Community Torah Corner - March 6, 2026 - Parashat Ki Tisa

This week’s parsha is Ki Tisa, which tells the story of how B’nei Yisrael built a golden calf, an idol, at the foot of Mt. Sinai, right after they had heard the Ten Commandments from God.

In reviewing the parsha, it caught our attention that in Passuk 32:4, after the calf is built by Aharon, the people say, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” How is this possible when they just made this cow? How could this little golden calf have brought them out of Egypt when then this cow did not exist when they were brought out of Egypt?

The Ohr HaChayyim was bothered by the same question. He writes: At first glance the foolishness of this statement is so colossal that one cannot perceive anyone taking it seriously. How can our sages who characterised this generation of Israelites as the דור דעה, "the generation endowed with superior knowledge," reconcile such a characterisation with the statement in front of us?

Ramban, bothered by the same question,  explains that they had no intention of worshipping it as an idol, for there is no fool in the world who would think that this gold which was in their ears is that which brought them up out of the land of Egypt.

 

Rather, they believed it is a power that the calf represents rather than the calf itself. In other words, Ramban says they thought the calf was a representation of Hashem, not a completely different God.

 

Rashi gives a different explanation.

Rashi says:

אלה אלהיך (Eh-LEH eh-loh-HEH-khah) THESE ARE THY GODS, [O ISRAEL] — It does not state that they said “these are our gods, [O Israel]”; hence we may learn that it was the mixed multitude which came up from Egypt that gathered themselves together against Aaron, and it was they who made it and afterwards led Israel astray.

He says that the ones who made this ridiculous statement were not the Jews but rather other people who came with them out of Egypt. Other people convinced the Jews to pray to the calf.

We partially agree with both Rashi and Ramban. We agree with Ramban because it is hard to believe that the people could have truly been that foolish. On the other hand, we also agree with Rashi that the Israelites were influenced by the other mixed multitudes who came up out of the land of Egypt. Our interpretation was a mix between the two because we believe that the Israelites felt so hopeless and lost that they were willing to believe things that did not fully make sense to them.

This idea teaches us the importance of patience, loyalty, and trust in God. The Parshah shows us that God has a plan and we must remember that God knows best. When the Israelites try to replace Hashem with an idol, the story begins to fall apart. We see this in our day to day lives, when we struggle and begin to lose patience. When we are disloyal, we realize how much Hashem does for us and how much we really need Hashem’s guidance to help us. We often question why bad things happen if Hashem is really there for us. This Parshah helps give one explanation for this problem. Hashem gave all people free will and we have to decide how to use it. Hashem’s role is not to make decisions for us, but rather to lead us to the right decisions. 

Shabbat Shalom