“Go- get down; for your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.” The golden calf, in this week’s parsha, seems almost to lead to a complete breakdown of G-d’s relationship with Israel. The gemarra explains “Go-get down” as telling Moses “get down from your lofty station…. Now that Israel has sinned, what are you to Me?” Equally, Avraham ben HaRambam makes the point that no longer are Israel “my [G-d’s] people” but “your [Moses’] people… this rabble whom you concerned yourself with”. G-d wants to destroy the Jewish people and only special pleading Moses prevents this from happening.
Parshat Ki Tissa, through the story of the golden calf exemplifies the Torah’s approach to the dual aspects of belief and practice. The Torah is not a book of philosophy or theology, science or history, or esoteric, mystical knowledge. This is not to say that these disciplines are not valuable and they may even be necessary to appreciate the work of creation. However, what is of primary concern is our place in creation; with the relationship between G-d and the children of Israel being the primary subject matter of the Torah. It is in this light that beliefs and practices must be viewed; mediated through the prism of covenant. The gripe of the Torah in relation to the golden calf does not seem to be that the children of Israel, per se, had a philosophically incorrect view of G-d. Neither are the moral standards of idolaters, of much concern to the Talmud, the primary issue. Instead, idolatry here can be conceived as, or resultant from, the breakdown of the relationship between G-d and us.
Let us illustrate this further. There is no intrinsic holiness in the Jewish people, or the land of Israel or in the tablets of the law (etc). Moses smashing the tablets amply demonstrates this. As R. Meir Simhah explains “The moment Israel sinned and transgressed what were written thereon, [the tablets] became mere bric-a-brac devoid of sanctity”. These things only get holiness from being associated with commands from G-d. Israel made the mistake of endowing the golden calf with intrinsic holiness. But what precisely was the mistake? It was not in itself the belief that the golden calf represented G-d (although strictly false) or the practice of using symbols (etc) in order to worship Him. G-d himself later commanded that there be statues of the cherubim be placed inside the mishkan (earlier in the Torah but chronologically later) to serve as the portal between the physical and spiritual worlds. The only difference between the acts is that G-d commanded us to have the cherubim.
Physical things are there to be used and so seeing intrinsic holiness in them (deifying them) is like saying G-d is there to be used. Israel “making G-d in its own image” leads to an unhealthy view of what a relationship should be about. When they say “Rise make us a god who will lead us” they want a G-d who will fight their battles for them and give them psychological comfort. They are not worshipping G-d-qua-G-d, but G-d-qua-the person who does stuff for me. Of course, it is no relationship where one party is the dominator and the other to be dominated. A key element of relationship is sacrifice; giving even when one cannot get in return.
Ki Tissa imparts important lessons as to our place in the world. There are times when we have to advance, subdue and conquer. We have to do science, create technology, and participate in civil society. Yet there are times when we have to resign, retreat and sacrifice. When we pray to G-d and keep the mitzvoth, we do simply because we are commanded; and not to derive personal gain. Both advance and sacrifice are important aspects in life and without one or the other, there would be no covenant.
