Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The haftarah for Shabbat Chol HaMoed Pesach consists of the famous passage found in Sefer Yechezkel 37:1-14 that focuses upon the navi’s vision of the dry bones, and their subsequent techiyat hameitim—resurrection. The first three pasukim set the stage for this famous encounter:

The hand of the Lord came upon me and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley, and that was full of bones. And He made me pass by them round about, and lo! They were exceedingly many on the surface of the valley, and lo! They were exceedingly dry. Then He said to me; “Son of man, can these bones become alive?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You [alone] know.” (Verses 1-3, this and all Tanach translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach)
 
Chazal differ regarding the nature of this nevuah, does it speak of that which Yechezkel directly witnessed, or was it a mashal—a parable?

…the view that in truth [the story of the resurrection of the dry bones] was [but] a
parable… Rabbi Yehudah said: “It was truth; it was a parable.” Rabbi Nechemiah said to him: “If truth, why a parable; and if a parable, why truth?” But [say thus]: “In the truth there was but a parable.” Rabbi Eliezer the son of Rabbi Jose the Galilean said: “The dead whom Ezekiel revived went up to Palestine, married wives and begat sons and daughters.” Rabbi Yehudah b. Bathyra rose up and said: “I am one of their descendants, and these are the tefillin which my grandfather left me [as an heirloom] from them.” (Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 92b, translation, The Soncino Talmud)
 
Clearly, these sages maintain different views as to what took place during Yechezkel’s prophetic rendezvous. In addition, this multiplicity of opinions continued long after the close of the Talmud. By way of illustration, in his Moreh HaNevuchim, the Rambam zatzal (1135-1204), in opposition to most of the best-known meforshim, maintains that Yechezkel’s vision of the dry bones and their ensuing resurrection was, indeed, a mashal (II:46). Nonetheless, the concept of techiyat hameitim is universally embraced by all classic Jewish thinkers. Little wonder, then, that the Rambam unequivocally states: “Techiyat hameitim is a fundamental principle of the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu. There is no religion of, or connection to, the Jewish people if one does not believe in this…” (Perush HaMishnaiyot, Sanhedrin, Hakdamah l’Perek Chalek, Rabbi Yosef David Kapach zatzal edition, page 139, translation my own) In addition, he categorizes this theological principle among his celebrated 13 Ikkarei Emunah (page 142), and codifies its singular import in the Mishneh Torah in his list of 24 types of individuals she’ain lahem chalek l’olam habah—that are denied a portion in the world to come: “The following individuals do not have a portion in the world to come. Rather, their [souls] are cut off, and they are judged for their great wickedness and sins, forever... those who deny the resurrection of the dead and the coming of the [Messianic] redeemer.” (Hilchot Teshuvah, III:6, translation, Rabbi Eliyahu Touger)
 
Due to a great number of specious criticisms levelled against his presentation of techiyat hameitim, the Rambam wrote a monograph entitled, “Ma’amar Techiyat Hameitim,” to clarify his position. Therein he states: “I have explained to them that techiyat hameitim is a fundamental Torah principle that consists of chazarat hanefesh l’guf—the return of the soul to the body—and that one should not alter this concept in any manner from its direct and basic meaning.” (Rabbi Yosef David Kapach edition, page 79, this and the following translation my own) As such, basing himself on the earlier-cited passage from Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin, the Rambam maintains:

And it appears to us from these statements, that those people whose souls will return to their bodies [will live life as we know it to be]. They will eat and drink, engage in marital relations and give birth, and ultimately die after a very long time—similar in kind to the days that will be in the times of the Mashiach. (Page 82, brackets my own)
 
In sum, the Rambam asserts techiyat hameitim to be an essential pillar of Torah thought. Moreover, it is to be understood at face value, namely, it literally means chazarat hanefesh l’guf, wherein those that merit this gift from Hashem will live again ba’olam hazeh--in this world.
 
May the time come soon and, in our days, when we will witness the fulfillment of the bracha recited three times daily in the weekday Shemoneh Esrai:

You are mighty forever, my Lord; You resurrect the dead; You are powerful to save. He causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall. He sustains the living with loving kindness, resurrects the dead with great mercy, supports the falling, heals the sick, releases the bound, and fulfills His trust to those who sleep in the dust. Who is like You, mighty One! And who can be compared to You, King, who brings death and restores life, and causes deliverance to spring forth! You are trustworthy to revive the dead. Blessed are You Lord, who revives the dead. (Translation, Chabad.org)
 
V'chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach​!
 
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
Many may also be found on http://www.yutorah.org using the search criteria Etengoff and the parasha’s name.
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: https://www.box.com/s/7bf01f9abcabf02e25c3
 
*** I have posted 164+ of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The Haggadah is a trans-historical multi-layered document that is the product of numerous Jewish cultures both in Israel and the Diaspora. As such, it may be viewed as one of the preeminent post-Tanach works since it captures the pathos, ethos, hopes, and visions of the entirety of our people. This leads us to an essential question: “Excluding actual citations from Tanach, what is one of the most ancient sections of the Haggadah?” According to many meforshim, it is the section known as “Rabban Gamliel hiyah omer:”
Rabban Gamliel used to say: Whoever does not mention these three things on Pesach does not fulfill his halachic responsibility, and these are they:

• Pesach
• Matzah
• and Maror

[The] Passover-offering [is offered] because the Ever-present One passed over the houses of our ancestors in Egypt. Unleavened bread [is eaten] because our forebears were redeemed from Egypt. [The] bitter herb is [eaten] because the Egyptians embittered the lives of our ancestors in Egypt. (Mishnah, Talmud Bavli 116a-b)

Rabban Gamliel’s initial statement: “Whoever does not mention these three things on Pesach does not fulfill his halachic responsibility,” immediately grabs our attention. At face value, it seems this refers to Sippur Yetziat Mitzraim. What is Sippur Yetziat Mitzraim? In broad strokes, my rebbi and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” by his students and followers, described the underlying narrative of the Exodus, and the consequent mitzvah for it to be retold “… as the story of Jewish destiny for all time—the eternal story of an eternal people. (Public lecture, March 1977, transcription my own) Thus, even though there are countless commentaries and halachic analyses concerning Rabban Gamliel’s statement, the direct explanation of his assertion seems to be “the eternal story of an eternal people” will not be adequately told if we do not explicitly mention Pesach, Matzah, and Maror.

The Rav was fond of the conceptual distinction between a nisa (object) and a nosa (subject). The former is something or someone acted upon, whereas the latter is an actor in the drama we call life. At first blush, we look at Pesach, Matzah, and Maror as mere objects that must be consumed during the Seder (inclusive of the Korban Pesach when the Holy Temple is extant). Yet, in a creative tour de force, Rav Soloveitchik perceived each of these items as a nosa, as an active participant in the mitzvah of Sippur Yitziat Mitzraim:

Sippur Yitziat Mitzraim is a blend of storytelling, Torah teaching, and eating symbolic food items. It is a fusion of the spoken word and the physiological functions of eating and drinking, the intermingling of physical pleasure with Torah debate, the combining of the word of God with an activity motivated by biological pressure and characteristic not only of man but of animals. Eating the paschal sacrifice, mazzah and maror constitutes a double mizvah. The mizvat akhilah, physically consuming these items, is per se, a religious performance, a maaseh kiyum mizvah. But eating the pesach, mazzah, and maror is also the instrument or medium of Sippur Yitziat Mitzraim, telling the story of the Exodus. We narrate the story not only through speech but through eating as well. [Therefore,] in order to fulfill the mizvah of sippur in the most perfect manner, one must interpret and explicate the symbolic meaning of pesach, mazzah, and maror. (Based on the March, 1977 public lecture, as recorded in Rabbi Menachem Genack’s, The Seder Night: An Exalted Evening, pages 92-93, bolding, underlining, and brackets my own)
 
In sum, and as I remember having heard when I attended this shiur, Pesach, Matzah, and Maror are far more than mere objects; instead, they are actual subjects and mesapprim (story tellers) of the Sippur Yitziat Mitzraim.

On another occasion, the Rav focused on the order of Pesach, Matzah and Maror when it seemingly should have been Maror, Pesach, and Matzah:

Historically, it would be more accurate that the order be Maror, Pesach, and Matzah, as the bitter torment preceded the Korban Pesach, and both preceded the baking of the Matzos, which took place on the day of the 15th. The sequence that the Haggadah provides is that of the importance of the Mitzvos. Pesach is the primary Halacha; [whereas] the Mitzvah of Matzah is dependent upon that of Korban Pesach… However, there is a second Mitzvah of Matzah, that of eating it with Maror… Maror has no Torah obligation today, for it is completely dependent upon the Korban Pesach; Maror is only a Rabbinic commandment when there is no Korban, and it thus is last in the sequence… This is the meaning of the sequence that we have in our Haggadah. (Transcribed from a public lecture by Rabbi Aton Holzer, Pesach to Go, Nissan 5768, page 22, underlining, brackets, and editing my own)

Herein, the Rav illuminates a classic exegetical problem inherent in Rabban Gamliel’s statement. True, were we to focus primarily upon the historical pain and suffering of our Egyptian forebears, the order should have been Maror, Pesach, and Matzah. Yet, as significant as the crucible of misery that the 210 years of slavery represents, the everlasting nature of the mitzvot must take precedence. Therefore, since “the Mitzvah of Matzah is dependent upon that of Korban Pesach,” Pesach, perforce, must be mentioned prior to Matzah, with Maror constituting the final part of the triumvirate.  

With Hashem’s help, may we be zocheh to experience the coming of Mashiach Tzidkeinu and the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash so that we may once again joyously offer the Korban Pesach. May this time come soon and in our days! V’chane yihi ratzon.

Shabbat Shalom and chag kasher v’sameach!
​
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
Many may also be found on http://www.yutorah.org using the search criteria Etengoff and the parasha’s name.
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected]
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: https://www.box.com/s/7bf01f9abcabf02e25c3
 
*** I have posted 164+ of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The laws regarding korbanot are one of the major themes of Sefer Vayikra. The Rambam (1135-1204) discusses their underlying rationale in two passages in The Guide of the Perplexed:

His wisdom, may He be exalted, and His gracious ruse, which is manifest in regard to all His creatures, did not require that He give us a Law prescribing the rejection, abandonment, and abolition of all these kinds of worship [practiced by the surrounding nations] … Therefore He, may He be exalted, suffered the above-mentioned kinds of worship to remain, but transferred them from created or imaginary and unreal things to His own name… (The Guide of the Perplexed, III:32, vol. II, p. 526, translation and notes, Dr. Shlomo Pines, underlining, brackets and bolding my own)
 
The second section appears in III:46. Herein, the Rambam maintains that korbanot are a negative response to delegitimize the practices of the surrounding idol-worshipping nations who forbade the offering of sheep (Egyptians), goats (Sabians), and oxen:

Thus it was in order to efface the traces of these incorrect opinions [that is, forbidding the offering of sheep, goats, and oxen] that we have been ordered by the Law to offer in sacrifices only these three species of quadrupeds: “When a man from [among] you brings a sacrifice to the Lord; from animals, from cattle or from the flock you shall bring your sacrifice.” (Sefer Vayikra 1:2) … Thus wrong opinions, which are diseases of the human soul, are cured by their contrary found at the other extreme. (pp. 581-582)
 
In sum, the Rambam maintained that the korbanot were included in the Torah as a concession to behaviors familiar to our forebears, and to negate the spurious opinions of the nations of the time. This is a causally and historically based analysis of this class of mitzvot. Not too surprisingly, nearly every classic meforash soundly rejects this approach.
 
The Ramban (1194-1270) is one of the most celebrated Torah thinkers to repudiate the Rambam’s position. In his Commentary on the Torah (Sefer Vayikra 1:9), he states that the Rambam’s words concerning this matter are patent nonsense (divrei havai). Moreover, he turns the Rambam’s historically based position on its head:

Behold when Noach and his three sons went out of the Ark, there were no Chaldeans and Egyptians in existence. Nevertheless, he offered korbanot that were pleasing to Hashem, concerning which it is stated: “And Hashem smelled the pleasant aroma, and Hashem said to Himself, ‘I will no longer curse the earth because of man…’ (Sefer Bereishit 8:21) Hevel, [who preceded Noach,] also brought a sacrifice from the first born and best of his flock. [Once again, Hashem’s response was completely positive]: “And Hashem turned to Hevel and to his offering.” (Sefer Bereishit 4:4) And, it must be noted, there was not even the remotest thought of idol worship in the world at that time! (Commentary on the Torah, translations, brackets and underlining my own; Tanach translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach, underlining and brackets my own).
 
The Ramban concludes his argument with these powerful words: “And cha v’shalom that one would even think that the sole purpose and ultimate value of the korbanot is to negate the notion of idol worship in the minds of the foolish!”

Like the Ramban, my rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” by his students and followers, strongly rejected the Rambam’s approach to the rationalization of the mitzvot. As we have seen in the case of korbanot, the Rambam focuses upon the “how” question, (that is, “How did sacrifices come to be?”) when analyzing this class of commandments. The Rav, however, vigorously repudiated this entire methodology:
​
Judging Maimonides’ undertaking retrospectively, one must admit that the master whose thought shaped Jewish ideology for centuries to come did not succeed in making his interpretation of the commandments prevalent in our world perspective.
 
While we recognize his opinions on more complicated problems such as prophecy, teleology and creation, we completely ignore most of his rational notions regarding the commandments. The reluctance on the part of the Jewish homo religiosus [religious person] to accept Maimonidean rationalistic ideas is not ascribable to any agnostic tendencies, but to the incontrovertible fact that such explanations neither edify nor inspire the religious consciousness. They are essentially, if not entirely, valueless for the religious interests we have most at heart. …
 
If rationalization is guided by the “how” question and by the principle of objectification then it is detrimental to religious thought. (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, The Halakhic Mind: An Essay on Jewish Tradition and Modern Thought, pp. 92 and 98, brackets, spacing and underlining my own)
 
In Rabbi Soloveitchik’s view, both in regard to the korbanot and other aspects of Jewish practice, the Rambam’s suggestion of historical bases for the mitzvot detracts from the holiness and uniqueness of the Torah’s revelation at Har Sinai. Moreover, he maintains that only interpretations of the Torah and mitzvot that “edify and inspire the religious consciousness” will enable us to grow closer to our Creator. This idea corresponds to the Rav’s emphasis regarding the ultimate import of devekut Hashem (cleaving to Hashem) that is so prominently presented in his work, “U’vikashtem Misham” (And From There He Will Search for You).
 
May we once again offer the korbanot in love and devotion to the Almighty in the soon to be rebuilt Beit HaMikdash. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
Many may also be found on http://www.yutorah.org using the search criteria Etengoff and the parasha’s name.
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: https://www.box.com/s/7bf01f9abcabf02e25c3
 
*** I have posted 164+ of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
Parashat Pekudei contains the final verse of Sefer Shemot: “For the cloud of Hashem was upon the Mishkan by day, and there was fire within it at night, before the eyes of the entire house of Israel in all their journeys.” (Sefer Shemot 40:38, this and all Bible translations, The Judaica Press Complete Tanach) A careful reading of this pasuk reveals that it is comprised of four separate and interrelated phrases, namely, “For the cloud of Hashem was upon the Mishkan by day,” “and there was fire within it at night,” “before the eyes of the entire house of Israel,” and “in all their journeys.”
 
HaRav Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal zatzal (1885-1945) was a rav, posek, author and Religious Zionist. In his posthumously published sefer, Mishneh Sochir, he notes that “it is well-known that there were seven clouds of glory (ananei hakavode) that provided for the needs of the Jewish people during their time in the desert. [Moreover,] because of these clouds, the Jewish people lacked for nothing.” He cites Moshe’s words to our forebears in support of this view: “For Hashem, your God, has blessed you in all the work of your hand; He knows of your walking through this great desert; these forty years that Hashem your God has been with you, you have lacked nothing.” (Sefer Devarim 2:7, Mishneh Sochir, Parashat Pekudei, s.v. ki anan, translations my own) In general, the ananei hakavode reflected the divine Providence (hasgacha pratit) that the Almighty bestowed upon our ancestors. Accordingly, “the cloud of Hashem [that] was upon the Mishkan by day,” represented: “…the highest form of humanly recognizable Divine Providence…in order for there to be the fire of Torah at night.” In other words, Hashem’s miraculous protection by day, made it possible for the Jewish people to freely and intensely learn Torah at night. In addition, he opines that this cloud was visible “before the eyes of the entire house of Israel,” so that “all the Jewish people could experience the self-same Divine Providence [and Presence] as the Mishkan itself.” As such, we have the fulfillment of Hashem’s rationale for the construction of the Mishkan: “And they shall make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in their midst.” (Sefer Shemot 25:8) This exposition provides a natural transition to the concluding phrase of our pasuk, “in all their journeys,” that is, Hashem is ever-present—not just during the 40 years in the desert, but rather, as Rav Teichtal notes, “even during the times the Jewish people travel through their [seemingly endless] exile.” In my view, this is reminiscent of the words penned by David HaMelech so long ago: “For Hashem will not forsake His people, nor will He desert His inheritance.” (Sefer Tehillim, 94:14)
 
The Vilna Gaon zatzal (“the Gra,” 1720-1797) examines our pasuk in light of the dialogue between Hashem and Moshe following the Chet HaEgel. In particular, he emphasizes the relationship that obtains between, “…I will perform wondrous acts such as have not been created upon all the earth and among all the nations…” (Sefer Shemot 34:10) and our pasuk:
And this that is written, “I will perform wondrous acts such as have not been created upon all the earth and among all the nations,” specifically refers to the indwelling of the Cloud of Glory on the Mishkan, and the splendor that rested thereupon, that went before the Jewish nation and was visible to the entire world. As the Torah states: “You, Hashem appear to them eye to eye and Your cloud rests over them. And You go before them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of fire by night.” (Sefer Bamidbar 14:14, Sefer Chumash HaGra, Parashat Ki Tisa 34:10, based upon Sefer Aderet Eliyahu, this and the following translations my own)
 
The Gra now contrasts the unique nature of the Cloud of Glory that was upon the Mishkan to that of the Cloud of Glory that accompanied the Jewish people during their departure from Egypt:

Even though there was a Cloud of Glory that accompanied and went before them during the Exodus, it was short-lived and remained with them only until the Sea of Reeds (Yam Suf). Moreover, it was invisible to most of the Jewish people, since it was seen solely by the prophets that were among them. This was not the case in this instance: “For the cloud of Hashem was upon the Mishkan by day…before the eyes of the entire house of Israel in all their journeys.”
 
In sum, the Gra maintains that there were two essential differences between the original Cloud of Glory that went before our people on their journey of redemption, and the one that rested upon the Mishkan: The Cloud of Glory of the Exodus was temporary in nature, whereas the Cloud resting on the Mishkan was permanent. Then, too, the Cloud of Glory was indiscernible to most of our nation, whereas the Cloud over the Mishkan was visible to the entire nation. What might account for these notable distinctions? The Gra suggests the following response:
​
These changes came about from the time of Moshe’s prayer and onward: “For how then will it be known that I have found favor in Your eyes, I and Your people? Is it not that You will go with us? Then I and Your people will be distinguished (v’niflinu) from every [other] nation on the face of the earth.” (Sefer Shemot 33:16) Then the Holy One answered Moshe: “And He said: ‘Behold! I will form a covenant; in the presence of all your people, I will perform wonders such as have not been created upon all the earth and among all the nations…’” (Sefer Shemot 34:10) [What was this?] This is what is meant by the expression, “in the eyes of the entire Jewish people.” (Sefer Devarim 31:7, 34:12) And it is for this that we wait once again.
 
In the Gra’s view, Moshe’s tefilah of reconciliation altered the very nature of the ananei hakavode. Now, every member of the Jewish people could perceive the vision of the Cloud of Glory resting upon the holy Mishkan: “And it is for this that we wait once again.”
 
With Hashem’s help, may we soon see the Cloud of Glory resting once again upon the rebuilt Beit HaMikdash. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
Past drashot may be found at my blog-website: http://reparashathashavuah.org
 
Many may also be found on http://www.yutorah.org using the search criteria Etengoff and the parasha’s name.
 
The email list, b’chasdei Hashem, has expanded to hundreds of people. I am always happy to add more members to the list. If you have family or friends you would like to have added, please do not hesitate to contact me via email mailto:[email protected].
 
*** My audio shiurim on the topics of Tefilah and Tanach may be found at: https://www.box.com/s/7bf01f9abcabf02e25c3
 
*** I have posted 164+ of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s English language audio shiurim (MP3 format) spanning the years 1958-1984. Please click on the highlighted link.

 
Rabbi David Etengoff
 
ה' יעזור וירחם על אחינו כל בני ישראל בארץ ישראל ובכל חלקי הארץ
 
The Chet HaEgel is one of the best-known passages in our parasha, and one of the most difficult and heart-rending incidents in the entire Torah. Chazal teach us in a variety of sources that this horrendous act was forgiven but never forgotten by the Master of the Universe. Year after year we ask ourselves the same question: “How was it possible for our ancestors to have participated in this heinous activity?” After all, Hashem had just taken us. out of Egypt with extraordinary wonders and miracles. In addition, He had revealed Himself to the entire nation at both Kriyat Yam Suf and Matan Torah. As such, the entire episode defies understanding and leaves us baffled.
 
My rebbe and mentor, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zatzal (1903-1993), known as “the Rav” by his students and followers, analyzed the Chet HaEgel on many occasions. In a public lecture held on March 12, 1979, he labeled this event a “puzzle that deals with [a] great people which reached the highest heights, who were converted into a primitive band of idol worshippers and idolaters.” Basing himself on the commentaries of a variety of Rishonim and Acharonim, the Rav maintained that the Chet HaEgel was not true avodah zarah. Instead, it was, at worst, an instance of shituf (adding or combining) wherein the people viewed the Egel HaZahav as the intermediary between themselves and God, rather than His replacement.  
 
The Rav noted that the concept of an intermediary between man and God is false from its inception. Alas, however, many of our ancestors viewed Moshe precisely in this manner:

The sin of the Egel was, in contrast to the Original Sin, the consequence of man’s self-negation and self-downgrading. The awareness of their smallness actually motivated them to sin… the people could not visualize the fulfillment of the great promise without Moshe’s leadership. (This, and the following transcriptions my own)
 
The Rav cited Sefer Shemot 32:1 to buttress his contention:

Meanwhile, the people began to realize that Moses was taking a long time to come down from the mountain. They gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Make us an oracle to lead us. We have no idea what happened to Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt…”
 
Consequently, the Rav asserted: “This was their mistake; no matter that Moses was the greatest prophet, the greatest of all men. Every plain Jew has access to the Ribono shel Olam.” Moreover, according to the Rav, Hashem’s promise to take the Jewish people out of Egypt was independent of Moshe’s presence. Accordingly, the purpose of the Egel HaZahav was to replace Moshe, not God, so that Hashem’s spirit could abide therein [that is, in the Egel HaZahav], just as it had in Moshe.
 
Heartbreakingly, even though it was not straightforward idol worship, the Egel HaZahav created a pirood (split) between Hashem and His beloved people that remains in effect until our own historical moment:

After the Revelation [Mount Sinai], Ha-Kadosh Barukh Hu [the Holy One blessed be He] was in the midst of the community. When the Jews worshipped the Golden Calf, however, He moved away once again; Ha-Kadosh Barukh Hu absented Himself. Had the sin of the Golden Calf not taken place, He would have been with the people forever. Jewish history would have been different. But the people did not understand. They made the Golden Calf, and as a result the Shekhinah [Divine Presence] removed Itself from their midst. (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, The Lord is Righteous in All His Ways: Reflections on the Tish’ah be-Av Kinot, Rabbi Jacob J. Schachter, editor, page 111, brackets my own)
 
The incident of the Egel HaZahav took place over three thousand years ago. How, then, can we understand it in terms that speak to us in the 21st Century? Let us turn to the Rav once again, and his trenchant analysis of this chata’ah gedolah (great sin, Sefer Shemot 32:31):

The Golden Calf epitomizes individuals throughout the ages who have sought to create new forms of religious experience and expression. Although many such efforts may be well-intentioned, they are not legitimate because they lack a divine mandate. This was the essence of the Golden Calf. Tampering with prayer, the priestly blessings, the synagogue or any other form of religious service is another form of that sin. At that time, the Israelites offered sacrifices to God. However, because God had not commanded such service, it was illegitimate and unacceptable. Therefore, we can see how critical it is that we maintain tradition, particularly regarding prayer. It is important to our survival as a people. (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Darosh Darash Yosef: Discourses of Rav Yosef Dov Halevi Soloveitchik on the Weekly Parashah, Rabbi Avishai C. David, editor, page 192)
 
With Hashem’s help, may we be zocheh to witness the fulfillment of Yermiyahu’s heartfelt words: “Hashiveinu Hashem alechah v’nashuvah; chadash yemeinu k’kedem—Cause us to return to You Hashem and we will return; renew our days as they were in former times.” (Megillat Eicah 5:21) For then, the Chet HaEgel will finally be completely expunged from our nation. May this take place soon and in our time. V’chane yihi ratzon.
 
Shabbat Shalom
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