Комментарий к Шмот 32:25

פרע means UNCOVERED — its (the people’s) shame and disgrace were revealed; the word has the same meaning as in (Numbers 5:18) “[and the priest shall uncover (ופרע) the woman’s head”.

AND MOSES SAW THAT THE PEOPLE WERE ‘PHARUA’ (BROKEN LOOSE). The meaning of this is that although Aaron defended himself and said that he was not at fault with them, yet Moses knew in his heart that the people were broken loose — For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them.³⁶⁸Deuteronomy 32:28. It is similar to the expression, ‘vatiphr’u’ (and ye have set at nought) all my counsel,³⁶⁹Proverbs 1:25. and similar also to the verse, for ‘hiphria’ (he had cast away restraint) in Judah, and acted treacherously against the Eternal.³⁷⁰II Chronicles 28:19. [Thus the verse is stating that Moses saw] that Aaron had let the people loose, and left them without any counsel and instruction, so that they became like sheep scattered upon the mountains³⁷¹See I Kings 22:17. without counsellor and guide. Scripture stated this [especially] because they had thought that the calf would be their guide, but in fact they appeared as if they had no counsel, not knowing the way wherein they must walk, and the deeds they must do,³⁷²Above, 18:20. for some of them intended it for the good, according to their way of thinking, and others intended it for real evil [i.e., outright idolatry], and thus each one went his own way.

כי פרוע הוא, they are totally corrupt, committing their sins in public without shame. The public deeds reveal their deep-seated corruption.

כי פרוע הוא, for it was out of control, etc. The Torah means that the people had forfeited the protective cover of the שכינה which had hovered over them since the revelation at Mount Sinai.

כי פרוע הוא, had ceased to observe the commandments. We encounter this expression in this sense in Proverbs 1,25 ותפרעו כל עצתי, “You have spurned all My advice.” It appears again in Proverbs 4,15 in a similar sense.

וירא משה, “Moses saw, etc.” Rashi says that even though Aaron had made excuses for the people, Moses, in his heart, did not accept this.” [I have not been able to find this remark by Rashi in our editions of Rashi’s commentary. I believe this is an error, and should be attributed to Nachmanides. Ed.]

V. 25. Aus diesem Berichte erkannte Mosche, dass die Stimme der Wahrheit und der Pflicht vollkommen aus dem Volke gewichen, es: פרוע (ja verwandt mit פרח ,פרא, ברח usw.) fessellos, der Kontrolle der Gesetzlichkeit und des Gewissens vollkommen bar geworden war; dass es aber zu dieser Zügellosigkeit nur gekommen, weil Aaron diese Stimme der Wahrheit und der Pflicht nicht mit männlicher Energie in ihrer Mitte zur Geltung gebracht, die Wahrheit und die Pflicht, die das kontrollierende Band ihres Wollens und Tuns sein sollten, ihnen gegenüber gar nicht vertreten, vielmehr das Volk völlig sich selbst überlassen hatte. Dieses "Sich-selbst" des Volkes wird aber hier wieder in seiner sittlichen Schwäche: פרעה, nicht: פרעו gezeichnet. Während nämlich auf der Seite des Gesetzes jede Vertretung fehlte, war auf der anderen Seite ein mächtiger Faktor tätig, der das sich selbst überlassene Volk widerstandslos zu sich hinüberzog, und das waren: קמים .קמיהם sind nämlich überall: die sich gegen eine Macht auflehnen und zu deren Vernichtung sich erheben. So gegen Davids Königswahl (Ps. 18, 40 und 49), gegen Israels Machtgröße (Dewarim 28, 7), gegen Jirmijas Propheteneinfluss (Klagel. 3, 62), gegen Gott (Schmot 15, 7; Ps. 74. 23; Jirmija 51, 1, wo Babel "das Herz, d. i. der Mittelpunkt der Gottesempörer" לב קמי genannt wird). Nun war ja Israel schwerlich zur Zeit eine zu fürchtende Macht, deren Feinde קמים zu nennen gewesen wären. Wir glauben daher, unter קמיהם so viel als: קמים אשר בתוכם, d. i. die in ihrer Mitte sich befindenden Empörer gegen Gott und sein Gesetz, verstehen zu dürfen. Es gab eine Minorität unter ihnen, vielleicht der ganze Tross des mit aus Ägypten gezogenen ערב רב, des אספסוף אשר בקרבו (Bamidbar 11, 4), die nur schwer das Joch des Gesetzes trugen, die in jeder Anforderung des Gesetzes einen Eingriff in ihre persönliche Freiheit erblickten, denen die heidnische Ungebundenheit lieber und die immer קמים, immer sich gegen Gott und sein Gesetz empörten und immer bereit waren, gegen Gott und sein Gesetz aufzustehen. So lange der Geist des Gesetzes seine Vertreter hatte und der Geist der Gesetzlichkeit die Majorität des Volkes an das Gesetz band, wagten diese nicht hervorzutreten, war wenigstens ihr Einfluss durch die von den Gesetzesvertretern im Volke genährte Huldigung des Gesetzes paralysiert. Allein wenn der Mosche fehlt, Aaron mehr als schweigt, und das sich selbst überlassene Volk durch die Umstände in einem von Gott und seinem Gesetze fernab führenden Wahn befangen ist, da haben diese קמים, diese Feinde der göttlichen Gesetzesmacht, leichtes Spiel, das haltlose Volk in seiner sittlichen Schwäche zu sich herüberzuziehen, und unter diesen קמים ließ Aaron das Volk לשמצה werden. שמצה wird gewöhnlich als Schmach, Hohn begriffen. Die Wurzel שמץ kommt hier und nur noch zweimal in Job vor: ומה שמץ דבר נשמע בו ,(4,12) ותקח אזני שמץ מנהו (14 ,26(. In beiden Stellen liegt aber kein Gedanke ferner, als der einer Schmähung oder Höhnung. Offenbar drückt שמץ in beiden Stellen die nur leise Spur eines wirklichen Daseins aus. Im ersten Satze will Elifas eine Offenbarung schildern, die ihm im nächtlichen Gesichte geworden: mir, sagt er, stahl ein Wort sich zu, mein Ohr hat davon eine Spur festgehalten. Der zweite Satz schließt eine prächtige Schilderung der Größe Gottes in der Natur mit den Worten: Siehe, das sind doch nur ein Teil seiner Wege, und welch ein Geringes von der Wirklichkeit ist damit zum Verständnis gebracht, den Donner seiner Allmacht, wer wagt den zu begreifen! Selbst im Munde der Weisen, die das Wort häufig im Zusammenhang mit פסול gebrauchen: שמץ פסול, liegt doch der Begriff Makel nicht im שמץ, sondern in שמץ .פסול bezeichnet ja vielmehr, dass das Dasein des Makels nicht gewiss, sondern dazu nur eine Vermutung da ist, und diese Abschwächung des Daseins liegt in שמץ. So selbst Aboda sara 30 b:המרא משום שמצא שיכרא משום שמצא דשמצא, wo שמצא דשמצא im Sinne des gewöhnlichen גזרה לגזרה steht. In חמרא selbst liegt nur eine Vermutung von יין נסך , und in שכרא nur die Vermutung, dass es zu המרא führen könnte. Der Zusammenhang weist somit überall der Wurzel שמץ die Bedeutung eines Mittelzustandes zwischen Sein und Nichtsein, somit den Begriff schwankender Unselbständigkeit zu. Sehen wir uns nach der Lautverwandtschaft um, so haben wir chaldäisch שמש: als Mittel zu etwas dienen, daher השתמש, sich einer Sache bedienen, und hebräisch שמש: der große lichtanzündende Gottesküster im großen Weltendom: die Sonne. Was שמש naturgemäß und zwanglos ausdrückt, das würde שמץ, dem ץ-Laut gemäß, gewalttätig und erzwungen bedeuten und sittlich: willenlos dem Willen anderer verfallen sein, physisch: die völlige Unselbständigkeit des Seins bezeichnen, und weist somit die Lautverwandtschaft ganz auf denselben Begriff hin, den der Zusammenhang lehrt. Wir glauben daher nicht irre zu gehen, indem wir in die völlige Unselbständigkeit, Willenlosigkeit, das völlige Preisgegebensein שמצה בקמיהם an die Einflüsse der steten Gesetzesfeinde in ihrer Mitte erblicken. Die Majorität war zur moralischen Minorität geworden.

לשמצה, ”as an object of derision;” every idolater will ridicule the Israelites for having made for themselves such a golden calf. When they do, we have to remind them that they do something similar every day, so how can they have the audacity to fault us for what happened one single time? Let us illustrate the scenario by a simple parable. A King had a beautiful wife; all his servant maids kept provoking her by saying that the day would come when he would divorce her and take one of them as a wife instead. When the queen asked them what prompted them to make such a statement, they said to her that they had observed the king when he came from the market he noticed that the queen’s hand had some speck of dirt clinging to her hand, something that he could not stand. The queen replied that the servant maids were very foolish if they think that on account of a speck of dust that I can wipe off with a flick of my finger he would divorce me and exchange me for someone who is covered with mud sticking to their skin all the time.

כי פרוע הוא, “that the people were completely out of control;” they had completely abandoned their Creator’s commandments. The root פרע here is used in a similar sense as when Pharaoh accused Moses and Aaron as making the people completely unruly by promising them a holiday from hard labour for three days. ?למה תפריעו את העם ממעשיו (Exodus 5,4)

לשמצה בקמיהם means, that this thing would become an ignominy for them in the mouth of all who will rise against them.

L’SHIMTZAH B’KAMEIHEM’ (FOR A DERISION AMONG THEIR ENEMIES). This means that even those who had no evil design [in the affair of the golden calf] will be slandered throughout the generations by the evil report of their enemies, who will say that the whole people were bereft of counsel and instruction; some [of the nations] will say it for a purely evil purpose, and others will merely say it in the lips of the talkers, and the evil report of the people.³⁷³Ezekiel 36:3. Moses said this with reference to Aaron, meaning that he sinned towards all [i.e., even towards those who did not really intend to sin in the matter of the golden calf]. This is in accordance with the opinion of Onkelos who translated l’shimtzah b’kameihem — “to give them a bad name in their generations.” However, since Onkelos rendered it “in their generations,”³⁷⁴In other words, Onkelos’ translation of l’shimtzah as meaning “for an evil report” is in agreement with the above interpretation. However, that which Onkelos said “in their generations” shows that his intent is that even throughout the generations in Israel this affair will become a source of evil, as is explained further on. it would seem that his intention was to explain that the calf which they made will become a cause of evil talk throughout the generations of Israel, for they will say: “It was not in vain that our fathers made the calf and worshipped it, for they knew that it was this which brought them up out of the land of Egypt, and they found worshipping it to be to their benefit, so we will do likewise, it being better for us to serve it;” as indeed happened in the case of Jeroboam who said, Ye have gone up long enough to Jerusalem; behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.³⁷⁵I Kings 12:28. Moses thus saw how the incident of the calf would remain a cause for sin throughout the generations.

כי פרעה אהרן, Aaron had brought to light the fact that there are no righteous people among them. Had there been any righteous people among them, surely they would have come to the assistance of Aaron so that Aaron would not have been forced to have a share in this golden calf at all.

לשמצה, to become a source of ridicule and derision to their enemies. Compare Job 4,12 ותקח אזני שמץ מנהו, “my ear caught a derogatory meaning in it.” A reference to some word of derision.

כי פרוע הוא, “that the inner motivations of the people had become revealed,” i.e. that they were innately wicked, they were a nation that had completely lost its spiritual directions, pursuing a totally destructive path. (similar to Deut. 32,28 גוי אובד עצות ואין בהם תבונה)

כי פרעה אהרון, "for Aaron had let them loose." Perhaps the Torah means that having heard Aaron's answer Moses was now certain that the fault was entirely the people's seeing that Aaron's part in the debacle had been quite incidental. The real fault lay with the people who had contributed their gold, and the sorcery which had subsequently been performed with that gold. The literal meaning of these words then would be that by his explanation Aaron had let loose an accusation at the people.

Now shimtzah according to Onkelos means “evil report,” it being a common term in the language of our Rabbis, such as “a shemetz (a blemish of) descent.”³⁷⁶Pesachim 3b. Perhaps according to their³⁷⁷Onkelos’ and that of the Rabbis, as mentioned above. opinion, that which Scripture states, and mine ear received a ‘shemetz’ thereof,³⁷⁸Job 4:12. also means that his [i.e., Eliphaz the Temanite’s] ear received knowledge of man’s blemish and imperfection, saying, Behold, He putteth no trust in His servants, and His angels He chargeth with folly; how much less them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in dust.³⁷⁹Ibid., Verses 18-19. Similarly, and what ‘shemetz davar’ is heard of Him³⁸⁰Ibid., 26:14. means that of all His ways there is nothing deserving of reproach or censure, but only praise and adoration.
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture shemetz means “little.” Thus [and mine ear received a ‘shemetz’ thereof³⁷⁸Job 4:12. means] that his ear received but a whisper thereof. And what ‘shemetz davar’ is heard of Him³⁸⁰Ibid., 26:14. means that whatever is heard and said about G-d’s strength and His powers, is but a minute amount in relation to the greatness of His deeds. Similarly, l’shimtzah b’kameihem means that Aaron had uncovered the people, thus enabling their enemies to diminish them, for this great sin would lessen them in the eyes of their enemies, or reduce their merits when coming to battle with the enemy, something like that which is said, and I shall diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations,³⁸¹Ezekiel 29:15. or as it is said, O Eternal, correct me, but in measure; not in Thine anger, lest Thou diminish me.³⁸²Jeremiah 10:24.

לשמצה בקמיהם.Giving them a bad name among their enemies. Israel’s enemies would say about them that they had breached their covenant with their Lord, and that there was not a single one among them who was a good person, and that they did not even heed the instructions of their prophets. Even though only a small minority had ganged up on Aaron, the entire people’s reputation would now be dragged through the mud.

כי פרעה אהרן, “for Aaron had exposed them.” Aaron was responsible for depriving the people of their normal intelligence and moral scruples. Moses said this as he realised that the people had become so confused that they imagined that this golden calf could serve them as a guide on their journeys through the desert. Anyone confused to such an extent must be considered as having completely lost his senses. As a result, some of the people, though misguided, entertained worthy thoughts, whereas others, entertained completely idolatrous thoughts.

לשמצה בקמיהם for a derision among their enemies. Any small measure of an abomination is called שמץ. Our sages in Sanhedrin 102 state that ever since the episode of the golden calf any punishment the Israelites face for any sin committed since, contains some small part of the punishment which had not been administered at the time they committed that sin. It may also mean that whenever the nations display hostility against the Jews one of their arguments of our unworthiness includes a reminder of the sin of the golden calf this nation had become guilty of.

לשמצה בקמיהם, “as a disgrace among those who would rise up against them.” Even the portion of the people whose intentions were perfectly innocent will become the pretext for others to point at the disgraceful conduct of the Jewish people for all future generations. [as their intentions were not clear, seeing they had not voiced opposition to those who were bent on idolatry. Ed.] The historians would conclude that all the Jews had been of one mind at that time. The accusations labeled against all the people on that account would give Satan a valuable tool to use against the Jews. According to the plain meaning of the text, the פשט, the word שמצה, derived from שמץ, something minute, means that as a result of this episode, the Jewish people had forfeited their image of being a unique and spiritually superior people, and they would henceforth be considered in the eyes of the nations as of very small stature. (compare for the meaning of שמץ Job 4,12 ותקח אזני שמץ, “my ear caught a whisper” something barely audible) of it. Or, in the sense of Israel losing its accumulated merits in the Book of G’d, [ספר זכויות as in the אבינו מלכנו prayer. Ed.] our positive balance in that book would shrink to zero. This would be most harmful whenever we would face enemies in battle.