This week’s Torah reading records the story of the golden calf. This is widely regarded as one of the most disgraceful moments in Jewish history. The Torah describes 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 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.
Meanwhile up on Mount Sinai, G-d told Moses to descend informing him that his nation has become corrupt. He further informed him that he would destroy the nation and rebuild a new nation which would solely descend from Moses.
Moses prayed for G-d to stay His wrath. He then came down the mountain, and together with his disciple Joshua, turned to enter the camp. Utter carnage met his eye. Drunken revelry, blasphemy, adultery and idolatry. Outraged, Moses took the tablets that were given to Him by G-d, and hurled them to the ground, shattering them. According to one interpretation Moses reasoned: “Better the Jews be judged as an unmarried woman (who acts promiscuously) than as a married one.” The tablets were the marriage contract between G-d and the Jews, so once the tablets were given to them, their punishment would be much harsher. Moses destroyed the marriage contract to minimise the severity of the sin and the consequent punishment.
The Talmud states that when Moses broke the tablets, G d agreed with his action and praised him. This is made even stranger when we take a look at the end of the Torah which concludes with a description of Moses’ greatness, and the final words are, “All the great wonders that he performed before the eyes of the Jewish people.” Rashi, concluding his commentary on the entire Torah writes: “This ‘wonder’ that he performed before the eyes of the people was the smashing of the tablets, and G d agreed with him and praised him.” Astonishing! The entire Torah ends with the statement that Moses’ breaking of the tablets, a result of perhaps the gravest sin ever committed, was praiseworthy. Why?
In truth, the smashing of the tablets was Moses’ greatest display of love for his people and his crowning moment as a leader. Moses’s entire existence was Torah. His life’s mission was to receive the Torah from G d and teach it to the Jews. So intense was Moses’ connection with Torah, it is even called “the Torah of Moses.” Yet, he was willing to sacrifice the Torah for his people. When he saw them sinning, and knew that were he to give them the tablets their punishment would be more severe (as explained in the Midrash above), he decided to break the tablets. So great was his love for his people, that even when they were in a disgraceful state, worshipping idols, he was still willing to “smash the Torah” for the sake of his people. As a true Jewish leader, he was willing to put his people before all. This is why G d not only agreed with his actions, but praised him, for this was the ultimate act of a dedicated leader. This is also why the Torah ends with an allusion to this incident, for this was Moses’ defining moment.
