The Israelites, fresh from the Exodus, experienced just that, according to Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer, a fascinating collection of stories and interpretations of Jewish tradition.
Rabbi Judah paints a vivid picture. Imagine the Israelites, basking in the glow of divine favor. They are "dressed in garments of glory," radiating beauty and honor. What are these garments? They are, metaphorically, the very Name of God. Clothed in this divine connection, they were "good before the Holy One, blessed be He, like the ministering angels." A powerful image, isn't it?
But then… the golden calf.
That single act of idolatry, a moment of profound faithlessness, changed everything. God’s anger, a concept we grapple with even today, descends. And with it comes a cosmic consequence, as Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer dramatically recounts.
Sixty myriads – that's six hundred thousand! – of ministering angels descend in the night. Their task? To strip away the Israelites' garments of glory, that radiant connection to the Divine. Each angel takes from each Israelite the divine apparel that had been bestowed upon them.
Think about the sheer scale of this. The loss, the humiliation.
The text emphasizes the Israelites didn't willingly give up their adornment. "And the children of Israel stripped themselves" (Exodus 33:6). The Hebrew here is crucial. It doesn't say "they took away," implying an active choice. Instead, "they stripped themselves" suggests something was forcibly removed, or, as some interpretations suggest, simply fell away on its own.
This passage from Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer offers a powerful lesson about the fragility of spiritual connection. It reminds us that our actions have consequences, not just for ourselves, but for our relationship with the Divine. The Israelites lost something precious because of their choices. It’s a stark reminder of the importance of staying connected to our values, to our faith, to that “garment of glory” that makes us who we are.
What "garments of glory" do we wear today? And what are we doing to protect them?