Ki Tissa sits like an island inside the Tabernacle narrative that defines the end of the Book of Exodus. Before it, Torah teaches the building of the Mishkan. After it, Torah returns again to the Mishkan. And there, in the middle, we are thrown into the calamity of the Golden Calf. It is not only about a statue. It is also about fear. It is about what happens when the spiritual center of a people disappears into the clouds.

Moses ascends Mount Sinai and is gone from sight. The people cannot locate him, cannot read his face, cannot hear his voice. The text is painfully direct. They approach Aaron and say, “make us a god, because we do not know what happened to this man, Moshe.” Their language is filled with panic.

Aaron responds in a way that has mystified readers for thousands of years. He tells them to take the gold earrings from their sons and daughters, and from themselves, and to bring them to him. They do. From this material Aaron fashions a molten calf. (Ex. 32:1-4)

How are we to understand Aaron’s personality and character after that? The episode happens at the base of Mount Sinai, so soon after the splitting of the sea, so close to Revelation. Aaron is already (or about to become) the High Priest. How can this possibly be part of his story? What is his legacy of leadership?

Tradition refuses to let the question go. Commentators reach for explanations, sometimes in attempts to exonerate, sometimes to interpret a narrative that defies conventional reading. Some suggest that when Aaron tells the people that they will celebrate “tomorrow, (Ex. 32:5)” he is buying time, hoping Moses will return and interrupt the impending disaster. Some suggest he never imagined the people would surrender their gold so quickly, that he underestimated the fervor of their fear. Some suggest the people did not believe Moses........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)