Ki Tissa 5784 Aaron and Haran 

In this week’s perasha we on the sin of the Golden Calf   

Before we get into the text  

Questions: Who collected the gold to build the egel? 

Who built the egel?  

Who built the alter in front of it?  

 How is that possible ?

 We have all heard that there are three cardinal sins which one is required to give their life for  

What are they?  

Lets first look at Halachot of
Maimonidies - Rambam Yesodei HaTorah 5:7 

What is the source that idolatry, sexual immorality and murder should not be committed even to save a life?  

Deuteronomy 6:5 tells us, “You shall love Hashem, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might.” “Your soul” means even at the cost of one’s soul. This precludes idolatry.  

Regarding murder to save a third party or to save one’s self from another who is coercing him, it is logical that one person’s life cannot be sacrificed for another’s.  

Regarding sexual immorality, the Torah compares forbidden sexual relations to murder in Deuteronomy 22:26, where it says regarding rape that “this is just like a case where one person rises up against another to kill him.” 

Each day when we pray, we must remind ourselves of this in the Shema and again in the Amidah. In fact the Ben Ish Chair Rav Yosef Chaim writes when a person is saying the amidah and he comes to the last word of the first paragrah:  

וּמֵבִיא
גוֹאֵל לִבְנֵי בְנֵיהֶם לְמַֽעַן שְׁמוֹ בְּאַֽהֲבָה: 

כשיגיע
למלת 'באהבה' יכוין למסור נפשו על קדוש השם כנזכר בכונות רבינו האר'י
ז'ל(א), ולכן מנהג החסידים שיאריך החזן בחזרה בתיבת 'באהבה' כדי לעורר
הכונה הנזכרת, וכל אדם יזהר בזה בכל תפלות בלחש למסור עצמו על קדוש השם בתיבת
'באהבה' 

So
how can we begin to understand Aaron’s behavior and his reward.  

We
hear the story of the Golden Calf  

Maybe
images from the movie  

Charleston
Heston throwing the tablets and the ground swallowing everyone  

But
important to see inside 

Lets
look at Chumash and Rashi  

You
can follow along if you like – Chapter 32

 

 וַיַּ֣רְא הָעָ֔ם כִּֽי בשֵׁ֥שׁ
משֶׁ֖ה לָרֶ֣דֶת מִן־הָהָ֑ר וַיִּקָּהֵ֨ל הָעָ֜ם עַל־אַֽהֲרֹ֗ן וַיֹּֽאמְר֤וּ אֵלָיו֙
ק֣וּם | עֲשֵׂה־לָ֣נוּ אֱלֹהִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר יֵֽלְכוּ֙ לְפָנֵ֔ינוּ כִּי־זֶ֣ה |
משֶׁ֣ה הָאִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֤ר הֶֽעֱלָ֨נוּ֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לֹ֥א יָדַ֖עְנוּ מֶה־הָ֥יָה
לֽוֹ