Ki Sisa 5775:  What Happened?

By Rabbi Joshua (precipitously known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

Parshas Ki Sisa recounts the incident of the sin of the eigel, the golden calf. There is a dispute among the commentators whether the people actually engaged in idol worship, or if they sought a new teacher to replace Moshe, in his absence, and chose the eigel. In either case, it is difficult to understand how a people who had recently witnessed so many miracles, and had received a revelation from God at Mt. Sinai, could fall so precipitously, either to idolatry or something close to idolatry. Nechama Leibowitz, in her Studies on the Weekly Sidra, writes that, actually, the fall is not that surprising, because it takes some time to become accustomed to following an entire corpus of laws, to live a Torah life, especially for a nation that had just emerged from years of slavery and subjugation. Perhaps, however, we can identify a more specific failing that led to the tragedy of the eigel.

Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky, in his Emes L’Ya’akov, identifies the problem as being a lack of a bitachon, of trust in God. After all, in the wilderness the people relied on the manna as their food supply, and they received it through Moshe’s merit. In his absence, they didn’t know where their next meal would come from, and they became desperate. Actually, though, says Rav Kamenetsky, the system of the manna was meant to build up the people’s trust in God. In his commentary to parshas Beshalach Rav Kamenetsky writes that this is why Moshe told the people, when they asked if they should go out to collect manna on Shabbos that they should eat what they had from the double portion that fell on Friday. Their question was motivated by the fact that manna did not fall on Shabbos, and they did not know if it had completely stopped then or not. Moshe told them to eat what they had, and trust in God that he would continue providing for them. The situation on Shabbos, then, when manna did not fall, was meant to develop their trust in God, and, by extension, we can see the entire phenomenon of the manna as a means of building up that trust. 

Rav Shlomo Brevda in his work on Purim, Kiymu Vekiblu, points out that trust in God is a major element in the acceptance of the Torah. Unity among the people, as one man with one heart, is a necessary component in that acceptance. As Rav Chaim Vital writes in his Sha’ar HaKedusha, jealousy and hatred, which are products of the violation of the prohibition to covet that which belongs to others, stem from a lack of trust in God. One who truly believes in God’s providence understands that He provides each person with what He understands is necessary for his particular needs. The manna, begun before the Torah was given at Mt. Sinai, was, we may suggest, a means of preparing the people for the acceptance of the Torah. When Moshe did not return from Mt. Sinai at the time the people expected him, their level of trust fell, and the result was that they turned to the eigel.

The rabbis tell us (Shabbos 88a) that on Purim, the Jewish people accepted the Torah anew. This re-acceptance is reflected in the fact that the people stood united, as against the charge of Haman, that they were a scattered, divided people. This unity demonstrated that their trust in God had been restored, and that they were, again, as one man with one heart. 

Purim blessings to all Netvorters.