ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שמות 32:5

MAKE US A GOD WHO ‘YEILCHU’ (SHALL GO — in the plural) BEFORE US. “They wished to have many gods. FOR THIS MOSES, THE MAN THAT BROUGHT US UP OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, and used to show us the way we were to go, WE KNOW NOT WHAT IT BECOME OF HIM. Now we need many gods which shall go before us.” This is Rashi’s language.
But his language does not fit [the verse, since Scripture indicates only that they wanted a leader in place of Moses, but not gods]. Rather, this verse is the key to understand the incident of the golden calf, and the thought of those who made it. For it is known that the Israelites did not think that Moses was a god, and that he did for them the signs and wonders through his own power. So what sense is there in their saying, “since Moses is gone from us, we will make ourselves gods?” Moreover, they clearly said, make us, ‘elohim’ who shall go before us — and not a deity who should give them life in this world or in the World to Come. Instead, they wanted another Moses, saying: “Moses, the man who showed us the way from Egypt until now,²⁵⁶Numbers 14:19. being in charge of the journeyings at the commandment of the Eternal by the hand of Moses,²⁵⁷Ibid., 9:23. he is now lost to us; let us make ourselves another Moses who will show us the way at the commandment of the Eternal by his hand.” This is the reason for their mentioning, Moses, the man that brought us up, rather than saying “the G-d who brought them up,” for they needed a man of G-d.²⁵⁸Deuteronomy 33:1. You can also understand this matter from Aaron’s answer to Moses our Teacher, when he asked him, What did this people do unto thee, that thou hast brought a great sin upon them,²⁵⁹Further, Verse 21. to which Aaron replied, And they said unto me: Make us a god etc. And I said unto them: Whosoever hath any gold, let him break it off; so they gave it to me; and I cast it into the fire.²⁶⁰Ibid., Verses 23-24. Now Aaron was apologizing to Moses and saying to him, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot,²⁶¹Ibid., Verse 22. and yet here he was speaking as if adding rebellion unto his sin,²⁶²Job 34:37. saying that they asked of him an idol and he made it for them with his hands! So why should Moses’ anger not burn against him! What greater sin than this is there?
But the matter is as I have stated, that they did not want the calf to be for them in place of a god who killeth and maketh alive,²⁶³I Samuel 2:6. whom they would take upon themselves to serve as a deity; instead, they wanted to have someone in place of Moses to show them the way. And this was the apology of Aaron. He argued that “they merely told me that I should make them elohim who would go before them in your place, my lord, because they did not know what had happened to you and whether you would return or not. Therefore they needed someone who would show them the way as long as you were not with them, and if perchance you would return they would leave him and follow you as before.” And so indeed it happened, for as soon as the people saw Moses, they immediately left the calf and rejected it, and they allowed him to burn it and scatter its powder upon the water,²⁶⁴Further, Verse 20. and no one quarrelled with him at all. Similarly you will note that he did not rebuke the people nor say anything to them, and yet when he came into the camp and he saw the calf and the dancing,²⁶⁵Verse 19. they immediately fled from before him; and he took the calf and burnt it [and scattered its powder upon the water] and made them drink of it, and yet they did not protest at all. But if the calf were to them in place of a god, it is surely not normal that a person should let his king and god be burnt in fire. Lo, if one burn their abominations before their eyes, would they not stone him?²⁶⁶See above, 8:22. Now it was Aaron who brought forth this shape, for they did not tell him what he should make, whether a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat,²⁶⁷Leviticus 22:27. or other forms. It is this which is the intention of the saying of the Sages who said,²⁶⁸Sanhedrin 63a. “The verse teaches us that they wished to have many gods,” For they did not know what to choose and which one would be best for them.
Now Aaron’s intention was as follows. Because Israel was in a wilderness, a desolate wasteland, and destruction and everlasting desolation come from the north, as it is written, Out of the north the evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land,²⁶⁹Jeremiah 1:14. the reference being not merely to the king of Babylon, as can be seen clearly from Scripture,²⁷⁰Ibid., Verse 15: For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north etc. but rather [the intent of the verse is to state] that the attribute of justice comes to the world from the left,²⁷¹As one faces the east, his left hand is to the north. to requite upon all the inhabitants of the land according to their evil; and since in the account of the Divine Chariot it is said, and the four of them had the face of an ox on the left side²⁷²Ezekiel 1:10. — therefore Aaron thought that the destroyer [the ox, which was to the left, i.e. the north] points to the place of destruction where its great power is centered, and when worshipping G-d through there the spirit will be poured from on high,²⁷³Isaiah 32:15. just as it was put upon Moses. It is for this reason that Aaron said, Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Eternal,²⁷⁴Verse 5. meaning that the services and the sacrifices would be to the Proper Name of G-d in order to obtain His favor upon the power [symbolized by] this image,²⁷⁵I.e., “the ox” which is on the left side of the Divine Chariot, and denotes the attribute of justice. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 507. for, it being before them, they would direct their thoughts towards the purport thereof [and thus would be able to mitigate the destructive forces of the wilderness].
It is our Rabbis who have taught us this interpretation, and it is they who have revealed the secret thereof. Thus they have said:²⁷⁶Ramban is quoting here a composite of Midrashim in Shemoth Rabbah — 3:2, 42:5, 43:8. “‘Ra’oh ra’ithi’ (I have surely seen) the affliction of My people.²⁷⁷Exodus 3:7. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses: ‘Moses, you see them in one appearance, and I see them in two appearances.²⁷⁸Hence the double expression: Ra’oh ra’ithi, translated “I have surely seen.” You see them coming to Sinai and accepting My Torah, and I see them contemplating Me and how I came forth in My ‘travelling coach’ to give them the Torah, as it is said, The chariots of G-d are myriads, even thousands upon thousands,²⁷⁹Psalms 68:18. This whole psalm is interpreted in Midrash Tehilim with reference to the Revelation on Sinai. and they will unhitch one of My tatromulin,²⁸⁰This is a Greek word [as Ramban will explain further on] which denotes “four mules.” Here it is used in reference to the four chayoth (living creatures) in the Divine Chariot as described by Ezekiel (Chapter 1), which, as stated in Psalms quoted above, were also seen at the Revelation on Sinai. The sense here is thus that “they will unhitch one of the four chayoth (creatures) in My Chariot, and worship it.” of which it is written, and the face of an ox on the left side,²⁷²Ezekiel 1:10. and bring Me to anger with it.’” Tatromulin means “four mules,” for tetra in Greek means “four,” just as the Rabbis have said,²⁸¹Nazir 8b. [“If a person vowed, ‘I will be a Nazir] tetragon,’ he becomes [a Nazir for a period of] four times;” mulin means “mules,” just as in the expression, “The mula’oth (mules) of Rabbi’s house²⁸²Shabbath 52a. [used to go out with their bits on the Sabbath].” The word tatromulin is thus used as a symbol of the four chayoth (living creatures) who carried the Divine Chariot.²⁸³Ezekiel 1:5. And in Vayikra Rabbah [10:3] [we find the Midrash stating] that Aaron said, “Since I am building the altar, I will build it to the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, and Aaron made a proclamation, and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Eternal.’²⁷⁴Verse 5. It is not written here, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to the calf,’ but to the Eternal.”
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote that elohim in this case [Arise, make us ‘elohim’] means that Aaron should make them “something visible and corporeal on which the glory would rest. And if you will pay attention to the first journey,²⁸⁴Above, 14:19. And the angel of G-d, who went before the camp of Israel etc. (Bachya). you will understand this.” But this does not appear to me to be correct, since the calf was not made according to the manner of those proficient in the art of the constellations, so that the glory or some spiritual influence should dwell upon it; rather, the figure was made so that when the people would worship it they would direct their thoughts to the purport thereof [as explained above]. Now I have already explained²⁸⁵Above, 13:21. the secret of the first journey, and far it be from Aaron that he should want to be likened to him. Instead, his desire was merely to take of [the tatromulin, as explained above] so that their journeys [in the wilderness] should be on the side of that attribute. The student learned [in the mysteries of the Cabala] will understand.

גם אתה, “you also.” Rashi understands the word גם as including Aaron and Chur, and the seventy elders. If you were to point out that in Exodus 32,5, on the words: ויבן מזבח לפניו, “he built an altar in front of it (the golden calf),” Rashi comments that Aaron, having seen that Chur (his nephew) had been killed by the mob when he tried to interfere with their worshipping the golden calf, decided to instead build an altar and declare the following day a holiday in honour of G-d. The events related there occurred on the 17th of Tammuz in the first year of the people’s wanderings. Yitro meant that even if Aaron, Chur and the seventy elders were to assist Moses, this would not nearly be enough for governing such a large nation. We find an example of such thinking in Jeremiah 15,1, where G-d tells the prophet that even if Moses personally as well as the prophet Samuel were to intercede on behalf the people of the Kingdom of Yehudah at that time, their merits would not suffice to make Him change His mind concerning the impending doom of that kingdom. G-d mentioned Moses and Samuel who had already long ago passed on, The events recorded in the paragraph that we are dealing with here occurred the day after the Day of Atonement on the eleventh day of Tishrey, over 80 days after Chur had been killed. Nonetheless, Rashi saw fit to mention him as an example of a worthy assistant of Moses. However, in verse 23 in our chapter, Chur is not mentioned by Rashi. When Rashi understands the words: וכל העם הזה (and all this people) as applicable to Aaron, his two older sons, and the seventy elders, no mention is made of Chur. וכל העם הזה, they will also not be able to endure the long wait all day long to have their litigation dealt with.

BECAUSE THEY MADE THE CALF. This means that they were not amongst those who worshipped it or sacrificed to it,⁴¹³Above, Verse 8. but they were the men who “made” it, that is to say, they were the ones who gathered around Aaron and brought him the gold. Now since Scripture states that they were punished for making the calf, not for worshipping it, and in reality they did not make it, it explains further, which Aaron made, meaning that Aaron made it at their command.
But Onkelos translated [the expression, because they ‘made’ the calf], “because they ‘worshipped’ the calf which Aaron made.” By this Onkelos intended to explain that the ones who died in the plague were those who embraced and kissed it, and were pleased with the calf. Now [although the same term asah (“did”) is mentioned in both cases, because they ‘made’ the calf, which Aaron ‘made’], Onkelos did not feel obliged to translate both alike [but instead he translated: “because they ‘worshipped’ the calf, which Aaron ‘made’ “]. A similar case [of Onkelos’ rendition] is the verse, and whatsoever they ‘did’ there, he was the ‘doer’ of it,⁴¹⁴Genesis 39:22. which he translated: “and whatsoever they did there ‘was done’ by his command.”⁴¹⁵Thus Onkelos translated the same form of the verb once in the active tense and once in the passive.
This plague occurred after Moses had punished the worshippers and prayed for Israel, saying, and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book.⁴¹⁶Verse 32. For because Moses had shown his readiness to give his life for them, the Holy One, blessed be He, had mercy upon them, and told him to bring them up to the Land, and that He would send an angel before them;⁴¹⁷Further, 33:2. but since He wanted to take away from them part of the great sin, in order that they should be worthy [to go up to the Land], He sent upon them this plague. Or it may be that He had decreed this plague upon them [before Moses’ prayer] and the plague had already begun, and after that He said again to Moses, Go up hence, thou and the people,⁴¹⁸Ibid., Verse 1. meaning, that the plague will not blot out their sin from before Me so that I should again dwell in their midst. He mentioned though, unto the land of which I swore unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,⁴¹⁸Ibid., Verse 1. and further said, and I will drive out the Canaanite, etc.;⁴¹⁷Further, 33:2. for on account of the plague which He brought or decreed upon them, part of their sin was blotted out, and He was partially appeased to them, in remembering the merit of the patriarchs, and [promising] that He would fulfill to them the oath He had taken to bring them unto a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey.⁴¹⁹Above, 3:8. Thus He hinted to Moses that the earth [i.e., the land of Canaan] would not become corrupt⁴²⁰See Genesis 6:11. nor would it be defiled under the inhabitants thereof⁴²¹Isaiah 24:5. on account of their sin, and that He would drive out all the six nations whose land they were originally promised.⁴²²Above, 3:8. And He also said by way of pacification, for I will not go up in the midst of thee,⁴²³Further, 33:3. this being to your benefit, lest I consume thee in the way,⁴²³Further, 33:3. because of your stiff-neckedness.
Thus there were here two punishments for Israel: firstly, that He would not cause His Divine Glory to dwell amongst them, and secondly, that He would send an angel before Moses until the nations would be driven out; but He did not promise them after they would inherit the Land even an angel to help them, for this is why He mentioned in the way [lest I consume thee ‘in the way’]. It is with reference to all this that Scripture says, And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned; and no man put on him his ornaments⁴²⁴Ibid., Verse 4. — just as mourners. But G-d is merciful, abounding in compassion, and when He saw that they mourned, He said again by way of mercy, Say unto the children of Israel etc.,⁴²⁵Ibid., Verse 5. for up till now He had used the terms, thy people,⁴²⁶Above, 32:7. and the people,⁴¹⁸Ibid., Verse 1. but now He mentioned them by their beloved name, and He commanded Moses to tell them that it was to their benefit that He would not go up in their midst, in order that He should not consume them in one moment. However, they have done well in repenting and mourning for their sin. So should they always do, and I will know what to do unto them.⁴²⁵Ibid., Verse 5. That is to say, I will visit their sin in accordance with My knowledge of their mourning and repenting their sin, since it is I Who tries the heart and searches the kidneys.⁴²⁷See Jeremiah 17:10.
By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], the expression, that I may know what to do unto thee⁴²⁵Ibid., Verse 5. means that He will do unto them in the knowledge of mercy, similar to what is said, and if not, I will know,⁴²⁸Genesis 18:21. as I have already explained.⁴²⁹Ibid., Verse 20. Vol. I, p. 245.