Pemikiran Yahudi Mazmur 130:4: Akeidat Yitzchak

Our sages have characterised the three stages of our relationship with G'd, when they formulated the benediction describing the holiness of the day in our amidah, central prayer, commencing with the words attah bachartanu, You have chosen us. The expression "You have chosen us," refers to the selection of the Jewish people as the relatively better choice. This is why veromam-tanu You have elevated us, You have raised us from all the other nations. Ahavta otanu, You have loved us, is the second stage, which gives rise to vekidashtanu, You have sanctified us with mitzvot. Just as a man who selects a bride and establishes an exclusive claim on her, these commandments are performed willingly, they are chores whose performance is rooted in feelings of love of the bride for her groom. Finally, veratzita banu. You really wanted us for our own sake, therefore, vekeyravtanu la-avodatecha, You have established a close relationship with us so that we can truly be of service to You. As a result of establishing this relationship, G'd performed three acts. He allowed us to be identified with His great name. This corresponds to the paragraph in that prayer "and You have proclaimed Your great and holy name upon us." You have given us in love and goodwill the holydays for enjoyment." This corresponds to the part of the relationship characterised as veratzita banu ...When we conclude this benediction, we again recite in this order: "for us You have chosen, us You have sanctified and holidays You have allowed us to inherit." The visible expression of G'ds extreme goodwill is expressed by His assigning these holydays, so that women and children who are unable to study the holy writ, can comprehend the meaning of Torah by means of the ceremonies based on historical events performed on the Sabbath and the other holydays, i.e. "days of holy convocations." In this manner, women and children too can achieve a high level of bitachon, faith in G'ds individual Providence. Every child, after all, can answer questions as to why we observe certain holydays.

In order to comprehend what happened when Moses failed to return at the time expected, we must remember what the Torah tells us about the basic nature of man. We are told in Genesis 8,21, "for the impulse of man's heart is evil from its infancy." Even after man has absorbed the Divine teachings intellectually, his basic nature has not changed thereby. It is not in man's nature to become permanently free from sin so that we would have to view sin as a departure from his nature, and he would therefore forfeit his claim to a future in the hereafter. Sainthood is not demanded of man. What is demanded however, is that any relapse into sin be repaired through true repentance, in order for him to regain his stature as it was prior to his sin. This is the meaning of Exodus 34,6, "The Eternal, the Eternal is a merciful and gracious G-d." This means that G-d is saying "I am the Lord after you have sinned, just as I have been the Lord before you had sinned." The implication is that the likelihood of sin is about equal to the likelihood of saintly purity. Or, in the words of the Psalmist, (Psalms 130,3) "if You would keep remembering sins, O Lord, who could possibly stand up before You?" (Rosh Hashanah 17) The purpose of forgiveness after repentance is described as "so that You may be revered" (Psalms 130,4) It is the person who does not repent who truly merits punishment. If our sages viewed the institution of repentance as chronologically preceding the creation of man, this underlines the concept that sin is an integral part of the world we live in. (Pessachim 54) The episode of the golden calf then provided Israel with a chance to do what G-d had said, (Deut. 5,26) "would that their heart would revere Me." Had it been possible to create the nature of man so that he could be totally good, Israel could not have made the golden calf, for no other nation even approached the ideal of humanity as closely as Israel did at that time. Even G-d had expressed the wish that they should be able to maintain that level of piety in order to reap the fruits of such conduct. Israel's action in making the golden calf was proof that it was unrealistic to expect such high levels of piety and belief in G-d to be maintained at all times. Rabbi Yochanan told us then that Israel was certainly not at a low enough level at that time to have indulged in that sin, nor was David so enslaved to sensuality that the affair with Bat Sheva would be expected of him; rather, in spite of their respective high levels of morality, the nature of man made such sins possible. This teaches us the lesson of repentance as a corollary. David represents a lesson for the individual sinner, whereas Israel provides the example that even collective guilt can be forgiven. The Midrash then only supplied the answer to the question of why a golden calf had to be the idol chosen. The basic answer about why the sin took place at all, lies in the fact that it is in the nature of man to regress spiritually from time to time. Isaiah 43,26, tells us that the discussion of our sins rather than an attempt at whitewash, will bring righteousness in its wake. The Talmud Megillah 25, discusses a series of events with which the Torah deals, and which may be read in public both in Hebrew and in the vernacular. This may be done, though in the process some of our most famous heroes such as Abraham, Yehudah etc. may appear discredited in the ears of the listener. The decisive consideration in all these instances where superficial perusal may reflect discredit on a deserving person is, whether the moral lesson to be learned from the story outweighs the side effect it may produce. The story of the golden calf, discussed in the Torah on two occasions in considerable detail, teaches so much about the ways of G-d, that the fact that it makes Aaron appear as an accomplice is a calculated risk the Torah had to take. Normally, our sages prohibit readings in the vernacular, when they believe that the uneducated masses would form negative impressions about people in the story who are really free from blame. In our situation, the first half of the golden calf episode is permitted to be read also in the vernacular, because the lessons about the power of repentance and forgiveness are derived from that story. However chapter 32,21, is not to be read in the vernacular, since it deals with Aaron's specific involvement, and would give the uneducated listener the impression that Aaron's error was far greater than it actually was. Conversely, this would lead the masses to conclude that the people's involvement in that sin was far less serious than had been the case.

G-d’s instruction to Moses to return to the camp, (obliquely referred to by mentioning that his most trusted disciple Joshua had not departed from the tent) teaches us about the reciprocal relationship between Moses and (lehavdil) G-d. It was the former's task to assuage the latter when He was angry; on the other hand G-d would reciprocate when Moses was angry.