Aharon's Response: The Gold

It is forty days later.

Forty days (and forty nights) after HaKadosh Baruch Hu told Moshe to go up the mountain to get the Luchos, the Torah, and the Mitzvah. And during this entire time, we have joined Moshe as he received the directive to build the Mishkan (while still keeping Shabbos).

And yet, we almost forgot something; namely, the Jewish people.

They're not on the mountain with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Nope. They are down below, in the camp, waiting.

And evidently, this is a problem. If not for all of them, then for at least some of them:

וַיַּרְא הָעָם כִּי בֹשֵׁשׁ מֹשֶׁה לָרֶדֶת מִן הָהָר…

And the people saw that Moshe was boshesh to come down from the mountain

Shemos · 32:1

But here's my problem. What does this word mean — בֹשֵׁשׁ‎ (boshesh)?

I have no idea.

And if I don't know what the word means, I can't know what the problem is. And if I don't know what the problem is, how can I understand why the Jewish people responded the way they did?

But let's read the rest of the verse:

וַיַּרְא הָעָם כִּי בֹשֵׁשׁ מֹשֶׁה לָרֶדֶת מִן הָהָר, וַיִּקָּהֵל הָעָם עַל אַהֲרֹן, וַיֹּאמְרוּ אֵלָיו: קוּם עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ לְפָנֵינוּ, כִּי זֶה מֹשֶׁה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם, לֹא יָדַענוּ מֶה הָיָה לוֹ.

The people saw that Moshe was boshesh to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered on Aharon and said to him: Get up, make us gods that will go before us — because this man Moshe who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we don't know what happened to him.

Shemos · 32:1

They gather עַל‎ (al) Aharon — the man Moshe left in charge — and tell him:

כִּי זֶה מֹשֶׁה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם, לֹא יָדַעְנוּ מֶה הָיָה לוֹ

Ki zeh Moshe ha'ish asher he'elanu me'eretz Mitzrayim, lo yadanu meh hayah lo — this man Moshe who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we don't know what happened to him.

They don't think Moshe is coming back. He's בֹשֵׁשׁ‎ (boshesh) — whatever that word means.

Maybe he fled.
Maybe he died.
Maybe he wants to stay with G-d on the mountain.

However they understand it, the bottom line is the same: he's not here, and they don't think he's coming back.

So they need a new Moshe.

Therefore, they command Aharon:

קוּם עֲשֵׂה לָנוּ אֱלֹהִים אֲשֶׁר יֵלְכוּ לְפָנֵינוּ

Get up and make for us an Elohim that will go before us.

Shemos · 32:1

Now honestly, I have no idea what they have in mind here. Moshe is gone, so therefore Aharon should make them a god or some sort of divine power which will go before them?

How exactly does that work? I don't know, but that's what they asked for.

And how exactly will this god or whatever it is replace Moshe? I also don't know, but they think it will work.

And why don't they just ask Aharon to take Moshe's place? After all, if he is capable of making a replacement for Moshe, then why not just ask him to be the replacement?

None of it makes any sense.

Now, as strange as this request is, it's even stranger that Aharon takes it seriously:

פָּרְקוּ נִזְמֵי הַזָּהָב

Take off the gold earrings.

And not just any gold earrings, but the gold earrings of your wife and kids:

פָּרְקוּ נִזְמֵי הַזָּהָב אֲשֶׁר בְּאָזְנֵי נָשֵׁיכֶם וּבְאָזְנֵי בָנֵיכֶם וּבְאָזְנֵי בְּנוֹתֵיכֶם, וּבִיאוּ אֹתָם אֵלַי.

Take off the gold earrings that are in the ears of your wives and your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me.

We'll leave aside the question of how Aharon could make such a suggestion. Instead, we'll just notice a seeming similarity.

We just had Parshas Terumah. And at the beginning of that parsha, HaKadosh Baruch Hu requests donations from the entire Jewish people to build the Mishkan.

And here is Aharon requesting donations from (most of) the Jewish people to build the golden calf.

But, as I note, it's only most of the Jewish people.

The wives. And the sons. And the daughters.

One's closest family members.

Why them specifically? Why only them?

And why their jewelry in general and their earrings in particular?