In Parshat Mishpatim (Shmot 23: 20-24)
we read:
Behold, I will send an angel before
you, to guard you on the way, and to bring you to the place that I have
prepared. Be careful in his presence and obey his voice. Do not rebel against
him; for he cannot pardon your transgression, as My Name is in him. But if you
truly listen to obey his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an
enemy to your enemies, and attack those who attack you. My messenger will go
before you, and will bring you into the land of the Emori, Chiti, Prizi,
Cnaani, Chivi and Yevusi, and I will annihilate them. You must not prostrate
yourself to their gods, nor serve sacrifice to them…”
It seems that B’nai Yisrael assumed
that Moshe was the angel who was supposed to be taking them to the Land of Israel
and when they didn’t see him return from Mount Sinai they got worried as we see in Parshat Ki Tisa, Shmot 32: 1,4:
When the people saw that Moshe was
late in coming down the mountain, they gathered against Aharon and said to him,
“Arise, make us gods that will lead us, for this Moshe, the man who brought us
up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what happened to him…He (Aharon) took
them (the gold rings) from their hands and formed it with a goldsmith’s
engraving tool, and made it into a molten calf. They then said, “These,
Yisrael, are your gods who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”
Since Moshe didn’t return, B’nai
Yisrael tried replacing him with a golden calf. However, the angel that God was
speaking about was not Moshe. When God was angry at B’nai Yisrael for sinning,
He said to Moshe (Shmot 33:1-2):
“Leave, go up from this place- you and the
people you brought up from the land of Egypt- to the land of which I swore to
Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, saying, ‘To your descendents I will give it.’ I
will send an angel before you…”
Moshe did not want the help of an angel,
he wanted God to escort him. He pleaded with God and He agreed to escort him
(33:17).
If the angel was not Moshe and God
ended up escorting him and B’nai Yisrael then when did the angel appear?
According to Ramban, God waited
until after the death of Moshe and then He sent them an angel. As we see in
Yehoshua 5:13-15:
And it came to pass when Yehoshua
was in Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood
opposite him with a sword drawn in his hand. Yehoshua went over to him and said,
“Are you with us or with our enemies?” He said, “No, for I am the commander of
God’s legion; now I have come.” Yehoshua fell before him and prostrated
himself, and said to him, “What does my master say to his servant?” The
commander of God’s legion said to Yehoshua, “Remove your shoe from upon your
foot, for the place upon which you stand is holy.” And Yehoshua did so.
How were B’nai Yisrael so off track
that they thought that the golden calf was their leader?
When people are desperate for a new
leader, they will convince themselves of anything. In the last few elections in
Israel, each time a new leader or party came on the scene people rushed to vote
for them and each time the leader or their party proved to be a disappointment
in many respects.
Instead of seeking out a golden calf
who will serve no purpose, we need to reach out to God and pray for guidance to
pick the right leaders and hope that He will send an angel to guide us.
Jews abroad who want to have a say
in who does and does not get elected need to take this opportunity to make
aliya, immigrate to Israel and become part of the democratic process of
determining the fate of the State of Israel.