The Anger of Moshe.
Upon seeing the Golden Calf, Moshe Rabbenu breaks the Tablets immediately; he smashes them to pieces.
Something is wrong here. Moshe Rabbenu, our greatest ambassador ever; He, who was so convinced that he wasn’t worthy enough to bring us out of Mitzrayim at first, pleaded with HaShem not to pick him; He who then became the sales representative of HaShem and vice versa, the salesman of Am-Israel - He smashes the tablets written by Ha-Shem personally in a moment of anger.
As it is written;
“Ve-Haluchot Ma-aseh Elohim neimah. Ve-Hamichtav michtav Elohim, Hu charut al-Haluchot.” “And the Tablets were the handiwork of Ha-Shem, and the writing was the writing of Ha-Shem, graven upon the Tablets.”
So Moses knows the importance and value of these Tablets to Ha-Shem and Am Israel.
That Moses was angry, all Sages agree, but the question is what was the anger for?
Sforno offers this thought: “ He (Moshe), thought that when he came to Am Israel they would have already have repented. He did not expect to find them rejoicing in the sin. Dancing was not what he expected. This is what made him irate.
HaShem had prepared Moshe for the Golden Calf, yet Moshe wanted to give Am Israel the benefit of the doubt.
Just before, coming down the Mountain, Joshua greeted him. Joshua, who had waited there loyally for Moshe to return and had not been back to the camp. When they approached the camp and heard the noise, Joshua expressed the unknown nature of the noise, while Moshe just explained it as “singing”.
Rambam explains this as Moshe’s humility and his reluctance to speak bad of Am Israel.
And before that, on the top of the mountain, Moshe gives Ha-Shem a masterful pleading argument;
“…for it is a stiff-necked people; pardon therefore our iniquity and our sin.”
As Moshe Rabbenu argues with HaShem that the Egyptians will be able to say that Ha-Shem took his people out of Mitzrayim only to kill them in the mountains, thereby weakening His stature among the Egyptians,
Am Israel is busy deceiving Ha-Shem and their leader Moshe below.
Back to Moshe’s anger.
How is it possible that a man like Moshe allows himself to lose his conduct and smashes that what Ha-Shem himself has written?
How come Moshe doesn’t confront his brother and makes him responsible? You know, have a brother to brother conversation?
Most Sages agree with the thought that Moshe wanted to shock Am Israel. Says Isaac Arama; Moshe saw that the calf was indeed a calf and broke the Tablets under the mount to shame them.”
In the Ha’amek Davar we find: “…He broke a unique treasure before their eyes.”
So we know that Moshe knew that the Torah, the Tablets are most holy. That he, the messenger is to deliver them to Am Israel and yet, he breaks the Tablets and with that, his promise to Ha-Shem as well.
Is this a tit for tat? Is the breaking of the Tablets the sin that balances the sin of the calf? Does Moshe do this to show Am Israel that what they’ve done is exactly the same in terms of degree of crime?
Is Moshe Rabbenu holding up a mirror?
Ramban avoids going here. Ramban concentrates on what caused Moshe to act this way; “He could not control himself…”
But he saw the Calf and he broke the Tablets within the same sentence. There was no moment to think.
Yet, on his way back from the mountain, he could have had plenty of time to think. And when Joshua pointed out the strange noise, Moshe was dismissive.
But Ramban could not see a man so full of love for Ha-Shem, Israel and Torah, to plan something so dreadful.
Interestingly, it’s Meshach Chochmah who offers an in-between explanation that it was Moshe’s frustration that the People saw him as part god. That they couldn’t except the Torah as a whole without Moshe.
That even if Moshe had not returned, the Torah is enough and theirs to have. For this reason God approved of Moses’ action.
Rashba calls the broken pieces that find their place in the Ark, the “accuser” and the second and whole Tablets the “defender” thereby also concluding that the breaking was valued by Ha-Shem.
One thing is very clear, of all the actions of Moshe Rabbenu ordered by Ha-Shem, this one is the most important one. Sages have said that Moshe came down the mountain happy and positive, holding the Tablets proudly. This was to be the physical welcoming of the Torah, more important that the exodus from Mitzrayim and more important than the entering of Eretz Israel. This was the most important moment to Moshe Rabbenu and Am Israel, and they blew it.
It was enough for the most Chassid of all men Am Israel ever had on their side, to blow up.
Which in itself is a lesson for all time; those who defile the Torah, lose Moshe Rabbenu, the best friend they ever had, in an instant. For those, all hope is no more.
News:
