Idolatry

One of the most prominent topics in this week's section is the sin of the Golden Calf. Incited by a group of people whom Moses decided to accept as converts after the Exodus from Egypt (without God's guidance), the Jewish people ultimately fell into the sin of idolatry (avodah zarah in Hebrew).

One of the most confusing aspects of this whole episode is that the Jewish people had received the Torah at Mount Sinai very recently (from the 6th of Sivan, the day of the Giving of the Torah to the 17th of Tammuz, the day of sin in practice, only 40 days passed...) having witnessed great revelations from God.

There are many comments and explanations about what happened, from different perspectives, but we are going to focus on the practical aspects, how it affects us and what this story from the Torah teaches us (among other things).

First, we must understand what avodah zarah, or idolatry, means. The concept of idolatry is the belief that anything in the universe, other than God, has authority over any matter beyond God's power. For example, it would be idolatry to believe that celestial bodies (the sun, the moon, the constellations, including the signs of the zodiac) have the ability to give or withhold energy from the world and, therefore, to pray to them or offer them something to obtain a benefit.

However, there is something deeper and more subtle about idolatry, from two perspectives.

1) Many people make their desires and longings objects of idolatry, like someone who gives their whole life in order to accumulate money; their god becomes money.

2) The literal translation of avodah zarah is "strange work." That is, any work that is not part of a person's specific function is strange to that person, and therefore falls within this profound definition of idolatry. In other words, even if a person is on the right path, the path of Torah and Mitzvot, having studied and learned, but dedicates their time to matters outside the realm of serving God, being something "strange" to what is expected of that person, it becomes "strange work," that is, strange to the spiritual level at which that person finds themselves.

Each person must analyze their own level, meditate on what is expected of them, and identify their "extraordinary tasks" in life. To this end, our sages tell us in the Ethics of Our Fathers to "find a teacher" who can advise and guide you in developing and revealing all your potential and applying it to the service of God.