Rav Meir of Permishlan zy”a. Rav Yoel asked him, “How are you doing“? Rav Tevli answered that he had been up all night because he was so bothered by the story of the eigel hazahav. How could such a great tzadik like Aharon Hakohen make an eigel?
Rav Yoel answered him by saying that he would explain the story of the eigel with a moshol:
A king once planted a very beautiful garden, which grew fine fruit. This king had an only son. One day, the king traveled away from home. While he was gone, his son went into the garden and destroyed all of the trees and fruits. When the king returned home and saw what his son had done, he became very angry. He told him, “I will forgive you this time. But if it happens again, I will punish you.”
The king then had his garden fixed.
A while later, the king left home again. Once again, his son went into the garden and destroyed the trees. When the king got home, he became irate, but he said, “I will forgive you this time as well, but I promise you that if you do this again, I will kill you!”
The next time the king left home, the son went into the garden once more, with intentions of destroying it. A friend of the king saw him, realized what he was about to do, and said, “Do you really want to break the trees so much that you can’t hold yourself back? Let me do it for you. You stay inside and don’t do anything.“
The friend’s intentions were to save the prince’s life. He knew that the king would fulfill his promise and kill his son, which would later cause him a lot of anguish. Therefore, he felt that it would be better for him to do than for the prince to do it.
This is also what Aharon did. He knew that Klal Yisroel had already sinned numerous times and, if they would sin again, Hashem would not forgive them. Therefore, he hurried to make the eigel himself in order to save them.
Drawn to Idols in Egypt:
Why did Moshe mention that Hashem took Klal Yisroel out of Egypt with great power? If he was trying to defend Klal Yisroel, how was this a defense?
The Alshich Hakadosh explains that Moshe was saying that Hashem should not be surprised that the nation was drawn to idol worship because they had been in Egypt, the most idolatrous land in the word, for many years. As a result, they had fallen to the 49th level of impurity and, in order to leave, Hashem had to use His great power and strong hand. Therefore, it was unsurprising that they had sinned in this way and they should not be harshly punished for it.
Their Hearts Were Not in Their Control:
Rav Yitzchok of Vorka zy”a (quoted in Sefer B’Yashishim Chochmah) asks why Moshe, who was trying to defend Klal Yisroel, would say that they committed a “grave sin”.
He answers that Moshe was defending Klal Yisroel by saying that they certainly did not sin deliberately because the sin itself was so big that they couldn’t possibly have had the ability to do it. They had just stood by Har Sinai and heard Hashem’s voice directly, and definitely would not have committed such a grave sin. He said that Hashem must have caused the sin to occur and the people were not in control of their actions. Therefore, they should not be punished.
This is, in fact, stated in the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 4B): “Rav Yehoshua ben Levi said that Yisroel only made the eigel in order to open the door for baalei teshuva...” Rav Yochanon further stated that Dovid was not holding by such a sin (with Bassheva) and Klal Yisroel was not holding by committing such a sin...He says that these sins were caused to occur so that people who sinned in the future would know that they could do teshuva.
Rashi explains that Klal Yisroel were in control of the yeitzer hara and it should not have been able to overpower them. Rather, it was Hashem’s decree that they should lose control of themselves in order to help sinners of the future and teach them that they can do teshuva.
A Big Mistake:
Sefer M’Zekeinim Esbonen quotes Rav Mordechai Chaim of Slonim zy”a as saying the following in the name of the Sar Shalom of Belz zy”a:
When someone asks forgiveness from Hashem, it would make sense to minimize the sin. Why did Moshe refer to the eigel as a “grave sin”?
Chazal say (Yoma 86B) that the word “avon” refers to an intentional sin, while the word “chet” refers to an unintentional sin. Moshe was saying that Klal Yisroel did a “big chet”, meaning that they made a big mistake, but the sin was unintentional.
No One to Rely On:
The Dubno Magid zt”l explains this pasuk with a moshol:
There once was a high-ranking minister who had a relative who was arrested numerous times for stealing from the king’s treasure house. Every time he was arrested, the minister would speak in his defense and use his connections to set him free without punishment. This thief once went too far and stole a very substantial amount of money from the king’s treasury, and the minister couldn’t come up with any way to save him from judgment.
He approached the king and said, “Your majesty, I request to be relived of my position.”
The king was surprised by this request and asked for an explanation. The minister said, “My relative always depends on me to save him when he steals. That’s why he keeps stealing. If I quit my job, there will be no one to speak on his behalf, and he will stop stealing.”
This is what Moshe Rabenu said to Hashem. “Erase my name from Your book.” Klal Yisroel depends on me to speak to You on their behalf. Therefore, I ask to be taken out of the picture so that they will have no one to rely on and, therefore, will stop sinning.
The Sin of Depression:
Sefer Tiferes Yisroel (Perek 1, Ois 17) quotes Rav Shraga Feivel of Gritza zy”a (the father of Rav Yechiel of Alexander zy”a and grandfather of the Yismach Yisroel zy”a) as relating that the first time he went to see the Chozeh of Lublin zy”a, the Chozeh spoke about this pasuk. He said that we see from the verse that the people’s main sin was the fact that they mourned and became depressed after they sinned. He translated the words “v’lo shasu ish es adav alav” to mean that they didn’t take to heart the fact that they were still holy people, who are an adornment of finery to Hashem, and they should move forward, leaving the past in the past.
After hearing this explanation, Rav Shraga Feivel decided to connect himself with the Chozeh and he became very close to him.
Davening for One’s Friend:
The Gemara states (Brachos 7A): “I will favor when I wish to favor” – even if the person is undeserving. “I will have compassion when I wish to have compassion” – even if the person is undeserving.
Sefer Tiferes Shlomo says that from this pasuk we see the power of davening for one’s friend. He understands it to mean that Hashem will grant favor even if the person who is davening is undeserving and He will grant compassion even if the person one is davening for is undeserving. He will still accept this prayer because one who davens for his friend is answered first (Bava Kama 92A).
A Small Bundle of Aveiros:
Sefer Kobetz Eliyahu (written by Rav Chaim Eliyahu Sternberg zt”l, Bais Chernobyl Ois 48) relates that next door to the Me’ohr Einayim zy”a, there lived an irreligious Jew who transgressed every mitzvah in the Torah. This man made sure to avoid the Me’ohr Einayim, as it was known that the Rebbe could see every man’s sins. One day, however, he inadvertently bumped into the Rebbe, who proceeded to tell him all the aveiros he had done. This caused the man to faint.
When he was revived, he went into the Me’ohr Einayim’s home, but the only one in the house at the time was his son, Rav Mordechai of Chernobyl zy”a. He told Rav Mordechai what happened and asked him to tell him how to do teshuva.
Rav Mordechai told him, “I won’t tell you to engage in any bodily afflictions. All I ask of you is to accept not to return to your previous ways from now on!”
The man asked, “How will I atone for my past sins?”
Rav Mordechai said, “If you don’t sin again, I will take your aveiros upon myself.”
The man agreed but said that he wanted it in writing. Rav Mordechai, “If you agree to sign on a document saying that you won’t go back to your sinful ways, I will sign the agreement.”
And so it was. The two of them wrote up the contract and signed it.
The neighbor went home and, as soon as he left, the Me’ohr Einayim entered his house and saw the contract on the table. He began to yell at his son for what he had done but Rav Mordechai said, “It says in the Torah that Hashem is ‘noseh avon’. He ‘carries sins’. If He can carry a huge bundle of sins, why can’t I carry a small bundle of sins so that this Jew will do teshuva?”
