Ki Tisa 2023
Isaac’s Parsha Corner · 2023
“And they said, “these are your leaders (god’s) who led you out of Egypt” (Ex 32:4)
Really? Did they really believe that a golden calf led them out of Egypt? It seems preposterous! There is a tradition quoted by Rashi that the Egyptian converts were the ones attracted to the golden calf. They convinced the general population to go along with the myth. What was it about the golden calf that made it so seductive? The Pasuk says that Aaron threw the gold into the fire and the calf just emerged from the fire! How could that have happened? Why did it happen? Why did a calf come out and not some other figure or form? “These” implies that the people believed in several leaders or forces, yet there was only one calf.
There is a general approach among the traditional commentaries to downgrade the sin of the golden calf from idol worship to something less severe or something less serious. We may follow their thinking by understanding better the story and the background behind the golden calf.
Who were these Egyptian converts? These were people who remembered Joseph and his power. To them Joseph was a sorcerer and a magician. For them Joseph’s bones shared in the splitting of the sea with Moshe. “And the sea saw and it raced (split). What did it see? A. It saw the bones of Joseph.” (Midrash) “And a new king arose who did not know Joseph.” The converts remembered what Pharaoh did not. To them the Exodus and all the miracles against Egypt was payback by Joseph or his associate Moshe to revenge Pharaoh’s forgetting all the good that Joseph brought to the nation of Egypt. They worshiped Joseph’s memory and his power.
“All the people were busy borrowing and collecting Egyptian assets while Moshe was busy collecting the bones of Joseph.” How did Moshe find Joseph’s bones? Micha had a shard with God’s name written upon it. He threw it into the Nile and Joseph’s coffin rose to the surface. Micha took that same shard and threw into Aaron’s pot of gold and from there emerged the golden calf.” (Midrash) The calf could be a depiction of Joseph as he is referred to as an Ox. It was Joshua, a descendant of Joseph about whom Moshe wrote “It will be Joseph’s horns that will gore the kings (of Canaan)”.
This explains the story as the converts must have cried out “See Joseph is back and he will lead us forward.” Many Jews were persuaded by this mystical event and even began to worship this new leader.
The replacing of the Moshe with a Joseph image was a serious error and needed atonement as people will often be seduced by myth instead of reality. As we read this story again, we can understand its relevance. Many among us prefer the mystical over the Torah and are often seduced and lead astray from our tradition. “You shall be straight and pure with your God” do not follow superstition or false powers. Remember the lesson of the golden calf and the consequences to its followers.
(A similar approach can be found in the Kli Yakar on the Parsha)
Good Shabbat