G-d commanded Moshe to take a census of the Jewish people. Although this instruction is mentioned before the sin of the Golden Calf, it was actually given after many of the participants in the sin had been killed. Rather than counting the people themselves, they were instructed to give a half shekel each, and the coins were then counted. The half-shekel served as atonement for the nation.
After the great revelation at Sinai, Moshe told the nation that he would return from atop the mountain after forty days. The people miscalculated Moshe’s words and began the counting from the moment he left. In fact, however, Moshe had meant for the forty days to begin from the following evening, marking a complete forty days and nights. When Moshe had not returned by the fortieth day of their calculations, they feared he would not return at all. The people clamored around Aharon to make them an image as a replacement for Moshe. Although Aharon had no intention of sinning, he feared for his life. Indeed, the Midrash says that Chur, Miriam’s son, was murdered trying to stop the people.
Aharon told the people to bring their gold to him. He thought he could procrastinate until Moshe returned. The people, however, rushed to bring him their gold. Aharon took the gold and threw it into a fire. Miraculously, a golden calf appeared by itself.
Only a minority of the nation, three thousand people, actually served the Golden Calf as a god. These instigators were actually from the Mixed Assembly who had joined the Jews when they left Egypt, and were not from the main body of the nation. The majority of the others only viewed it as a physical representation of something with which they could connect to G-d, to take the place of Moshe. Yet this too was considered a serious sin, because it marked a lack of trust and belief in the way G-d wanted the people to relate to Him.
The people were all punished on various levels, according to their involvement. The tablets that Moshe had received at Sinai were broken, and only after Moshe prayed on behalf of the people were they finally forgiven. The atonement was completed on Yom Kippur when they received the second set of tablets. Their direct relationship with G-d would never be the same. Only the Levites and the women, who had not been involved with the Calf at all, were spared from punishment. The Levites were chosen to serve in the Temple instead of the firstborn, and the women were given Rosh Chodesh, the New Moon, as a monthly holiday.
... Moshe threw the tablets from his hand. . . (Ex. 32:19)
Two students of Novardok opened a branch of the yeshiva in their town. Initially the townspeople agreed to support the yeshiva, but shortly afterwards they insisted on diluting the curriculum by instilling foreign ideas. The students asked The Alter of Novardok what to do, and he recommended they shut down the yeshiva. His rebbe, Rav Yisrael Salanter, had always instructed his students that if they did not have the fortitude to close a yeshiva if necessary, they should not open it in the first place. This is learned from Moshe who broke the tablets rather than see them desecrated.
Did You Know...
One may not receive compensation for something earned on Shabbos. This includes activities where no prohibited labor is performed--for example, babysitting. One may, however, be compensated extra for any preparation that was done before Shabbos, or, if the babysitter worked before or after Shabbos, the total payment can be “absorbed” into the period of work outside of Shabbos.
If one receives interest or earnings on an investment that is compounded daily, the payment may be “absorbed” into the part of day before Shabbos on Friday, and after Shabbos on Saturday. If there is a two-day Yom Tov where the payment cannot be absorbed for the middle day, one may not derive benefit from the earnings for that day and they should be distributed to charity.
