By Rabbi Yosef Shemtov
The major incident in this week’s parsha is the story of Bnei Israel making the golden calf. This is of course a very strange event. How in the world could they have worshiped idols after experiencing the miracles of the Exodus? We are talking about people who saw the 10 plagues that struck the Egyptians, the splitting of the Red Sea and were protected by the clouds of glory.
The rabbis explain that the intention of beni Israel was not really to worship idols but to have something serve as an intermediary between them and God. They thought Moshe Rabeinu must have died because how can a human being survive 40 days without food? They wanted to connect with the Almighty through an object.
We know Hashem wanted to destroy the entire nation. Had Moshe Rabeunu not prayed for them and told Hashem “I won’t be part of your Torah if you destroy them,” the nation would have perished.
But let’s analyze this: If they had a good intention, what was so severe about their sin? If they really wanted to connect to God, why was Hashem so furious?
The answer is that we don’t decide how to serve God. Rather God tells us how to serve him. The moment we decide, then that’s called idol worshiping no matter what the intention is.
The Conservative and Reform movements are examples of people serving God how they want to. Within Orthodoxy there are also many examples which is out of the scope of this dvar Torah.
Finally, we need to evaluate whether we are doing what the Almighty wants or simply what is comfortable for us. It is very important that everyone should have a competent advisor to make sure he is going on right path.
Shabbat Shalom