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EXODUS — 32:25 control

EXOD992 What Moses had to do after the Golden Calf was Vayak'hel--turn the Israelites into a kehilla, a community. He did this in the obvious sense of restoring order. When Moses came down the mountain and saw the Calf, the Torah says the people were parua, meaning "wild," "disorderly," "chaotic," "unruly," "tumultuous." He "saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughing stock to their enemies" [this verse]. They were not a community but a crowd. He did it in a more fundamental sense as we see in the rest of the parasha. He began by reminding the people of the laws of Shabbat. Then he instructed them to build the Mishkan, the Sanctuary, as a symbolic home for God. Why these two commands rather than any others? Because Shabbat and the Mishkan are the two most powerful ways of building community. The best way of turning a diverse, disconnected group into a team is to get them to build something together.[See Jonathan Sacks, The Home We Build Together (London: Continuum, 2007)]. Hence the Mishkan. The best way of strengthening relationships it is set aside dedicated time when we focus not on the pursuit of individual self-interest but on the things we share, by praying together, studying Torah together, and celebrating together -- in other words, Shabbat. Shabbat and the Mishkan were the two great community-building experiences of the Israelites in the desert. More than this: in Judaism, community is essential to the spiritual life. Our holiest prayers require a minyan. When we celebrate or mourn we do so as a community. Even when we confess, we do so together.... In Judaism, it is as a community that we come before God. For us the key relationship is not I-Thou, but We-Thou. Yayak'hel is thus no ordinary episode in the history of Israel. It marks the essential insight to emerge from the crisis of the Golden Calf. We find God in community. We develop virtue, strength of character, and a commitment to the common good in community. Community is local. It is society with a human face. It is not government. It is not the people we pay to look after the welfare of others. It is the work we do ourselves, together. Community is the antidote to individualism on the one hand and overreliance on the state on the other. Darwin understood its importance to human flourishing. Tocqueville saw its role in protecting democratic freedom. Robert Putnam has documented its value in sustaining social capital and the common good. And it began in this parasha, when Moses turned an unruly mob into a kehilla, a community.

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EXODUS — 32:25 exposed

EXOD993 … one who delays repentance, when subsequently the opportunity for sinning presents itself to him again, will fall prey to it as he initially did, in this latter sin will then be even more severe, and his crime will ascend before Hashem. [The reason for this is because] initially it had not occurred to him that this ruling yetzer would so unexpectedly come upon him; but now that he has seen his weakness, how his yetzer has prevailed over him and how much stronger it is, he should have realized that he is at a disadvantage [this verse, lit. "that he is exposed."] As such, he should have formulated a plan for increasing his fear of Heaven-- to case Hashem's fear over his soul, rescuing it from the yetzer's ambush and protecting himself from his sin. Shlomo [HaMelech], a"h, said (Mishlei 26:11), "Like a dog who returns to its vomit, [so is] a fool who repeats his foolishness." What this means is: a dog eats vile things, and when he spits them out, they become even more repulsive. Yet the dog returns to eat them again. So it is with the fool. By doing something reprehensible and [then] repeating it, it becomes even more reprehensible, as we have explained. (Continued at [[DEUT563]] Deuteronomy 12:17 eat GATES 9)

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EXODUS — 32:26 come

EXOD994 (Continued from [[LEV176]] Leviticus 16:16 sins GATES 235-6). Anyone devoted to Hashem must be willing to forfeit his life for the sanctification of Hashem's Name, as the pesukim say [this verse], "'Whoever is for Hashem, let him come to me'. And all the sons of Levi gathered around him"; and (Bemidbar 25:7), "Pinchas saw... and took a spear in his hand." It is incumbent upon every God-fearing person, especially when his love [for Hashem] is rooted in purity of heart [Mishlei 22:11], that he arouse himself to zealotry when he sees the hand of princes and viceroys involved in sin. Our Sages said (Bereishis Rabbah 26:5), "Any breach which does not begin with the leaders is not a breach [i.e., this is a serious breach that desecrates Hashem's Name and requires one who loves Hashem to work steadfastly toward its repair (Matnas Chelko)], as the pasuk says (Ezra 9:2), 'The hand of the princes and viceroys has been foremost in this sin."

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EXODUS — 32:26 whoever

EXOD996 A person’s obligation of service corresponds to the degree of favor bestowed upon him ... the Creator's favor bestowed on one people among the peoples, one nation among the nations, as he favored the Children of Israel, when he took them out of Egypt and brought them to the land of Canaan. Correspondingly, He required of them additional service -- beyond the first [level] of service [i.e., corresponding to the goodness of the Creator which embraces all of mankind: He brought them into existence when previously they did not exist; He gave them life; And He favors them with all that we have spoken of in the Second Gate of this book. They are accordingly under a universal obligation of service to the Creator, may He be exalted. This consists of [obedience to] all the commandments called for by the intellect, which were observed by Adam, Chanoch, No’ach and his sons, and Iyov and his friends, up to the days of Moshe, our Master, peace be upon him] -- namely, [adherence to] the commandments that have their origin in revelation alone, after first warning them and exhorting them in regard to the commandments called for by the intellect. Whoever assumed this service for the glory of God, God singled him out for special favor, and held him under an obligation of service beyond that of his nation or the rest of his tribe. We find, for example, in the case of the tribe of Levi, that when Moshe said, “‘Whoever is for God, come to me!’ and all the Levi’im gathered themselves to him” (Shemos 32:26), God lavished favor upon them and chose him among them Aharon and his sons to minister to His glory; charged them with special precepts in addition to those given the rest of the nation; and promised them great reward in the World-to-Come. But whoever of them rebels against the Creator, May He be exalted, will fall from both levels and will be punished in both worlds, as the Wise Man said, “It will not be well with the wicked, nor will he prolong his days” (Koheles 8:13).

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