Shame On  You

Moshe was not destined to have an easy time as the prophet-leader of his people. Practically the minute his sojourn with God, where he received the tablets of the covenant ended, he was confronted by an acrimonious rebellion of his people both against God and his leadership:

And He gave to Moshe, when He finished speaking with him, the two tablets of the covenant, stone tablets inscribed with the finger of God. (Exodus 31:18)

Juxtaposed with this verse is the episode of the sin of the golden calf:

When the people saw that Moshe was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aharon and said to him: Come make us a god who shall go before us, for that man Moshe, who brought us from the land of Egypt – we do not know what has happened to him. (Exodus 32:1)

In one midrash, God’s constant righteousness is contrasted not only with His people’s rebelliousness but also with their steadfast unwillingness to acknowledge and show remorse for their wrongdoings.  This midrash, a petikha (proem), uses a classical form where it opens and interprets a verse from elsewhere in Scripture, in this case a verse from the book of Daniel, only to in the end return to our reference in Exodus. The verse from Daniel expresses the midrash’s theme:

With You, O God is righteousness, and the shame is on us… (Daniel 9:6)

The midrash opens explicitly stating its central theme. (Here, we present only the material relevant to our discussion):

And he gave unto Moses, when he finished speaking with him… (Exodus 31:18). Rabbi Tanhuma began the discussion with the verse: With You, O God, is righteousness, and the shame is on us (Daniel 9:7). Rabbi Nehemiyah declared: Even though we act righteously before You, if we examine our actions, we are ashamed…

Another explanation of Yours, O Lord, is righteousness, and ours is disgrace. Said Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahman: It was appropriate for our ancestors to receive the Torah and to exclaim: All that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will hear (Exodus 24:7), but was it proper for them to say: This is thy god, O Israel (ibid. 32:4)?

You find that it is written about the time Moshe descended from the mountain, what was written there: And when Yehoshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to Moshe: “There is a noise of war in the camp (ibid. 32:17). Moshe replied: It is not the voice of them that shout after a victory, neither is it the voice of them that cry after being overcome, but the noise of them that sing do I hear (ibid.). What is the meaning of the noise of them that sing do I hear?

The midrash now jumps to a retelling of the sin of the golden calf as found in the book of Nehemiah where it emphasizes the midrash’s central theme. In particular, the midrash is interested in how verse 9:18 is expressed. (Note the bold print which points out the part of the verse which the drashan thought to be superfluous and hence open to interpretation.)

The men of the Great Synagogue came and interpreted it: Yea, when they had made them a golden calf and said: “This is the god that brought you up out of Egypt,” and wrought great provocations (Nehemiah 9:18). Is there anything lacking in Scripture that it should add: And wrought great provocations? [This indicates for the drashan that] they were reproached and blasphemes while they sated themselves with the manna even bringing some of it as an offering to the calf! They blasphemed with all their might and indulged in revelry, but nevertheless: You (God) do not withhold Your manna from their mouth (ibid., v. 20). Hence, With You, O God is righteousness, and the shame is on us.

Rabbi Levi said: While Israel remained on the ground fashioning a calf, as it is said: And he received it at their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool (Exodus 32:4), the Holy One, blessed be He, was above them engraving the life-giving words on the tablets, as it is said: And He gave unto Moses when He had made an end of speaking. (Tanhuma Ki Tisa 14)

This midrash emphasizes God’s graciousness even in the face of the wrongdoings of His people, but even more so, it highlights their sinfully brash unwillingness to acknowledge their wrongdoing and their lack of shame. The author of this midrash obviously offers up this lesson because such behavior was an inveterate problem. It was back then and it is no less so in our day!