Midrash sa Jeremias 2:13: Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Shir HaShirim Rabbah, Shemot Rabbah & Sifrei Devarim

R. Nachman asked R. Isaac again: "What is the meaning of the passage (Jer. 2, 13) For, two evils have my people committed. Are there only two? How about the remaining twenty-two [which are subsequently enumerated, in the same chapter], were they then forgiven?" Whereupon R. Isaac answered: "Thus said R. Jochanan: 'One evil (Ib. b) is considered as two; namely, idolatry, as is written immediately after. Me, have they forsaken, the source of living waters, to hew out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns; and there it is also written: For pass over to the isles of the Kittites, and see; and unto Kedar send, and consider well; and see if anything like this hath happened. Hath a nation exchanged its gods, which are yet no gods? And still my people hath exchanged its glory for that which cannot profit.'" In a Baraitha we are taught: "The Kittites worship fire and the inhabitants of Kedar worship water, and though knowing that water extinguishes fire, they nevertheless did not exchange their god, while my people exchanged their God for that which cannot profit."

“That the sun has tanned me,” Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said in the name of Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great: It is written: “For My people have performed two evils” (Jeremiah 2:13). Did they not forsake many more [than two commandments]? Rather, it teaches that they performed one that is as severe as two, as they prostrated themselves to idols while exposing themselved toward the Temple. That is what is written: “He brought me to the inner courtyard of the House… [twenty-five men, their backs toward the Sanctuary of the Lord and their faces to the east…to the sun]” (Ezekiel 8:16). Just as you say: “Their corruption is in them, a blemish is in them” (Leviticus 22:25).
Another matter, “that the sun has tanned me,” because I prepared horse-drawn chariots for the sun, as it is written: “He abolished the horses that the kings of Judah had designated for the sun, from going to the House of the Lord” (II Kings 23:11). ²⁰⁵The kings of Judah had horse-drawn chariots rush toward the rising sun as a form of honor and worship.

Another matter: “They have quickly deviated” (Exodus 32:8) – Rabbi Shimon ben Ḥalafta said: You took the wrong path at the outset. A person who sets out on the path walks two or three mil and errs in the third. Does he err in the first? So too, the Holy One blessed be He said to them: Could you not have strayed on the second or the third, that [you strayed] on the first? This is astonishing. Rabbi Meir says: It was not even one day. Rather, as they were standing at Sinai they said with their mouths: “We will perform and we will heed” (Exodus 24:7), but their hearts were directed to idol worship, as it is stated: “But they deceived Him with their mouth” (Psalms 78:36).
Rabbi Huna said in the name of Rabbi Idi: “I saw, and, behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 9:16) – it was regarding the Lord your God that you sinned.²⁷It was not simply a transgression, but rather, a sin regarding their very faith in Him. The Holy One blessed be He said: I gave you the Ten Commandments for your honor: “You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal” (Exodus 20:13), and so with all of them. Did you have to sin only with the one regarding Me, as it is stated: “I saw, and, behold, you had sinned against the Lord” (Deuteronomy 9:16)? This is astonishing.
Rabbi Abbahu said: “Eleven [aḥad asar] days from Ḥorev” (Deuteronomy 1:2) – in the one that is special [meyuḥad] among the ten [asara] you sinned; regarding My name, which is one and is the beginning of all the commandments: “I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:2).
Another matter: “They have quickly deviated” (Exodus 32:8) – Rabbi Yona said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman: Any prophet who stood, would say the prophecy of another. Why would he say the words of another? It was in order to confirm his prophecy. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: He would relate only to his own prophecy, except for Moses, who said all the words of the prophets and his own. Anyone who would prophesy, it was based on the prophecy of Moses. He said all of the commandments, except for two that the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel with His mouth: “I am [the Lord your God]” (Exodus 20:3) and “you shall not have [other gods before Me]” (Exodus 20:2). The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Did you have to sin only with what I commanded you?’
Rabbi Shimon said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: This is analogous to a king who betrothed a noblewoman with two gems that he gave her directly from his hand to hers, and he then sent another eight by means of his emissary. While she was cavorting with her paramour, she lost the two gems that the king had given her. When the king discovered that she lost them, he expelled her from his home. Her attendant came to placate the king. He said: ‘My lord the king, when will you find one as praiseworthy and beautiful as her?’ The king said: ‘Heavens! I gave her two gems directly from my hand to hers, and sent her another eight through you. Should she not have lost [two of] yours, or three, or even all of them? But she was so scornful toward me that she lost those gems that I gave her directly from my hand to hers!’ That is what the Holy One blessed be He says to Jeremiah: “For My people have performed two evils” (Jeremiah 2:13). Was it two that they performed? Was that a reason to overlook twenty-two?²⁸Twenty-four sins are enumerated in Ezekiel 22, yet Jeremiah says that they were held accountable only for two (see Etz Yosef; Maharzu). What is “for My people have performed two evils”? “I am [the Lord your God]” (Exodus 20:3) and “you shall not have [other gods before Me]” (Exodus 20:2). That is, “they have quickly deviated from the path that I commanded them” (Exodus 32:8).
“They crafted for themselves a molten [masekha] calf” (Exodus 32:8) – Rabbi Tanḥum ben Ḥanilai said: There were one hundred and twenty-five talents of gold in the calf, the numerical value of masekha, mem – forty, samekh – sixty, kaf – twenty, heh – five. Rabbi Levi says in the name of Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina: One hundred and twenty talents, the numerical value of masakh,²⁹Mem – forty, samekh – sixty, kaf – twenty = 120 as he removes the heh.³⁰He does not include the numerical value of the heh because it does not make a sound (Etz Yosef; see also Rabbi David Luria).
Another matter: Rabbi Ami said: You have woven a bad weave for the generations.³¹In the midrash, the Hebrew phrase is followed here by its translation into Aramaic. The point is that the sin of the golden calf causes suffering throughout the generations, as the punishment for this sin is meted out gradually over time. Rabbi Yitzḥak said: It is an expression meaning noblemen [sardeyotin], masekha.³²They viewed the calf as a leader and guide, similar to a nobleman, more than as an actual god (Matnot Kehuna). The Holy One blessed be He said: That is how I will heal³³Heal is masei in Aramaic, which the midrash is reading into the word masekha. them, as it is stated: “They crafted for themselves a molten calf” (Exodus 32:8).³⁴God says that He will allow them to atone for their sin by donating and fulfilling the rituals of the red heifer, just as they donated gold to the construction of the golden calf (Etz Yosef).