for man shall not see Me and live."

For seeing the face in an actual vision of fire - as you have requested - that you cannot see while you are still alive. For man is composed of body and soul, but when the body separates from it the soul is able to better grasp the Divine things, and this is one of the Torah's allusions to the World-to-Come.

(R. Yitzhak Shemuel Reggio, 32:20)

 

Va-yehal - Rabbi Elazar said: This teaches that Moses stood in prayer before The Holy One, Blessed Be He until He implored him (Translated as per Rashi in Berakhot 32a).

Rava said: [Moses stood in prayer] until He annulled His vow. It is written here Va-yehal [in the sense of desecrating] and it says elsewhere (Bamidbar 30) Lo ya-hel devaro - He is not to desecrate his word. The master said: He may not annul - but other may annul for him.

Shmuel said: This teaches us that he was prepared to die on their behalf [The Hebrew for one killed is halal], as is written, And if not, expunge me from Your book.

Rava said in the name of Rabbi Yitzchak: This teaches that he applied [The Hebrew l'hahil means to apply] the quality of mercy to them.

And our Sages said: This teaches that Moses said to The Holy One, Blessed Be He: Master of the Universe, it would be a desecration for you to do such a thing.

(Berakhot 31a)

 

 

 

 

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