The Israelites, fresh from their miraculous exodus from Egypt, had already broken their covenant with God. And God, understandably, was furious. But Moses, ever the advocate, stepped in to plead their case.
In Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, we find a fascinating midrash, a story that unpacks the nuances of this moment. It begins with the question: why, in his plea, did Moses specifically mention the exodus from Egypt?
Rabbi Yehuda bar Shalom, quoting Rabbi Levi ben Perata, uses a parable to explain. Imagine someone buying a slave. The buyer asks, "Is this slave any good?" The seller replies, "No, he's pretty awful. That's why I'm selling him." Okay, fair enough. But then, when the slave acts up, the new owner starts beating him and threatens to kill him for being wicked. The slave cries out, "This is unfair!" The master retorts, "Unfair? You're the one misbehaving!"
And here’s the crux of the matter. The slave protests, "But you bought me knowing I was wicked! Why are you expecting me to be good now?"
That, says the midrash, is the essence of Moses' argument. "Master of the Universe," Moses essentially says, "Didn't you tell me to go to Pharaoh?" (Exodus 3:10). And didn't I question You? I asked, 'On what merit will You redeem them? They're idolaters!'"
Moses is reminding God of their earlier conversation. He’s saying, "You told me, 'I see them leaving Egypt. I see them accepting the Torah, even though I also see that after forty days, they'll deny Me and create the calf.'"
As we find in Exodus 3:7, God says "rao ra’iti et-oni ami" – "I have surely seen the affliction of my people." The double use of "seen" – rao ra’iti – and the word oni (affliction), which shares a root with anot (distress), the word used in connection with the Golden Calf in Exodus 32:18, alludes to God's foresight of this very sin.
Moses is essentially saying, "You knew this was coming! You knew they would build the calf! So why are you angry now? You purchased them, so to speak, knowing their flaws!"
That’s why he mentioned the exodus from Egypt, to remind God of the terms, the starting point of their relationship.
Rabbi Pinchas HaKohen ben Hama, quoting Rabbi Abahu in the name of Rabbi Yosei bar Hanina, offers another layer to this. He asks, "Why the double term, rao ra’iti – ‘I have surely seen’?"
The Holy One, blessed be He, says to Moses, "You see them now, but I see them as they will be when I appear in My chariot of glory to give them the Torah." This is a reference to Psalm 68:18, "The chariots of God are myriad, thousands upon thousands of companies."
And, here’s the kicker, "they take one of My four animals," as described in Ezekiel 1:10: "The face of an ox to the left of the four of them." The ox, of course, is a symbol that the Israelites would later pervert into the Golden Calf.
So, Moses is saying, "You knew! You knew they would take the image of the ox from Your own divine chariot! Why is Your wrath enflamed? You knew all along!"
What does this all mean for us? Perhaps it's a reminder that God sees the bigger picture, the potential within us, even when we stumble. Maybe it’s about understanding the complexities of our relationship with the Divine – that even in anger, there is a memory of promise, of the potential for greatness, even after profound failure.
And maybe, just maybe, it’s a lesson in holding each other accountable, while also remembering the flawed, human starting points from which we all begin.