{"id":43348,"date":"2018-11-04T19:17:24","date_gmt":"2018-11-04T17:17:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=43348"},"modified":"2022-05-29T17:51:14","modified_gmt":"2022-05-29T14:51:14","slug":"what-was-aaron-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/what-was-aaron-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"What Was Aaron Thinking?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It is hard to know what to make of Aaron\u2019s actions in this chapter. \u00a0Why does he seem to go along with the people instead of completely rejecting their request? <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps we can find some insight into this question by looking at Aaron\u2019s own words when Moses descends from the mountain and asks Aaron how he could have brought this great sin upon the people. Aaron responds: \u201cLet not my lord be enraged. You know that this people is bent on evil (<\/span>b\u2019ra<\/span><\/em>).\u201d (Ex. 32:22)<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it really possible that Aaron is blaming the people? In Jewish tradition, Aaron is always portrayed as the \u201cpursuer of peace\u201d who would prefer to suffer rather than cast aspersions upon other Israelites. At this most pressing time, would he really tell Moses that the people are bent on evil?<\/span><\/p>\n

Understanding the word Aaron uses, \u201c<\/span>b\u2019ra<\/span><\/em>\u201d might help us understand Aaron\u2019s motivation on a deeper level. \u00a0In order to do so, let us investigate the opposite of the word <\/span>ra<\/span>: <\/span>tov<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

When we first meet Moses in Ex. 2:2, we are told that when he was born, his mother saw that he was <\/span>tov<\/span><\/em> and hid him for three months. <\/span>Tov<\/span><\/em> in this context means that he was a<\/span> fully-formed viable baby. Similarly, the word \u201ctov<\/em>\u201d appears in Genesis chapter 1 when God describes the days of creation as <\/span>tov<\/span><\/em> or complete.<\/span><\/p>\n

If tov<\/em> means complete, then its opposite, \u201cra’<\/em>\u201d means incomplete or unstable. For example, a chair can be \u201c<\/span>rau\u2019a<\/span><\/em>\u201d or unsteady. The Israelites at this point are in a state of radical incompleteness and unsteadiness. They have left Egypt and received the Torah, but they are still overwhelmed, unsure, and searching.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the best approach in dealing with a nation that is <\/span>b\u2019ra<\/span><\/em>? Here Moses and Aaron differ. Moses\u2019s approach (and possibly God\u2019s first approach as well) is to inundate them with spiritual experiences – the plagues, splitting of the sea, revelation at Mount Sinai – that will clearly point the way forward due to the undeniable truth overwhelming their faculties.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this approach doesn\u2019t work; in fact, it may have backfired. At Mount Sinai, they run away and ask Moses to be their go-between with God. Perhaps this is why after the experience of Mount Sinai, they continue to believe they need a go-between and succumb to the Sin of the Golden Calf.<\/span><\/p>\n

Aaron decides to work with them and re-direct their impulses. They want an e<\/em><\/span>lohim<\/span><\/em>? He will ask them to remove their jewelry, leftovers of Egypt. They want to worship? He will build an altar and tell them the celebration is for God. His approach is to meet them where they are and help them slowly find their way.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, neither the heavy-handed approach of Moses nor the overly accommodating approach of Aaron works. Instead, God must set up a new way of dealing with the people: through the 13 attributes.<\/span><\/p>\n

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