וַיְהִי כַּאֲשֶׁר קָרַב אֶל־הַמַּחֲנֶה וַיַּרְא אֶת־הָעֵגֶל וּמְחֹלֹת וַיִּחַר־אַף מֹשֶׁה וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ מִיָּדָו אֶת־הַלֻּחֹת וַיְשַׁבֵּר אֹתָם תַּחַת הָהָר

As soon as Moshe came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became enraged; and he hurled the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. (32:19)

Didn’t Moshe already know about the golden calf before he came down and approached the camp? We read in previous verses:

וַיְדַבֵּר ד’ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה לֶךְ־רֵד כִּי שִׁחֵת עַמְּךָ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלֵיתָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃ סָרוּ מַהֵר מִן־הַדֶּרֶךְ אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִם עָשׂוּ לָהֶם עֵגֶל מַסֵּכָה וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ־לוֹ וַיִּזְבְּחוּ־לוֹ וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלֶּה אֱלֹהֶיךָ יִשְׂרָאֵל אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלוּךָ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃

Hashem spoke to Moshe, “Hurry down, for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have acted basely. They have been quick to turn aside from the way that I enjoined upon them. They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed to it and sacrificed to it, saying: ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’.” (32:8)

Moshe received the first tablets from Hashem atop Mount Sinai and was told of the Golden Calf while he was still there. If this sin meant that the Jewish people weren’t worthy of receiving the Tablets, why didn’t Moshe give them back to Hashem right then and there?

Seforno (Rabbi Ovadiah Seforno, an 16th century Italian Torah scholar well known for his commentary on the Torah) explains that you’ll notice that all Hashem told Moshe was, “They have made themselves a molten calf and bowed to it and sacrificed to it.” At that point Moshe thought that the people must have stumbled out of confusion and lack of his presence. Once they would see him with the G-d given Tablets in his hands they would come to their sences and realize their mistake.

Once he came down he saw something that he was not made aware of. וַיַּרְא אֶת־הָעֵגֶל וּמְחֹלֹת, Moshe saw the calf and the dancing. This was something new to him. They were actually happy with what they had done, not struggling with it! Now Moshe realized that his original plan won’t work. The people were far too invested in this false god and were no more able to return to the elevated state they had risen to at the giving of the Torah. They were unworthy of these G-d made Tablets. Not only that, he’d have to do something drastic to shake them out of their sinful stupor. He smashed the holy Tablets on the ground making them understand how rebellious their actions were and how much they would now lose out on for their sinful behavior.

The words of Seforno carry a very important message. When we are faced with the truth about our actions and realize we have stumbled,we tend to justify our actions because it’s too difficult to admit that we’ve been wrong. Not only that , we may go so far as to consider those misdeeds as a mitzvah and a cause for celebration! That’s a very dangerous place to be in because it makes teshuva (repentance) so much harder.

Moshe taught us to maintain a sense of honesty about ourselves and not become so invested in our actions because of our ego. This way we’ll be able to right our ship with just seeing the truth and something more drastic won’t be needed to wake us up from our delusions.

Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak