Whose People Are We Talking About?

Victory has a thousand fathers, but defeat is an orphan. [US President John F. Kennedy]

Moses had little trouble dealing with the external enemy. G-d wrought 10 plagues on Egypt that sent Pharaoh running for cover and ordering the Jews out. The same divine protection would extend to any of the aggressors daring to take a pot shot at the Chosen People.

But a few weeks after liberation Moses discovered a more powerful and insidious enemy — that from within. The leader had accepted tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of Egyptians, who followed the Israelites to the Sinai Desert. Moses converted them to Judaism and made them part of the nation.

In this week’s Torah portion, Ki Tisa, Moses and Aaron find that many of these Egyptians, called the “Mixed Multitude,” were not spiritual babes in the woods transported from idolatry to worship of G-d. They were agents of Pharaoh, assigned to infiltrate the nascent Jewish nation, foment dissent and chaos until the Israelites return to Egypt and resume their slavery. The agents, referred to as “the people,” just needed an opportunity.

The people saw that Moses had delayed in coming down from the mountain. The people gathered around Aaron and said to him, “Arise, make us leaders, who will lead us, because this man Moses, who led us up out of Egypt — we do not know what has become of him.” [Exodus 32:1]

The first demand of the “people” was that the purportedly deceased Moses be replaced with numerous leaders. Perhaps they could become an emergency council or parliament. The clear vision of the divine prophet would be substituted by factionalism, backbiting and plots.

All the while, there is no reference to the Children of Israel, those freed from slavery in Egypt and the recipients of the Torah on Mount Sinai. There is a vacuum, filled by the Mixed Multitude, who now press Aaron for new leadership and a new god. When they make the Golden Calf, G-d is dismissed. Aaron, who desperately awaits Moses’ arrival from Mount Sinai, is helpless.

G-d spoke to Moses, “Go, descend, for your people whom you brought up out of Egypt have become corrupt.” [Exodus 32:7]

So, now it’s on Moses. He had not asked G-d whether the Mixed Multitude should be welcomed. Instead, Moses converted the Egyptians to Jews, beaming that they had torn away from the evil Pharaoh and embraced G-d. Now, Moses realizes that that was not the case. G-d tells Moses these people are incorrigible. They will not listen to Moses or the Torah that he is about to bring from Mount Sinai.

Moreover, it becomes clear that the sin of the Golden Calf had gone beyond the Egyptian migrants. The travesty has reached the Children of Israel. Despite being the clear majority, many of the Israelites had become influenced by the Mixed Multitude and embraced the new idol. G-d wants them all destroyed, and Moses is growing frightened that the Almighty is really serious this time.

As soon as he obtains a divine reprieve, Moses descends the mountain and sees the Israelite camp in chaos. There are thousands dancing and singing around the Golden Calf. Others pair off for ecstatic sex. His first task is to identify the sinners.

He took the calf that they had made and burned it in fire, ground it into fine powder and scattered it over the water, and made the Israelites drink it. [Exodus 31:20]

Moses’ focus is not the Mixed Multitude rather the Children of Israel. The cancer of idolatry had spread from one organ to the entire body. Suddenly, there were no longer two camps — the Israelites and the Egyptians. Instead, there was one community comprised of the righteous and the sinners.

G-d said to Moses, “Go up from here, you and the people whom you brought up out of Egypt, to the land regarding which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.'” [Exodus 33:1]

Notice the change in language: G-d does not tell Moses “your people,” rather “the people.” There won’t be two camps anymore. The evil Egyptian agents who pretended to be Jewish converts will be punished for the Golden Calf. But their children will have the opportunity to be true men and women of Israel.

Indeed, this is what has taken place throughout Jewish history. The descendants of some of the worst oppressors became great teachers of Israel. The grandchildren of Haman taught Torah to children in Bnei Brak. The descendants of Sancheiriv, who tried to destroy the First Temple, included Shemaya and Avtalyon, two of the greatest sages during the Second Temple. Onkelos, the nephew of the Roman emperor Hadrian who outlawed Torah, became Jewish and wrote the Aramaic translation of the Torah. Even the descendants of Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed the First Temple, considered conversion to Judaism.

There was no fairy-tale ending to the story of the Golden Calf. The Midrash says the incident left a sea of bitterness. But the mission of bringing the Israelites to the land of their forefathers could not be suspended. G-d told Moses to return to the camp and get back to work.

[G-d] said to him [Moses]: “I am angry, and you are angry. If so, who will bring them close [to Me again]?” [Midrash quoted by Rashi on Exodus 33:11]