Komentarz do Wyjścia 32:31

אלהי זהב GODS OF GOLD — Moses emphasized the word “gold” as some excuse for their sin: It is You who have caused them to do this, for You gave them gold in abundance and everything they wished; what else were they likely to do if not to sin? A parable: this may be compared to a king who provides his son with food and drink, attires him with beautiful garments and hangs a money-bag round his neck and then deliberately places him at the door of a house of ill-fame! What else is the son likely to do if not to sin!? (Berakhot 32a)

חטא העם הזה, "This nation has committed a very grave sin, etc." It is possible that with these words Moses alluded to something we have learned in Sotah 3, that no one commits a sin unless his brain had first malfunctioned, i.e. that he was out of his mind. This represents a defect in his spiritual life-force, his נפש. By saying חטא, Moses meant that the people's spiritual makeup had lacked an essential ingredient. This was the reason that they made a molten image for themselves. This is one of the arguments man will use after death when he faces His Maker and has to account for his sins in this life. He will claim that when he committed a sin he was not of sound mind. Although he will be punished, seeing he himself was the cause of being of unsound mind, his punishment will not be as severe as if he had been of perfectly sound mind at the time he comitted the sin.