Dear Friends,
The people were angered and frightened. Their leader was gone, and it appeared to them that their leader had vanished. So, they fabricated an artificial replacement, and attempted to stage a coup.
Sound familiar? It could.
This is a brief summation of the Golden Calf incident in the Book of Exodus in this week’s Torah portion, and could be a description of the Capitol insurrection in January. Perhaps a review of the Golden Calf might offer a new, insightful perspective on what occurred two months ago in Washington.
In short, Moses ascended the Mountain to receive the tablets of the law from God, sojourning there for 40 days, yet disappearing and abdicating his regular, tangible presence before a nervous people. After all, the Israelites only had departed from Egypt months earlier, and relied heavily on Moses and his intimate intercession with God. They identified with him at the same time they were uncomfortable with their new, covenantal relationship with this invisible God. When Moses disappeared, they felt vulnerable and sought a replacement god-figure, and they reverted to the idolatry which they had witnessed in Egypt and earlier, crafting the Golden Calf. Yet, to establish this replacement figurine as the figurehead, they had to depose the authority of Moses and Aaron, and do so with a populist revolt, which they did. It took Moses hastening down from the Mountain and casting the tablets at the Calf, destroying them both, and then challenging and destroying the rebels with a Divine show of force, to restore order. Yet, distrust and hurt would remain, and it took years to fully reestablish a renewed covenant.
Offering the Golden Calf as an overlay to the events of January 6, we again could see a nervous and disaffected people, upset over the loss of their figurehead in whom they identified and trusted, and then reverting to a primal means of regaining a vanishing control. Thereafter, only when the true source of authority – the law and police – hastened to the scene, was order returned, but destabilization remains.
Likely, political scientists and religious anthropologists will review these episodes for years to come, and may contend that this is a normal pattern of revolt and coup. The pattern may be familiar in similar events in other places and other ages, as the very real feelings of loss of leadership, need for reassurance, asserting basic power, and seeking a voice in governance are age-old and ubiquitous.
However, the Golden Calf reminds us: contending against sacred authority is a wrongful, dangerous apostasy, and often results in social destruction. It should be avoided.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
The people were angered and frightened. Their leader was gone, and it appeared to them that their leader had vanished. So, they fabricated an artificial replacement, and attempted to stage a coup.
Sound familiar? It could.
This is a brief summation of the Golden Calf incident in the Book of Exodus in this week’s Torah portion, and could be a description of the Capitol insurrection in January. Perhaps a review of the Golden Calf might offer a new, insightful perspective on what occurred two months ago in Washington.
In short, Moses ascended the Mountain to receive the tablets of the law from God, sojourning there for 40 days, yet disappearing and abdicating his regular, tangible presence before a nervous people. After all, the Israelites only had departed from Egypt months earlier, and relied heavily on Moses and his intimate intercession with God. They identified with him at the same time they were uncomfortable with their new, covenantal relationship with this invisible God. When Moses disappeared, they felt vulnerable and sought a replacement god-figure, and they reverted to the idolatry which they had witnessed in Egypt and earlier, crafting the Golden Calf. Yet, to establish this replacement figurine as the figurehead, they had to depose the authority of Moses and Aaron, and do so with a populist revolt, which they did. It took Moses hastening down from the Mountain and casting the tablets at the Calf, destroying them both, and then challenging and destroying the rebels with a Divine show of force, to restore order. Yet, distrust and hurt would remain, and it took years to fully reestablish a renewed covenant.
Offering the Golden Calf as an overlay to the events of January 6, we again could see a nervous and disaffected people, upset over the loss of their figurehead in whom they identified and trusted, and then reverting to a primal means of regaining a vanishing control. Thereafter, only when the true source of authority – the law and police – hastened to the scene, was order returned, but destabilization remains.
Likely, political scientists and religious anthropologists will review these episodes for years to come, and may contend that this is a normal pattern of revolt and coup. The pattern may be familiar in similar events in other places and other ages, as the very real feelings of loss of leadership, need for reassurance, asserting basic power, and seeking a voice in governance are age-old and ubiquitous.
However, the Golden Calf reminds us: contending against sacred authority is a wrongful, dangerous apostasy, and often results in social destruction. It should be avoided.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
