We have one
of the most notorious episodes of biblical history recorded in our
Parsha - the building of the golden calf. What was the transgression
regarding Israel's offense in building this seemingly idolatrous calf?
Well, it begins with the Israelites lack of appreciation of the
institution of Jewish time. The Torah records that Moses is late in
returning from his ascent on Mt. Sinai and the people panicked. They
should have known better. This first sin though comes to pale in
comparison to what they eventually do and that is the fashioning of
this golden calf. The people say to Aaron, the High Priest and Moses'
brother "Come make us a god who shall go before us." Aaron actually
facilitated their construction of the Golden Calf after which the
people say "This is your god O Israel, who brought you out of the land
of Israel."
To say the least, G-d is incensed in response to this travesty, Moses
is fuming. Because of this idolatrous infraction, it was decreed that
the entire generation of those who came out of Egypt would not gain
entry into the Promised Land. But how about Aaron? He was the High
Priest. He also doesn't make it into the Promised Land and neither
does his brother Moses but he otherwise gets off scot free. He is not
demoted. He doesn't lose his commission as the High Priest and, in
fact, the Priesthood continued to his descendants unto this present
day.
Some modern scholars question if the construction of the Golden Calf
was really an outright act of idolatry. They point out that the calf
was not considered a god itself but the place on which G-d's presence
would dwell. In fact, after building this calf, Aaron then builds an
altar and says that on the morrow, they will celebrate a festival of
the Lord. The Hebrew word for Lord here is the traditional Yud, Hey,
Vav, Hey. It is the same G-d they worshiped the day before with the
added ingredient of this calf.
Traditional commentators including Rashi say that Aaron acquiesced in
building the calf but in telling the people to bring their own gold
and jewels, he was really stalling them in the hope that Moses would
return before anything could be built. Unfortunately the people worked
faster than Moses who was functioning on Jewish overtime. In further
attempts to forgive Aaron, the Talmud reasons that another leader of
Israel, Hur, had recently been killed by the people when he refused to
act on their demands. Aaron acts here both to save his own life and
tries to maintain some peace amongst the populous rather than have
them riot and even kill their High Priest.
Aaron is the quintessential exemplar of peace in our tradition. There
are numerous stories of how Aaron brought about peace. One describes
how Aaron facilitates a reconciliation between two individuals who
had been at great odds for some time. If we'll call the two men Chaim
and Shmuel, Aaron tells Chaim how he heard Shmuel saying some nice
things about him and how Shmuel would like to get past their
grievances. Aaron tells the same thing to Shmuel about Chaim and the
two former friends resume their friendship. A white lie for sure and
in the pursuit of peace, Aaron is praised. Still Aaron may have gone
too far in the building of the calf but his motives were pure and he
maintained his love of peace throughout his life.
There is a beautiful teaching in the Rabbinic text "Pirkei Avot"-The
Teachings of Our Ancestors. In the book's first chapter we find
"Hillel would say: 'Be amongst the disciples of the High Priest Aaron;
be one who loves peace and one who pursues peace, love others and
bring them closer to Torah.'" The Hebrew for the words 'one who loves
peace' is Ohev Shalom. That is the textual source for the name of our
synagogue. According to Hillel, we are to emulate the peaceful ways of
the first High Priest Aaron. Moses was the lawgiver and so could not
tolerate any deviation from the law. Aaron as the high priest
ministered to the people and officiated when they brought their sin
offerings for their own transgressions. He cared for them aware of
their imperfections.
We are about to celebrate our thirty-second anniversary on Purim
evening, March 21st. We have truly been disciples of the High Priest
Aaron. We are a synagogue which, in so many ways, exemplifies a love
and practice of peace and peaceful ways. On the eve of our
anniversary, we should dedicate ourselves anew to the mission
expressed in Hillel's teaching. Let us always love peace and pursue
peace. Let us demonstrate a caring and love for each other and
together draw closer to Torah.
Shabbat
Shalom
