“They have strayed quickly from the way that I commanded them. They have made themselves a molten calf.…”
(Shemos 32:8)
Midrash: “Rabi Meir says: Not even one day [had passed] since they stood at Sinai their mouths murmuring ‘na’aseh v’nishma’ yet their hearts were attuned to idol worship.”
At Har Sinai the Jews attained a supreme level of sanctity and purity. The sense of intimacy with Hashem that the Jewish People experienced brought them to their ultimate state of being. And yet even at this high point in history they managed to hide their tainted thoughts.…
Of course we must realize this was an extremely subtle flaw in our terms. Considering their elevated status it was like a tiny almost invisible stain on their garments. Yet the fact that “they strayed quickly from the way” and sinned with the Golden Calf after only 40 days testifies that even at the peak of their connection with Hashem as they were receiving the Torah there was a slight odor of idol worship among them. What a terrifying idea! (Da’as Torah Rav Yerucham Levovitz)
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