After experiencing some of the most
incredible miracles and outward displays of Hashem’s power, the Bnei Yisrael
slipped up in the worst way. This week’s parshah tell the tragic tale of the
Golden Calf. After receiving the Torah, Moshe went up to Har Sinai for forty
days; but after the allotted time by Bnei Yisrael’s calculations had passed, he
had not returned. A group of people decided that Moshe had not survived his
trip to the heavens, and built an idol to be their leader. While Avoda Zara is
always considered one of the worst aveiros one can commit, for this group that
had seen Hashem on Har Sinai just forty days earlier, it was unthinkable. The
consequences of this tragedy still affect us today.
“וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר
הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם” “And they said, ‘These
are your gods, Yisrael, who have brought you up from the land of Egypt” (Shemos
32:4). Rashi explains that the people speaking in the pasuk are the Eirev
Rav, the collection of Egyptians who came out of Mitzrayim with the Bnei
Yisrael. They built the calf and afterwards they convinced the Jewish People to
sin as well. While this may help us feel better about the whole situation since
it was not the Bnei Yisrael’s idea originally, we still must ask that how could
the Eirev Rav, who also saw Hashem at Har Sinai, have the gall to serve
Avoda Zara only forty days later?
Chazal tell us that the level of miracles
that even a maidservant (meaning someone on a low spiritual level) saw at Krias
Yam Suf, was greater than anything any prophet ever experienced. Let’s consider
this for a moment; if what a maidservant saw was greater than anything a
prophet saw, how come a Navi is given such great honors while this maidservant
remains for all of history as nothing but a maidservant? How come she isn’t afforded
even greater honors than a Navi for the tremendous spiritual level she was
zoche to experience?
The Sichos Mussar explains that someone
who experiences a level of spirituality without having worked their way up to
the level they are experiencing will not be changed as a result of it. The
prophets worked for years and years with a hope, not a guarantee, that they
would one day receive the smallest bit of prophecy. Therefore, as great as they
were before they received the prophecy, the prophecy itself would bring them to
even higher levels of spirituality.
The Eirev Rav fell into the first
category. They had not worked on themselves upon leaving Mitzrayim as the rest
of Bnei Yisrael did. But since they were together with the nation, they too
experienced all the miracles at Har Sinai. However, this had no effect on them whatsoever,
since they had not worked their way up to that level. Therefore, even after
going through an event like Har Sinai, they were still able to serve Avoda Zara
only forty days later.
The gemarah in Megillah (6b) states, “אם יאמר לך אדם …לא יגעתי ומצאתי אל תאמן יגעתי ומצאתי תאמן” If a person
tells you, ‘I did not make the effort and I succeeded’, do not believe him. If
he says, ‘I worked and I succeeded’, believe him.” When a person works at something, he makes it his, it
becomes a part of him; that’s how he truly succeeds at his task. When his goal
is handed to him, even though he has ‘accomplished’ his goal, because he did
not make it his, he did not really accomplish anything.
Our goal in life is to work at being the
best we can be every day. Even though, it is very possible that we will never
reach the highest goals of spirituality that we all strive for, we see from
here that receiving that spirituality is not the entire story. Without the work
involved, the goal is worthless, because it will never be really ours. But
if we do that work, even if we don’t reach that lofty goal, we will still have
accomplished great things. This week’s parshah teaches us that this is the way
to insure that we will deserve and retain the effects of the spiritual levels
we reach.
Shabbat Shalom!
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