Why when the Jews made the egel, a single bull, they use the words Eilah Elohecha Yisroel which is plural?
Answer
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 63a) cites a couple of opinions. (Actually, it's talking about the plural form of the verb העלוך, "those who brought you up," but I would assume that these also fit with the plural אלה. Baal Haturim to 32:4 in fact quotes the second opinion below in explaining this phrase.)
Acherim ("the others," usually R' Meir): they meant thereby to say that they accepted Hashem and (lehavdil) the Calf as co-equal deities (shituf).
R' Shimon bar Yochai: they wanted to worship many other deities besides the Calf. (He considers this less objectionable than shituf.) This opinion actually has halachic implications too: once the Jews demonstrated that idolatry was acceptable to them, then the Canaanites living in the Land of Israel could be considered their agents, and their worship of things such as asheirah-trees would indeed make them forbidden for use, even though they were already part of the Jews' patrimony (Avodah Zarah 53b).
No comments:
Post a Comment