As the avalanche swept through the streets, Barney Wassermann jumped into the first building he saw to avoid getting buried, not realizing that he'd entered a cathedral. Out of breath, he sat down and heard the priest say, "All those who would like to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven should rise."
Everyone stood up except Barney.
"You!" shouted the preacher. "Don't you want to enter the Gates of Heaven?"
"Of course," responded Barney, "but what's the rush?"
Statement: In Midrash, it says:
Rabbi Eleazar said, "There were three who did not wait for their contentment (even) six hours, and they are: Adam, Israel, and Sisra... Israel, as it says: 'And the nation saw that Moses delayed' (the word hints) that when six hours had passed, Moshe had not appeared."
The Talmud tells us, “When Moses ascended on High, he told the Jewish people: ‘Toward the end of forty days, at the beginning of six hours, I will come.’ Toward the end of forty days, Satan came and confused the world by means of a misty fog. He said to the Jews: ‘Moshe, your teacher, where is he?’ They said to him: ‘He ascended on High.’ He said to them: ‘Six hours have arrived, and he has not come.’ And they paid him no attention. Satan said to them: ‘Moses died.’ And they paid him no attention. Ultimately, he showed them an image of his deathbed.
Question
The Israelites miscalculated Moshe’s words, and as a result, their confusion led to the making of the golden calf. Still, why couldn't they have waited until they could be sure that Moshe was not returning? Had they waited six hours, this tragedy would never have happened. Isn’t it strange that the “generation of the Midbar who were full of knowledge” would not have logically reasoned to wait just a little longer? Additionally, if they perceived that Moshe had passed away, shouldn’t they have at least waited until after the Shiva mourning period? What seemingly drove them to find a replacement for their beloved leader so quickly? What was the rush?
The Error
What was the miscalculation that created this whole mess? The basic miscalculation was that the Jews started their count from the day but didn’t include the night. As a result, on their erroneous 40th day, when Moshe didn’t return, they started the process of gathering gold to substitute their leader. As its says, “The people gathered against Aaron, and they said to him: ‘Arise! Make us gods that will go before us because this man Moses, who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him.” At the moment that the gold was being gathered together, there was no idol worship.
Based on the Ramban, when the people said “make us gods” they were not asking to make an idol to replace Moshe, since only another person with leadership qualities could possibly serve as a replacement. Rather, the word in this instance could mean a judge. This understanding can be seen earlier in the Torah, where there is a prohibition of “You shall not curse a judge.” Indeed, Rashi states earlier that “The word Elokim is not anything other than referring to a judge.” One could deduce that the gathering of gold in this context was for the purpose of securing a salary to pay those who would fill this position. The gold was not for idol worship at this point.
Rabbenu Bachya and Bechor Shor hold that Aharon refused a request made by the Israelites to make a human replacement for Moshe. Aharon was afraid that if he appointed someone, Moshe would eventually return, and those who had grown accustomed to the new leader would not wish him to leave. This could have resulted in more bloodshed through a civil war. Therefore, Aharon created a statue representing leadership and tried to further delay the pressures of the masses by proclaiming, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to G-d.” The next day, which was the actual 40th day, had the people waited till the 6th hour, they would have seen the return of Moshe. Instead, it was during these hours that Chur, the son of Miriam and Kalev, was murdered while trying to prevent them from seeking a substitute and all the subsequent shocking decline of a people who had just received communication directly from the Al-mighty Himself, 40 days before.
Why The Rush?
Moshe told the Jews that he would be on Sinai for 40 complete days and nights to receive the Torah. Next to the number seven, the number forty occurs the most frequently throughout the Torah. It has great significance and represents the concepts of completion, renewal towards a new beginning, and the power to transform. With an understanding of this number's implications, we can better appreciate the fragile and crucial timing that was demanded during this episode. A few examples are...
- The 40-day period required for purification after the birth of a male child.
- Ritual purification through the immersion in a mikveh filled with 40 Se'ahs (a measure of water). This purification is also hinted at in the story of Noah, where the rain poured for 40 days and nights, submerging the world in water.
- The Talmud states that it takes 40 days for an embryo to be fully formed in its mother’s womb.
- In Kabbalah, 40 represents four times ten—with each of the four connected to the ten Sefiros. There are 4 elements of fire, air, water, and earth; 4 directions of north, east, south, and west—which also corresponds to the attributes of Gevurah, Tiferes, Chesed, and Malchus.
- Even the shape of the letter Mem, numerically 40, is a composite of the letters Vov and Chof. These two letters have the value of 26, representing the Tetragrammaton, the special 4-letter name of G-d, י-ה-ו-ה. The number 40 thus represents a complete state of the world in spiritual terms.
There are 40 days from Rosh Chodesh Elul (The 30th Day of Menachem Av), when we start to prepare for Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur. This completes the annual period of Teshuva. In Pirkei Avos, at the age of 40, a person begins the level of Binah—understanding. This is based on the fact that after Moshe Rabbeinu led the Jewish people for 40 years in the wilderness, he told them: “HaShem has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day.” From here we see that it took the Jewish people 40 years before reaching a full level of understanding. Corresponding to the 40 days during which Moshe received the written Torah, there were 40 generations from Moshe till Rav Ashi, when the Oral Torah was “sealed.” Rabbi Yosi said that the moment the Holy One, blessed be He, resurrects the dead, all troubles will end in the fortieth year.
Based on the above, one can possibly suggest that the reason why the Jews refused to wait was perhaps they felt that once the 40 days were over, they needed to integrate what they experienced on Har Sinai and the opportunity to achieve a state of completion and retain the “tranquil” and exalted state they had attained. Otherwise, this time-sensitive opportunity would have been lost. They had thought that their complete connection to HaShem through the Torah could only have been provided with Moshe, and without an immediate substitute, this would have been lost. The process of synthesizing the physical and spiritual needed to take place at that exact moment in time; otherwise, they felt that this power to transform and elevate themselves and the world around them could not be accomplished.
Why A Calf?
The B’nei Yisroel lived in a time when the surrounding nations related only to physical forms of deities. In Egypt alone, more than 1,400 deities were represented by some physical form or shape. As such, although the B’nei Yisroel believed that one must honor G‑d, they could not relate directly to an intangible deity. Therefore, the Golden Calf was made so that they could have a concrete conduit and intermediary in their relationship with HaShem, as they had with Moshe. A corporeal form of the Divine. Even substituting Moshe with his brother Aharon would not suffice. Since all people are mortal and are therefore only here in this world temporarily, the best material to serve as a conduit in the service of HaShem they felt, would be the enduring qualities of gold. Although the Israelites were later provided ways to serve HaShem through the physical structure of the Mishkan and its vessels, doing so without HaShem’s command and guidance doesn’t bring us closer but only further separates us from Him.
As tragic as the Sin of the Golden Calf may have been, while they gave away their gold to create a connection to G-d, it is even more tragic in our days when people give away G-d to make gold.
Lesson
During my first year in yeshiva in September of 1980, a familiar tune became famous with the words, “We want Moshiach now! We don’t want to wait.” While patience is a virtue, we can learn from the episode of The Golden Calf that when the time arrives for Moshiach to come, the goal of creation will be realized, and we will not be delayed an hour or even one moment. The time when HaShem’s desire to have this (world) below a dwelling place will finally become realized, and no more waiting will be needed... ever again. For me personally, I just can’t wait.
“According to the Shulchan Aruch HaRav: One who does not innovate their Torah learning and merely reviews, even 101 times, has not fulfilled his obligation to study Torah.” (Hilchos Talmud Torah 1:1; 2:2, based on Sicha of the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Eve of the 12th Day of Sivan, 5743; cf Chagigah 3a)
“Supernal beings come to hear the novellae of Torah from those who dwell in this lower world... and every Jewish person is capable of revealing hidden wisdom and to introduce new ideas... and he is obligated to do so, in order to fulfill the mission of his soul” (Tanya, Iggeres HaKodesh 26, 145b)
