MQN - Expositie Palimpsest #11 - Worshipping the Golden Calf
What Was the Golden Calf? - by Shlomo Chaim Kesselman
The story of the golden calf is widely regarded as one of the most disgraceful moments in Jewish history. In Exodus, chapters 31-32, the mere 40 days after receiving the Torah, the Jewish people created an idol Torah tells how three months after leaving Egypt, and a mere 40 days after receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, the Jewish people created an idol and worshipped it. Having miscalculated the date of Moses’ promised to return from the mountain, the Jewish people thought their leader had died. They decided to replace him, and with the help of Aaron, formed a golden calf and worshipped it.
The Story
On the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan, the Jewish people left Egypt and began traveling through the desert. After 49 days of travel, on the 50th day, the sixth (or the seventh1) of Sivan, God gave them the Torah. Standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, they witnessed God’s glory descend upon the mountain, and they heard the Ten Commandments. The next day, God commanded Moses to ascend the mountain for 40 days, where He would teach him all the laws and present him with the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were carved.2 Moses took leave of his people, promising to return in 40 days.
When Moses told the people 40 days, he meant 40 full days—nights and days. And since Moses left in the morning, that first day was not included in the count. However, the Jews miscalculated and expected Moses to return on the 16th of Tammuz. In vain the Jews waited for Moses on the 16th, and when he didn’t show, they began to worry. The biblical commentator Rashi describes how Satan made the sky grow dark and caused a feeling of gloominess to descend upon the camp, further unnerving the people.
As this was happening, the erev rav (“mixed multitude”)—a ragtag group of Egyptian outcasts who had tagged along with the Jews when they left Egypt, and who were insincere in their commitment to God—convinced the people that Moses was dead and that they needed a new leader. Terrified, the Jewish people gathered around Aaron, Moses’ brother, and demanded that he make them a new leader. (The commentators note that, at this point, the people only wanted a new leader in place of Moses, not a new God.) Aaron told them to go home and collect their wives’ jewelry and bring it back to him. Crazed, the men ripped off their own jewelry and threw it into a fire. And out of the fire, a golden calf emerged.
MQN - Expositie Palimpsest #11 - Worshipping the Golden Calf
What Was the Golden Calf? - by Shlomo Chaim Kesselman
The story of the golden calf is widely regarded as one of the most disgraceful moments in Jewish history. In Exodus, chapters 31-32, the mere 40 days after receiving the Torah, the Jewish people created an idol Torah tells how three months after leaving Egypt, and a mere 40 days after receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, the Jewish people created an idol and worshipped it. Having miscalculated the date of Moses’ promised to return from the mountain, the Jewish people thought their leader had died. They decided to replace him, and with the help of Aaron, formed a golden calf and worshipped it.
The Story
On the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan, the Jewish people left Egypt and began traveling through the desert. After 49 days of travel, on the 50th day, the sixth (or the seventh1) of Sivan, God gave them the Torah. Standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, they witnessed God’s glory descend upon the mountain, and they heard the Ten Commandments. The next day, God commanded Moses to ascend the mountain for 40 days, where He would teach him all the laws and present him with the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were carved.2 Moses took leave of his people, promising to return in 40 days.
When Moses told the people 40 days, he meant 40 full days—nights and days. And since Moses left in the morning, that first day was not included in the count. However, the Jews miscalculated and expected Moses to return on the 16th of Tammuz. In vain the Jews waited for Moses on the 16th, and when he didn’t show, they began to worry. The biblical commentator Rashi describes how Satan made the sky grow dark and caused a feeling of gloominess to descend upon the camp, further unnerving the people.
As this was happening, the erev rav (“mixed multitude”)—a ragtag group of Egyptian outcasts who had tagged along with the Jews when they left Egypt, and who were insincere in their commitment to God—convinced the people that Moses was dead and that they needed a new leader. Terrified, the Jewish people gathered around Aaron, Moses’ brother, and demanded that he make them a new leader. (The commentators note that, at this point, the people only wanted a new leader in place of Moses, not a new God.) Aaron told them to go home and collect their wives’ jewelry and bring it back to him. Crazed, the men ripped off their own jewelry and threw it into a fire. And out of the fire, a golden calf emerged.