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Chapter 5
The Sin of the Golden Calf
The Torah Koan of the Other Side of Tomorrow
In this parasha-chapter Moshe receives the two Tablets of Testimony on which are written the Ten Commandments. The mixed multitude (Erev Rav) that left Egypt with the Jewish People panic when Moshe's descent seems delayed, and force Aharon to make a golden calf for them to worship. Aharon stalls, trying to delay them. Hashem tells Moshe to return to the people immediately, threatening to destroy everyone and build a new nation from Moshe. When Moshe sees the orgy of idol-worship, he smashes the tablets, and he destroys the golden calf. The tribe of Levi volunteers to punish the transgressors, executing 3,000 men. Moshe ascends the mountain to pray for forgiveness for the people, and Hashem accepts his prayer.
An entire book would be required to begin to understand the complexity of the phenomenon of the sin of the Golden Calf or the Chait haEigel, as it is known in Torah. The construction of the Golden Calf and its consequences is the most catastrophic event in all of Jewish history. It set the stage for all the future calamities and sufferings that the Jewish people have endured for millennia up to the very present. Moreover, the ramifications of this pivotal event became “hardwired” into the collective soul of creation. Subsequently, the sin of the Golden Calf has and continues to affect the direction of the entirety of world history.
For 3,300 years the outstanding question that everyone has been asking --Jews and non-Jews, master scholars and the common person – is “How could they do that?!” After all that the Nation of Israel had experienced – the supernatural phenomena of the Ten Plagues and the supernal Splitting of the Sea culminating in a celestial face-to-face encounter with the Creator and receiving the Cosmic Code to unlock the secrets of the universe – how could they revert to blatant idolatrous worship of a metal object?
Many traditions, explanations, speculations and imaginations have been suggested, written and sermonized about this event. What we are going to do here, however, is to look from an “inner Torah” perspective at one small fragment, a “micro-event” within the macro-picture. Yet, the analysis of this one aspect will enable us to behold a panoramic view of one of the inner mechanisms of the event of the Golden Calf. It revolves around a puzzling expression of Moshe’s brother, Aharon the Kohen. This will supply the pivotal piece in the Torah puzzle I am calling The Sin of the Golden Calf: Today and “Tomorrow”.
But before we present Aharon’s dilemma let’s “beg the issue” or, in yeshiva parlance, built up the “qashe question”. Let’s bring a few more facts and clues to show evidence that for those Jews who stood at Mt Sinai the affair of the Golden Calf was a virtual impossibility to have occurred and that there is something very mysterious here at play. We are at the scene of the greatest cosmic crime committed since the fall of man and the facts just don’t match up. (Bear in mind that one does not need to dogmatically accept the veracity of the “evidence”. Rather, we are only trying to view the set and setting from the perspective of the rabbinical/kabbalah mind-set. From their perspective how could this spiritual tragedy have occurred? What are the reality maps the sages are using to chart and navigate through the ocean of world history and the enigmatic role of the Nation of Israel?)
Here is a quick overview of some crucial, but little known facts surrounding the Chait haEigel.
1. Moshe and his generation are the 26th generation from the time of Adam. 26, as is known, is the value of Y-H-V-H, the Tetragramton, the essential code/name of God. The completion of this aspect of Divinity was about to be made and there would be no need for the rest of history as we have come to know it.
2. Moshe and the Generation of [Supernal] Knowledge (Dor Day’ah, as they are called by the sages) were also the final missing link in the mystery of the 974 Primordial Generations, alluded to throughout Scripture and expounded upon in the oral tradition. The 26th generation (from Adam) now brought the 974 primordial generations to 1,000 the number associated with the highest level of completion. The unification of the Thousand Generations designates the Sinaic event as the final tikkun for all reality even in the super-macro picture.
3. “Torah From Heaven” – the cosmic codes of creation -- descended from a higher dimension with the sole purpose of restoring reality to its state before its collapse. If not for the Chait haEigel all Jews would have gone straight into the land of Israel. Within a relatively short time, by applying the mitzvot formulated in the Torah in the Land of Israel, the Jews would have completed the tikkun for the sin of Adam, mankind and the world. All reality – history embedded within the space-time manifold – would have “quantum jumped” back into its original higher dimension.[1]
4. Not only had the entire nation of Israel experienced the supra-natural phenomena of the Ten Plagues and vision of the Splitting of the Sea from a physical as well as cosmic perspective, but also at Mt Sinai all Israelites were fused into one entity with one mind and the one truth of the Absolute. The entire nation had become the virtual reconstituted Adam HaRishon before the Fall. The phenomenon of death was obliterated and everyone would have literally lived for eternity, as Adam and Eve were intended.[2]
5. At the time of the Sinaic revelation the millions of Israelites who entered into union with the Divine Mind were not a rag tag band of primitive nomads. Rather, every individual had divested him and herself of the corporeality of the material world and the spiritual contamination from the Nachash (Primordial Serpent) and had achieved the original level of total God consciousness.[3]
There is a plethora of more facts in the case that can be presented but even with only this much said we can now really ask the question, A nation of transcendent priests fused into one Adamic being with total God consciousness about to enter the portal into another universe “How could they do that?!” Worship a physical image, and engage in an occult like orgy? In the rhetorical language of the Talmudic masters, “Are we dealing here with fools?!” And now, there is even a bigger problem with Aharon.
Some of the people[4] gathered about Aharon, asking him to make them a godly power or divine oracle to lead them, for "who knows what's happened to Moshe, who brought us up from Egypt?” Aharon formed the gold in a mold, casting it into a calf... They said: "These, Israel, are your gods, who brought you out of Egypt (32:4)". After seeing it Aharon built an altar before it and proclaimed: “A festival to God tomorrow!” The Jews brought burnt and peace offerings early in the morning. The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to enjoy themselves (with idolatry).
Keep in mind the crucial but little known facts listed above about the Chait haEigel. Now, the plot only thickens because we must assume (and as the oral tradition tells us) that Aharon knew all those facts and more. In addition, Aharon was on a level in many ways equal to that of Moshe. He was the conduit for Moshe’s communication with pharaoh, every one of the ten plagues was facilitated by Moshe and Aharon together and Moshe and Aharon together comprise the trey palgay gufa – the two “legs” in the adamic body of the Ten Sefirot. Aharon haKohen was a master talmudist, kabbalist and extremely God fearing man who would willingly martyr his life rather than being even indirectly involved with avoda zara -- idolatrous worship. He knew the big, cosmic picture, he had all the maps of inter-dimensional reality and he was on the same mission from God as was Moshe – to accelerate and complete the tikkun for the chait of Adam with the Aitz haDaat – the Tree of Knowledge. “A festival to God tomorrow”? How could Aharon possibly have uttered such an expression?
The Ari zal writes:
“Now, there is great astonishment concerning this expression. It has already been explained[5] that Aaron’s intention was “for the sake of Heaven” [e.g., he was trying to stall for time until Moshe returned]. However, what can be said for this word chag – a sacred festival? How is it possible that the Torah could write something that is fraudulent [it never happened] and how could such words come out of the mouth of Aaron? Surely there is a sod alluded to here. The Golden Calf was constructed on the 17th of Tammuz and it was on the 17th of Tammuz that the Ten Commandments were broken.[6] In the future the Holy One will transform this day into a [real] Yom Tov [another term for chag]. Consequently, the expression “a chag tomorrow for HaShem” is, in its essence, true. The term “tomorrow” (machar) refers to after time (as well as to a higher dimension, i.e., beyond our present reference to time). This [concept] concurs with what the rabbis have taught “Sometimes “tomorrow” refers to a time in the future”.[7]
To understand the words of the Holy Ari the question to ask is where in time is “tomorrow” taking place? More specifically, upon what type of surface is “tomorrow” occurring? The resolution to this unusal question can be found in the Möbius strip mode[8]. A very different paradigm for understanding the structure of time – and thus, history – can be viewed by looking through the eyes of a Möbius strip. "Which geometry or topological surface best describes the hidden landscape of time?" The Möbius strip offers a simple yet very penetrating model of one of the fundamental "shapes" that molds this invisible surface. From the perspective of a Möbius shaped time line, any given day or moment in time is but two surfaces of one continuous "side". This “one side” can be manifested concavely or convexly, concealing the nature of its potential within the collapsed “cave” of time or revealing it’s expanded potential.
The 17th of Tammuz, like all moments in time, contains two surfaces of only one “side”. The same Divine energy that can manifest as joy and redemption (the crowning glory of the set and setting of original Ten Commandments) can turn in on itself to reveal its own descent and captivity – its “shadow self” or “backside” (the spiritual impurity of the set and setting of the Golden Calf). Aharon was well aware of this, and he also knew the stakes were very high. He knew that the essence of this day was a key time coordinate within the collective soul of the universe. He knew that the sacred moment of “tomorrow” – the “Chag l’HaShem” – was a complete potential reality right now. He knew that the entire nation had entered a space-time vortex that exited into two parallel universes, the two faces of the 17th of Tammuz. He was painfully watching and mapping the fabric of time as it was inverting on itself. He believed, and correctly so, that the process could be reversed and “popped back” or at least halted until Moshe returned and he was doing everything within his power to do so. The people, however, were caught in a great spiritual panic that was too powerful for Aharon to mitigate and slowdown. They generated a “time warp” and the divine essence of the 17th of Tammuz caved in on itself to reveal its catastrophic backside, the dark cave of the Chait haEigel.
It can appear from a limited perspective that it is God who is now angered against the Israelites and seeks their destruction. It is not God, however, who gets angry, punitive or vindictive. Rather, from the perspective that has been developed here it is the constricted nature of the day itself that, tragically, has been released into the world. (These are known as the harsh, unmitigated gevurot.) Once they have been released and let out of their box, it is exceedingly difficult to rectify them and put them back, to turn them “outside in”. Often, their only rectification is the travels and travails of its victims spread out over the length and breadth of time. But, when its “time is up” the soul of the day will again reveal its true face. The captive sparks within the Golden Calf of “today” will be redeemed “Tomorrow”. How could Aharon haKohen do that?! How could he not! When the cosmic “Tomorrow” arrives Aharon haKohen’s words eternalized in the Torah “A festival for God tomorrow” will become the singular reality. The whole world will then know the Kabbalah Koan that “yesterday” is only the other side of “tomorrow”. [1] "Concerning the future it is written "And the Glory of G-d will be revealed and together all flesh will see that the mouth of G-d has spoken"(Isaiah/Yeshayahu 40-5). 'The meaning is that our consciousness will become so refined that we will merit to grasp and to see even with our corporeal vision the process of G-d's divine speech permeating every living thing in existence. This will occur as it similarly already has at the time of the giving of the Torah as it is written, 'And all the people saw the voices' ('they saw what they heard and they heard what they saw' - Rashi quoting Midrash Mechilta) (Nefesh HaChayim Gate 3 Chapter 11).
[2] "I said, You are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High...(Tehillim 132-6). 'This is what G-d said when Israel at Mt. Sinai said, ' We will do' before 'We will hear', but when they followed their Yezter HaRah He Said, '...yet like Adam you will die' (ibid.) (Zohar Shelach 162a) They were meant to literally live forever like the original Adam see Rashi and Mezudat David, also A.Z. 5b)
[3] "R' Yochanan said, 'At the time when the Nachash came upon Hava it impregnated her with spiritual corporeality (Zoohamah). Yisrael, who stood at Har Sinai had the Zoohamah removed. The Nations of the World who did not stand at Sinai did not have the Zoohamah removed" (Yevamot 103b, Shabbat 147a, Avodah Zara 22b).
[4] These “people” (‘am) are the leaders of the erev rav, the large contingency of Egyptians whom Moshe had brought with him against the “advice” of HaShem. They were all members of the Egyptian spiritual elite and masters of the occult sciences – including Pharaoh’s wise men and dream interpreters. They had “seen the light” and were in the process of conversion – returning their souls to Judaism. This was because their souls were an intrinsic part of the original collective soul of the Jewish nation – the “missing” half of the core genealogy of Yaakov and the tribes of Israel. (This actually began with Adam and is an additional consequence of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge. The details of this process are only known in esoteric Judaism). Their spiritual integration into the body of Israel, however, had not yet been completed and it was this vulnerability that led them to commit the sin of the Golden Calf. Even though it is well known in rabbinical literature that it was not the Jews from Yaakov’s genealogy that “sinned” the question still stands regarding the leaders of the erev rav who were spiritual masters in their own right and had sincerely embraced Moshe as their leader and “rabbi”. “How could even they do that, are we dealing here with fools?!”
Here are a few examples of scriptural references to the erev rav: "THIS PEOPLE have committed a great sin and have made FOR THEM (the Jews) a god of gold" (32:31). “So THE PEOPLE demanded a god of Aharon (31:1-2)... and "THEY (the converting -- Jews) said: 'these are YOUR (the Jews') gods, Israel'..." (rather than OUR gods-- 32:4). God calls them "YOUR (Moshe's) people"; as Moshe, not God, was the one who brought them along (32:7).
[5] By all the classical commentaries including Rashi.
[6] The 17th of Tammuz would become a day of historical mourning for the Temple's destruction. It was on this day that the walls surrounding Jerusalem were first breached by the enemy. It is observed as a fast day and begins the three week period leading up to Tisha b’Av, the 9th of Av, the actual day on which the Sanctuary was set afire and signifying the beginning of the captivity and exile of the Jewish people from their land. The prophet Zecharia foretells that it will become a day of joy.
[7] “And it shall be when your son asks you tomorrow saying, ‘What is this about’ [The Passover offering] and you will tell him… “(Exodus 13-14) Sometimes [in Scripture] “tomorrow” refers to the next day and sometimes “tomorrow” refers to a time in the future. (Midrash Mechilta, end of parashat Bo.)
[8] The Möbius strip was introduced by the German mathematician and astronomer Augustus Ferdinand Möbius (1790-1868). He described his remarkable paper surface as a strip which has no "other side". This one-sided strip, hard to imagine but easy to construct, has other numerous unexpected properties as well. It is easily made from an ordinary strip of paper that is simply twisted over once before the ends are joined. (If it were not twisted it would just remain a short cylinder).
This Möbius strip exists in three dimensions but, astonishingly, has only one surface. If a line is traced on the surface of the strip without letting the pen leave the surface you will find that when you are half way round you will be writing on the back of the paper even though you are still on the same surface. If you continue you will end up where you started.
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