Illustration Credit: Chaim File
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
וַיַּרְא הָעָם כִּי בֹשֵׁשׁ מֹשֶׁה לָרֶדֶת מִן הָהָר
וַיִּקָּהֵל הָעָם עַל אַהֲרֹן וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו
קוּם עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ לְפָנֵינוּ
כִּי זֶה מֹשֶׁה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם
לֹא יָדַעְנוּ מֶה הָיָה לוֹ׃
When the people saw that Moshe was slow in coming down from the mountain, they gathered against Aharon and said to him:
“Come, make us an elohim who will go before us, for that man Moshe, who brought us from Mitzrayim (Egypt)—we don’t know what happened to him.”
What exactly were Benei Yisrael asking for?
“Make us an elohim” can mean more than one thing, and our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) understand it in different ways.
"אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ לְפָנֵינוּ" – אֱלוֹהוֹת הַרְבֵּה אִוּוּ לָהֶם.
“Who will go before us” – they wished to have many gods.
בְּיָדוּעַ שֶׁלֹּא הָיוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל סְבוּרִים שֶׁמֹּשֶׁה הוּא הָאֱלֹקִים, וְשֶׁהוּא בְּכֹחוֹ עָשָׂה לָהֶם הָאֹתוֹת וְהַמּוֹפְתִים, וּמָה טַעַם שֶׁיֹּאמְרוּ כֵּיוָן שֶׁהָלַךְ מֹשֶׁה מִמֶּנּוּ נַעֲשֶׂה אֱלֹהִים?
...אֲבָל הָיוּ מְבַקְּשִׁין מֹשֶׁה אַחֵר.
Clearly Benei Yisrael didn’t think Moshe was God, or that Moshe could make miracles on his own. So why would they say that, since Moshe was missing, they needed to replace him with a god?
…Really, they were asking for a new (leader like) Moshe.
Rashi notices that the word יֵלְכוּ (yeilkhu, will go) is plural, so he understands that the people were asking for something multiple: many gods.
Rashi believes that, in this moment, Benei Yisrael were drawn to idolatry.
But Ramban thinks that Benei Yisrael were actually asking for a replacement leader. He thinks that makes more sense in our pasuk, which says that Benei Yisrael’s complaint was about missing Moshe.
- In Shemot 4:16, Moshe is called an “elohim.” Look it up! Could this be evidence for Ramban’s interpretation? How so?
- What is similar about the interpretations of Rashi and Ramban, and what is different? What was so bad about what Benei Yisrael did?
- What’s the lesson for us to learn from the story of the eigel, according to Rashi, and according to Ramban?
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