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As a young man, Horav S. Schwab, z.l., had the occasion to spend a Shabbos with the Chofetz Chaim, z.l., On Friday morning, the Chofetz Chaim questioned him regarding his lineage, whether he was a Kohen or a Levi. Horav Schwab responded in the negative. The Chofetz Chaim remarked, “What a pity! Moshiach is coming, and the Bais Hamikdash will be rebuilt. If you are not a Kohen, you will be unable to perform the Avodah, priestly service.” The Chofetz Chaim continued, “Do you know why? Because 3,000 years ago, during the incident of the Golden Calf, when Moshe called…

It seems peculiar that those involved in the sin of the Golden-Calf did not choose Aharon as the leader to replace Moshe. Indeed, if Aharon was not acceptable to them, how did they have the audacity to ask him to find another leader? Horav Efraim Tzemel Z”l responds to this question with a simple, but insightful, answer. They desired a leader who was more politically oriented, capable of making prudent decisions which affected the community, while simultaneously maintaining his stature as a statesman and diplomat. Aharon was viewed by them as a great scholar embodying an aura of holiness that…

At first glance the narrative which deals with Moshe’s breaking the first set of tablets is very puzzling. When Bnei Yisrael made a Golden-Calf, did Moshe have the right to decide that they would forever forfeit their claim to the Torah? Would it not have been more appropriate for Moshe to delay teaching them the Torah until they had repented and mended their ways? Instead, he broke the tablets and subsequently asked Hashem for a second set of tablets.   This question may be answered by explaining a deeper understanding of the unique characteristics of the first set of tablets….

As we read the Torah‘s account  of the sin of the Golden Calf, we only wonder in amazement at the rapid transformation of the Jewish people. Having reached the awesome plateau of belief in Hashem which they experienced at Mount Sinai, for them to then fall to such depths of degradation, is astonishing. However, as the commentaries explain, it was the Eirev Rav (mixed multitude) who came with them from Egypt who were actually the perpetrators of this terrible transgression. Those individuals who were involved in the actual sin of making and serving this makeshift idol were punished either by…