[Avodah] Intermediaries Between Man and G-d

[Yitzchok Levine]

RSRH's commentary on Parshas Ki Sisa on the Chait 
Ha Egel gives brilliant insight into this event.  On

32 1. When the people saw that Moshe did not 
fulfill their expectation that he would come down 
from the mountain, the people gathered
against Aharon, and they said to him: Arise, make 
us gods who shall go before us; for this man 
Moshe,who brought us up from the land of Egypt, 
we do not know what has happened to him.

Rav Hirsch writes

In their view, the eternal bond with God was not formed by the
Divine Torah given to them through Moshe. The eternal guarantee of
God’s protection and of the intimacy with God attainable by each individual,
without an intermediary, was not the Divine rules for life —
i.e., the Mishpatim — which would remain with them even when the temporary
transmitter had departed. Rather, they considered the personality
of Moshe, a man who was close to God, as the vital link in their connection
with God. Only as long as he was alive could they be certain
of God’s protection.

They believed that Moshe’s relationship with God had been initiated
not by God but by Moshe; hence, they reasoned, if Moshe was no longer
alive they could, and indeed must, take some action on their own in
order to force God’s hand. They had not yet completely absorbed the
Jewish conception that man has direct access to God, without the need
for any intermediary, as long as he conducts himself in accordance with
God’s Will. Or perhaps the fear that henceforth they would have to
wander through the wilderness without a leader to guide them caused
them to doubt this truth.

This is merely a small selection of the 
commentary on this event. If you have the Hirsch 
Chumash, then I suggest you have a look at all 
the RSRH wrote about this. I am sure that you 
will find it of great interest and most enlightening.

Yitzchok Levine 
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