Comentários de Citação sobre Êxodo 32:28

To know the number of those who remained. It is written [regarding the golden calf] “From the people approximately three thousand men fell” (Shemos 32:28), so by counting the fallen, [Hashem] knew the [number of the] remainder. Thus Rashi explains: When they fell because of the calf He counted the dead to know how many remained alive.

In my previously referenced compilation, [Ha’amek Davar], I explained that this was Moshe’s request after [the sin of the Golden] Calf: “Whoever is for God, [let him come] to me, and all the Levites gathered unto him.”²⁸Ex. 32:26. Moshe’s request was not directed to those who did not worship the Golden Calf, as there were many others [besides the Levites] who did not serve the Golden Calf; there were only three thousand men who had sinned.²⁹Verse 28 states that only three thousand men were killed by the Levites. Rather, [his request was directed to those who were on a high spiritual level] because he wanted to direct them to perform a very dangerous task of going from gate to gate and killing openly the men they were seeking. It was certainly possible that the [sinners’] relatives and friends would fight the Levites, resulting in atrocities from a battle ensuing in the camp. This dangerous task could not be achieved other than by one who was confident that he “is for God” [deeply immersed in God’s service]. This is similar to the way in which the Midrash Rabbah on Mattos³⁰Num., Parasha 22. explains the verse, “He whom you shall serve,”³¹Deut. 10:20. meaning, “You are to dedicate yourself to the Torah and to occupy yourself with the commandments [to the extent] that you have no other service,” i.e., he does not serve himself at all. [Only such a person] could be assured that calamity would not result from his passing [throughout the camp to kill those who served the Golden Calf]. The Levites were so successful that not a single one was harmed, and it was because of this that Moshe blessed them: “Dedicate yourselves [from] this day [forward] to God, for each has opposed his son and his brother, that He may bestow upon you a blessing [from] this day [forward].”³²Ex. 32:29. [Moshe] means that they had utterly forsaken their personal needs to the extent that it would not have been difficult for them to kill his son or brother by his own hand. It is because of this that the Levites were blessed [by Moshe] in the wilderness [so they] could reach this elevated manner of service. This is explained further [in the previously referenced Ha’amek Davar].

I am convinced that not all of the Jewish people committed this error and that is why they did not all die. Among those who did not agree with the philosphy espoused by the enthusiastic followers of the golden calf some protested whereas some were powerless to counter the new philosophy. From the fact that the leaders of the new cult addressed the people saying: "these are your gods," instead of saying: "these are our gods," it is clear that they were in a minority. They also did not say "who have brought us out of Egypt," but they said "who have brought you up from Egypt;" all of this proves that the people who said this were a small minority at that time. Some of the people accepted this line of reasoning, others did not. Our sages in Shemot Rabbah 42,6 state that the whole episode of the golden calf was initiated by members of the mixed multitude, and that the Israelites did not agree with them at all. Had they agreed with the mixed multitude they would all have been guilty of the death penalty as G'd holds one responsible even for idolatrous thoughts not merely for idolatrous actions. The Israelites' sin consisted in their failure to protest what was going on and that is why the people were punished en masse except for a few whose hearts were tested by G'd and the Levites who had remained opposed and whom G'd charged with the task of executing Jews who actively worshiped the golden calf. Once the calf had been made, at least some of the natural-born Israelites erred and believed it possessed some divine powers, and that is why the Torah reported in verse 28 that about "three thousand of the people 'fell' on that day." Seeing that in verse 27 the Levites had been instructed not to spare family members when executing these idol worshipers, we must accept that natural-born Jews were amongst those who worshiped the calf and who were executed, seeing they did not desist in spite of warnings and witnesses.