Parshas Ki Sisa
How Could This Happen?
After all of the commentaries and explanations regarding the event of the
Golden Calf that is the centerpiece of this weeks’ parsha, one is still
left, somehow, with an empty feeling of not understanding how such an
event could have in fact occurred.
After all, did not the splitting of the sea, the war against Amalek, the
manna and the miraculous wells of water, the revelation at Sinai, make an
impression upon them? No doubt that all of the answers and explanations
have validity, but how do we deal with this story? What is the relevance
of this story to us, a generation that has many Golden Calves but
certainly not that Golden calf of the parsha?
I think that the most direct and simple answer to this is to view the
event in its simple reality. It is enough to know that such an event,
though not understandable or rational, can and does occur. It should teach
us about the irrationality of people, nations and political leaders. It
should put us on notice that nothing in human affairs is unlikely or
The possibility of a Golden calf incident is always with us. By
discounting the vagaries of human nature we expose ourselves to such sad
incidents as described in this week’s parsha. Moshe never imagines that
such an event can occur amongst the people of Israel and so he ascends the
mountain for his own spiritual development and to bring the Torah down to
the Jewish people. Aharon also never thinks that a Golden calf can spring
forth from his attempts to mollify the frenzied mob that now surrounds
him. But, no matter, the Golden Calf arrives, alive and snorting fire. And
that is life’s lesson – that the unexpected and impossible is itself
always present in our lives and society.
Anyone who reviews the events of the twentieth century will stand amazed
at the events, wars, changes and profound diplomatic and political errors
that shaped its story. Nothing that happened was rational or predictable
Who could have thought that the great empires of Germany, Russia, France,
England, Austria and the Ottomans would never survive that century? And
who could have imagined the State of Israel arising and the destruction of
European Jewry? That disaster of the Holocaust is a Golden Calf of
unbelievably major proportions.
All rumors later circulated to the contrary not withstanding, no one
really envisioned such a catastrophe of so great a proportion. Since
prophecy is no longer present amongst us, the future is always murky and
undecipherable. Therefore the only thing certain in our lives, both
personal and national, is uncertainty.
And that is the basic and troubling message of the Golden Calf incident.
The parsha is here to warn us of trusting only in our judgments,
conclusions and prescience. That is not how life really works and not how
events play themselves out.
The events of the Golden Calf constantly repeat themselves in our life
story. Fortunate are those who are not seduced by that idol and are wary
initially of the attempts to construct and deify it.
Rabbi Berel Wein