BS”D

Teaching Chumash: Lesson for Teaching Mefarshim

Leora Balk

*This lesson may best be split up into two separate lessons, depending on the speed at
which the students are able to work through hebrew texts, grapple with the concepts
presented to them, and based on the smoothness of the chavrutah learning (some
groups are more focused and work with more alacrity than others).

Topic: Chet HaEgel

Hook: Clip from the 10 commandments of actor Moshe throwing down the luchot
after witnessing golden calf and the dancing all around it-​ ​obviously will clarify to
students that there are plenty of inaccuracies in this film to the actual text, but the point
we are raising here is ​HOW did we reach a point as a nation where we sunk so low
that we were deserving of the holy luchot being smashed​ (and, furthermore, if you
read on, of being wiped out completely)?! ​What was it about the golden calf that was
so completely terrible, what constituted the sin?

Read text from Shemot, 32:1 and translate together as a class on SmartBoard.

(‫שׁר‬ֶ ‫שׂה־לָנוּ ֱאלִֹהים ֲא‬ ֵ ‫מרוּ ֵאלָיו קוּם ֲע‬ ְ ‫ל־אַהרֹן וַיֹּא‬
ֲ ‫ִקּ ֵהל ָה ָעם ַע‬
ָ ‫ִן־ה ָהר וַיּ‬
ָ ‫שׁה ָל ֶר ֶדת מ‬ ֶ ֹ‫שׁשׁ מ‬
ֵ ֹ‫א(​ וַיַּ ְרא ָה ָעם ִכּי־ב‬
ָ ‫מ ְצ ַריִם לֹא יָ ַד ְענוּ ֶמ‬
‫ה־היָה לוֹ‬ ִ ‫שׁר ֶה ֱעלָנוּ ֵמ ֶא ֶרץ‬ ֶ ‫שׁה ָהאִישׁ ֲא‬ ֶ ֹ‫יֵ ְלכוּ ְל ָפנֵינוּ ִכּי־ֶזה מ‬:

What about this pasuk seems ambiguous, confusing, contradictory, or in need of

some kind of further explanation? Let’s “attack” this pasuk! I want to hear YOUR
thoughts, YOUR questions. Rashi was not born with questions already ingrained
in his head to answer in writing his commentary. He looked at a pasuk, just as we
are now together, and he took it apart. ​(Think time for one minute. Take hands and
start filling in “think bubbles” on board with questions we can ask.)
(*Dr. Turetsky discussed in the presentation how knowledge is much more meaningful
when it comes to answer to a specific question and especially when that question is
raised by a student herself. I want to hear all of my students’ questions, therefore,
though I may not have time or perfect reason to address all of them in class. If students
do not think up the question I want to discuss in particular today, I can guide them to
that question through verbal or visual prompts- still more meaningful to make ​them
search for the question).
While many great questions were asked and we hope to settle many of them in
our learning over the next few lessons, we are going to begin with the
foundational question:
What kind of sin exactly was the Golden Calf? What motivating factors drove Bnei
Yisrael to craft this molten image which we find brings them down so low?

Focusing on the second half of the pasuk:

‫מ ְצ ַריִם לֹא‬
ִ ‫מ ֶא ֶרץ‬
ֵ ‫שׁר ֶה ֱעלָנוּ‬
ֶ ‫שׁה ָה ִאישׁ ֲא‬ ֶ ‫שׂה־לָנוּ ֱאלֹ ִהים ֲא‬
ֶ ֹ‫שׁר יֵ ְלכוּ ְל ָפנֵינוּ ִכּי־ֶזה מ‬ ְ ֹ‫וַיּ‬
ֵ ‫אמרוּ ֵאלָיו קוּם ֲע‬
‫ה־היָה לוֹ‬
ָ ‫יָ ַד ְענוּ ֶמ‬

Split up into chavrusas set for this whole perek. ​Timer on the board for 15 minutes.

Read Rashi, summarize, write down advantages and supports for Rashi’s
suggestion, discuss if this explanation fits with Rashi’s overall exegetical
approach​ (which students should know by now, halfway through the year- we have
spent a lot of time on this! - they also know, of course, to underline any words they do
not understand and look them up even before moving onto the summarizing step,
certainly before writing advantages and discussing Rashi’s overall approach- every
student has a hebrew-english dictionary in her desk. I will not feed any answers until
one has already looked up all of the words and done everything she could on her own to
understand the meforesh… all of these rules apply below to the Ramban piece, as well.)

Rashi, Shemot 32:1

‫ אשר ילכו‬,‫ עתה צריכין אנו לאלהות‬,‫ אשר נעלה בה‬,‫ והיה מורה לנו דרך‬- ‫אשר העלנו מארץ מצרים‬
‫לפנינו‬:

[Possible response I anticipate from students below]

Maintains the sin was avodah zarah mamash, that they no longer have the “One who
brought us up from Mitzrayim” (presumably referring to G-d) and so, therefore, need a
new G-d to go before them, a role they hope this egel will fill.

Advantages of Rashi:
-the text itself says a lashon of a G-D bringing the Jewish people up- Rashi claims to
have a pshat kind of approach, draws right from the text here.
-The fact that the onesh is so SEVERE, must be that it’s for a sin as great as avodah
zarah.
-Animals were viewed as gods in Egypt- it makes sense that if shaped the gold into an
animal, goal was to have it be like a god to them (if was supposed to represent a Moshe
Rabbeinu, wouldn’t they craft it into a human being?)

Re-group to discuss Rashi’s explanation only and make sure everyone

understood it correctly before moving on to another piece of commentary with
which to compare it.

Back into chavrutas. Timer on clock for 30 minutes.

Read Ramban and summarize. Divide up the Ramban into a few sections, since it
is on the lengthier side and we want to see clearly what Ramban maintains and
how it compares to the opinions of others he references. Divide by underlining or
highlighting the text in different colors, as well as by labeling each of those
section to make it distinct from the others. Write down advantages and supports
for Ramban’s suggestion, discuss if this explanation fits with Ramban’s overall
exegetical approach. ​(Same method of analytical learning, translating words, etc
applies here as mentioned above by Rashi section- students are familiar with this
systematic way of learning mefarshim by now, though it had to be taught at the start of
the school year.)

Ramban, Shemot 32:1

[Possible breakdown of text I anticipate from students below]

Color highlighting divides up the Ramban.
Pink​ = quoting Rashi’s explanation on these words = This Moshe man is the one who
led us on the derech up out of Mitzrayim and now that he’s gone, what will we do
without him?! We have to make for us a new great “elohus” who will go before us! (does
mean ELOKIM meaning G-d, but rather means elohim as in a leader or judge!)
Orange​ = Ramban’s rejection of Rashi’s idea.
Yellow​ = Ramban presents his own explanation
(Students should also number/list Ramban’s different particular textual supports to his
analysis)

(‫ והיה מורה‬,‫​ כי זה משה האיש אשר העלנו מארץ מצרים‬.‫ אלוהות הרבה אוו להם‬- ‫א(​ אשר ילכו לפנינו‬
‫​ ​ואין‬.‫ לשון רש"י‬.‫ עתה צריכין לאלוהות הרבה אשר ילכו לפנינו‬,‫לא ידענו מה היה לו‬,‫לנו הדרך נעלה בה‬
‫ כי בידוע שלא היו ישראל‬,‫​ ​אבל הכתוב הזה הוא מפתח לדעת נכון ענין העגל ומחשבת עושיו‬.‫לשונו מכוון‬
‫ ומה טעם שיאמרו כיון שהלך‬,‫ ושהוא בכחו עשה להםה אותות והמופתים‬,‫סבורים שמשה הוא האלהים‬
‫לא שיהיו נותנין להם חיים‬,‫ כי בפירוש אמרו אלהים אשר ילכו לפנינו‬,‫ ועוד‬.‫משה ממנו נעשה אלהים‬
 ‫ משה שהורה לנו הדרך ממצרים ועד‬,‫​ אמרו‬,‫ ​אבל היו מבקשין משה אחר‬.​‫בעולם הזה או בעולם הבא‬
‫ נעשה לנו משה אחר שיורה הדרך‬.‫ הנה אבד ממנו‬,​(‫ שהיו המסעים ע"פ ה' ביד משה ​)במדבר ט כג‬,‫הנה‬
‫ כי יצטרכו לאיש‬,‫ לא האל אשר העלם‬,‫ וזה טעם הזכירם משה האיש אשר העלנו‬.‫לפנינו ע"פ ה' בידו‬
‫ וכן תוכל להבין זה מתשובת אהרן אל משה רבינו מה עשה לך העם הזה כי הבאת עליו חטאה‬.‫אלהים‬
‫ ואמר להם למי זהב התפרקו‬,'‫ והיתה תשובתו ויאמרו לי קום עשה לנו אלהים וגו‬,​(‫גדולה ​)להלן פסוק כא‬
‫ והנה אהרן מתנצל למשה ואמר לו אל יחר אף אדוני ​)להלן‬.​(‫ויתנו לי ואשליכהו באש ​)להלן פסוקים כג כד‬
‫ ולמה‬,‫ שאומר כי הם בקשו ממנו עבודה זרה ועשה להם בידיו‬,‫ והוא כמוסיף על חטאתו פשע‬,​(‫פסוק כב‬
‫ ומה חטאה גדולה מזו‬,‫לא יחר אפו‬:
,‫ וקבלו עבודת אלהותו עליהם‬,‫ שלא בקשו העגל להיות להם לאל ממית ומחיה‬,‫אבל הענין כמו שאמרתי‬
‫ טען כי לא אמרו לי רק‬,‫ וזהו התנצלותו של אהרן‬.‫אבל ירצו שיהיה להם במקום משה מורה דרכם‬
‫ ולכן הם‬,‫ ואם תשוב אם לא‬,‫ שלא ידעו מה היה לך‬,‫שאעשה להם אלהים אשר ילכו לפניהםבמקומך אדני‬
‫ ואם אולי תשוב יעזבוהו וילכו אחריך‬,‫היו צריכין למי שיורה להם דרכם כל זמן שלא תהיה אתה עמהם‬
‫ כי כיון שראו העם את משה מיד הניחו את העגל ובעטו בו שהניחו לו לשרפו‬,‫ וכן היה הדבר‬.‫כבראשונה‬
,‫ ולא אמר להם כלום‬,‫ וכן תראה שלא הוכיחם‬.‫ ולא היה מהם חולק עליו כלל‬,‫ולזרות עפרו על פני המים‬
‫ והוא לקח העגל וישרוף אותו וישק אותו להם‬,‫אבל בבואו במחנה וירא את העגל ומחולות מיד ברחו ממנו‬
‫ הן ישרוף את‬,‫ אין דרך שיניח אדם מלכו ואלהיו לשרפת אש‬,‫ ​ואלו היה להם לאלהים‬.​‫ולאמאנו כלל‬
‫תועבתם לעיניהם ולאיסקלוהו‬

[Possible response I anticipate from students below]

Maintains the sin was NOT idolatry, but just wanted a replacement for Moshe Rabbeinu.
The calf was supposed to be ke-ilu a new leader for them, but not a new G-d. After all,
Moshe’s return, the return of a MAN, would not be enough to prompt them to stop
serving a calf they believed was a GOD. They do not protest when Moshe comes down,
because Moshe fills the role they wanted the golden calf to fill.

*Very classic of Ramban to reject Rashi, he does this often- as we have seen in class
and pointed out time and time again.*

Advantages of Ramban:
-the Jewish people know that it could not have been a man behind all of those huge
miracles in Mitzrayim- it had to have been Hashem and they do not feel that they have
lost that presence in their lives, therefore- they still believe in Hashem, but are trying to
find “Moshe acher”, another Moshe Rabbeinu to transmit and help them follow the word
of Hashem as He guides them on the correct path.
-Moshe’s return would not have stopped them serving the calf if it represented a god to
them- it was because it represented a Moshe Rabbeinu figure that Moshe’s return
completely nullified their need for such a calf and they had clarity to then stop serving it
-(students will fill out more supports here.. there are a bunch from which to choose
brought by the Ramban!)
*If have extra time, continue reading in the Ramban (full text not pictured above
but you have it in your Chumash and you can come to me- I have the rest of the
Ramban printed at my desk). [There are even more textual supports for the
explanation of the Ramban- read on and see if you can understand his final
supports mentioned - I would love if your chavrutah could present this idea to the
class briefly at the end, since I know most of the class will not get to it! - idea of
Aharon saying they would have a chag the next day “la-Shem”, for Hashem.]

Re-group to discuss Ramban in depth. Students will be very active in this

discussion and practically run it themselves as I serve as a “guide on the side”.
Text will be up on the SmartBoard and students will break down the text and
color-code and label it for everyone to see, followed by analysis of Ramban’s own
opinion.

Shurei Bayit: “Phone a Friend” and discuss: Whose approach do you prefer on
this topic and why? If neither satisfies you, why not? What explanation can you
suggest of your own which might make more sense? (You must back yourself up
with textual support!). Write down your FRIEND’S favorite explanation and why
with her name on it- write your name beneath it with the title “Interviewer”
preceding it.