Musar do Amosa 9:1

The paragraph then tells us that the camp of the Israelites had become purified of the remnants of the sin of the golden calf and was now a holy camp. There follows the paragraph dealing with details of the observance of a פסח שני, a "second Passover," i.e. a Passover for those who had been genuinely unable to observe the Passover on the original date due to no fault of their own. When Israel served the golden calf, they in effect exchanged their zodiac sign of the ram for the zodiac sign of the bull. This was due to the mixed multitude of Egyptians who had accompanied them out of Egypt and had seduced them. Those people had originally served the sign of Aries (ram), but due to the defeat of the Egyptian nation who had up to then worshiped that sign, they now chose the next constellation, i.e. Taurus, the bull. This is why the פסח שני, second Passover, has to be observed in the month of lyar, which is the month of the sign Taurus. By observing the Passover in that month they declared that they had abandoned any vestige of worshiping that sign. In fact it demonstrated that the whole idea of worshiping zodiac signs was bankrupt, and that they had been weaned from it. This is what Amos 9,1 may have referred to when he said: הך הכפתור וירעשו הסיפים וכו', "Smite the lintel so that the posts may shake, etc." These wicked opportunists, the ערב אב that Moses allowed to join the Jewish people, were not only wicked but also very foolish. They should have realized that if their time honored horoscope had been discredited, any new horoscopic constellation they would adopt as their celestial protector would be even less effective.

The center of the world, the Holy Temple, is also alluded to here: Bereshit Rabbah states that the ladder is hyperbole for the כבש, ramp of the altar, the words מוצב ארצה, being understood as a reference to the "earthen altar" G–d wished the Jewish people to build (Exodus 20,21). The words וראשו מגיע השמימה, its top reaches Heaven, is understood by the same Midrash as referring to the fragrance of the sacrifices offered on the altar. The מלאכים described as ascending and descending are the High Priests ascending and descending the ramp of the altar when performing the service in the Temple. The words: והנה ה' נצב עליו, are compared to: ראיתי את ה' ניצב על המזבח, "I had a vision of seeing G–d standing on top of the altar" (Amos 9,1). Thus far the Midrash. At the end of Jacob's dream we also find an allusion to the building of the Temple, its destruction, and the eventual rebuilding of it, as will be demonstrated later.