Pensamento Judaico sobre Êxodo 32:14

F) G'ds anger extended even to Aaron, who, though pure in motivation, had allowed himself to become the tool that brought that calf into existence. (3) Concerning Aaron, Moses uses the term le-hashmido, G'd wanted to wipe him out including his children. Moses then states "your sin which you committed, the calf that I took," in order to state clearly that Aaron's death or the death of his two sons was not due to his having personally participated in the sin of the golden calf. Aaron's innocence had been clear to Moses already at the time he smashed the tablets; therefore it had to be mentioned at this juncture. If further proof were needed of the people's frequent disobedience, the attempt to enter Canaan despite G'ds warning not to do so after the return of the spies, is ample evidence. There can be no greater kind of disobedience than that. Disobedience does not require some tangible symbol, or some leader around whom the people would gather and whom they would hold responsible for failure to implement their wishes successfully. (4) Moses demonstrates the power of prayer, which began before his descent the first time. At that time he had succeeded in preventing hashmadah, the wholesale destruction of the people, (see Exodus 32,14, "G'd comforted Himself regarding the evil He had said He would do to His people") Moses wanted to show that he had prayed in three stagess, and that his prayers had been accepted progressively. He had addressed himself to three problems. 1) hash-madah 2) hash-chatah 3) i.e. "do not turn to the obstinacy of this people and its sin." Item one is immediate death of the entire nation. Item two is the eventual demise of the whole nation. Item three would cover the long term effects in the disturbed relationship between Israel and its G'd. (5) The proof that all of Moses' prayers had been accepted, is found in the command "carve out yourself, two stone tablets." Once the original tablets have been replaced, this is proof that the status of the Jewish people had not undergone a change. G'd suggested that an ark be made to house the tablets. Moses acted like a craftsman and constructed the ark first. (10, 1-6) (6) Aaron's death was delayed till the fortieth year in order to preserve the ananey hakavod, the clouds indicating G'ds presence and the pillar of fire at night, all of which were due to his merit. (7) G'd continued to accept service by the priests and Levites despite the fact that the people had served the golden calf. Since the Levites lost their share in the distribution of the land due to the fact that they had replaced the firstborn as the natural priests, they were entitled to some form of compensation for the services they were rendering for the nation from then on. Restoration of wife number one to the husband mentioned in our parable at the outset, is completed herewith. Therefore, Moses emphasizes at this point that wife number two is not to be treated with disrespect again, nor is she to be deprived of her legitimate rights. Basically, this is the conclusion of Moses' speech, commenced in Parshat Devarim