Summary: This very exciting portion begins with Moses taking a census of the Israelites – collecting a half-shekel from each person. Then the Israelites are instructed to keep Shabbat as a sign of our covenant with God. After the people ask Aaron to build them a golden calf, Moses ascends Mt Sinai a 2nd time and returns radiant, with a new set of tablets.
Lesson: After being freed from slavery and witnessing the miracle at the Red Sea, the rebel and build an idol. Why? What led the Israelites to build the golden calf?
In their heart of hearts the people have not left slavery and Egypt far behind. Forty days and nights have passed since Moses left the people and climbed Mount Sinai. The people despair. The longer he stays away, the more uneasy they become. In their doubt and despair, in a state of growing concern, the people return to their idolatrous roots and demand that Aaron build them a visible sign of God's presence in their midst. We know what happens next…they build the Golden Calf.
Without Moses, the people grew increasingly anxious. In the land of Egypt there were many physical manifestations of God. The Israelites might have viewed Moses as their physical connection to God. When Moses vanished on the mountain the people looked for a replacement. Without Moses the people doubted they would ever experience God's presence again. Yet they were wrong. Moses did not ensure God’s presence in their midst. The people were only beginning to learn that God is in our midst at all times and in all places.
We too often feel the absence of God in our lives. God's intangible nature makes it hard to feel God's presence in times of anxiety and despair. Perhaps then, the Golden Calf was merely a request for tangible proof of God's existence brought on by the insecurity of a people who felt abandoned and alone.
The people were not alone in their need to know an intangible God. Moses too struggled; he asked to see the Divine Presence. And God tried to honor Moses's request, at least partially. Moses is told to hide in a cleft in the rock so that God can pass by allowing Moses to see God's back. This direct encounter with strengthened Moses's resolve to do God's will.
We, like the Israelites, struggle to feel God’s presence in our lives. When we open our eyes to the blessings in our lives and our world; when we open our hearts to the depths of emotion we can feel; when we allow our souls to be touched by everyday miracles that surround us, then we can sense, even without a physical manifestation, that God is always near.
Shabbat Shalom