TEST OF LEADERSHIP
A Jewish leader, as symbol and representative of the Jewish people, is held to a higher standard of conduct than a Jew lacking the prerogatives and responsibilities of authority. The Hebrew Bible provides us with this standard of conduct, not only through those examples of conduct which are praiseworthy but, as well, through those examples of conduct which are blameworthy.
The incident of the golden calf is one lens through which we may discern the
true responsibilities of Jewish leadership (see Ex. 32:1-35). God had earlier
instructed Moses to ascend Mount Sinai in order to receive the stone tablets
upon which He had written the Ten Commandments; and Moses now remained there
for 40 days and nights (see Ex. 24:12-18). In his absence, his brother Aaron
was left in charge. As the Torah relates: "Moses stood up with Joshua, his
servant; and Moses ascended to the
The Jewish people of three millennia ago were not able to relate to an
Omnipresent yet Incorporeal Deity. Consequently, God provided them with a
flesh-and-blood leader -- Moses -- with whom they were able to interact on a
daily basis -- until now. Moses, the political and prophetic leader of
the Jewish people and the direct liaison between God and them, had not yet
returned from
Proof of Aaron's sin comes from his own brother, Moses, who admonished him: "What did this people do to you that you brought a grievous sin upon it?!" (Ex. 32:21). Please note, by means of Moses' careful language, that while he clearly acknowledged that the Jewish people must have applied unbearable pressure to Aaron -- nevertheless, it was not the people who had brought sin upon Aaron, but, rather, Aaron who had brought sin upon the people! This viewpoint is very strange, especially in light of the fact that it was the people who had demanded of Aaron that he create a god for them, and not Aaron who had suggested this plan to the people. And, yet, Moses' declaration represents the true and eternal standard by which Jewish leadership is to be judged. Aaron failed the test of leadership precisely because a Jewish leader is supposed to fear God and cause the people to follow him: this is Kiddush HaShem (sanctification of God's Name)! -- he is not supposed to fear the people and cause himself to follow them: this is Chillul HaShem (desecration of God's Name)! Moreover, Aaron actually had no legitimate grounds to fear for his safety; for, had he but requested their assistance, the Levites -- Aaron's own tribe -- would have defended him against the demands of the people (see Ex. 32:26-29).
By his appeasement of the people, Aaron publicly exhibited before them a lack of faith in the God of Israel, thereby causing them to erroneously believe that, under the circumstances of Moses' undue absence, their demand for the creation of an idol was justified. By his appeasement of the people, Aaron -- upon whom the people now depended for leadership -- instead failed them! Through his open facilitation and sanctification of the people's evil conduct, Aaron committed an enormous Chillul HaShem. That Aaron's public conduct was so severe as to be deserving of immediate death is established by Moses' later statement to the people that: "'HaShem became very angry with Aaron to destroy him; so I prayed also for Aaron at that time.'" (Deut. 9:20). Clearly, Aaron's actions were sinful, even though they were induced by fear and intimidation. From this we learn that, when issues of Kiddush HaShem and Chillul HaShem are at stake, a Jewish leader is prohibited from abdicating his responsibilities in favor of those whom he would lead -- even if the public self-righteously asserts that the principles of participatory democracy require him, as leader, to bow to the popular will of the people. Such is the burden to be endured by all who aspire to leadership over the Jewish people.
However, a further lesson is to be found here. For, when he was faced with
Moses' justified rebuke, Aaron lacked the honesty and courage to accept primary
responsibility for the sin that he had wrought. Instead, he simultaneously
prevaricated and attempted to shift a leader's responsibility onto the
people. As the Torah relates: "Aaron said, 'Let not my master's anger
flare up. You know that the people are disposed toward evil. They said
to me, "Make us a god that will go before us; for, this man Moses who
brought us up from the
Firstly, Aaron's explanation to Moses concerning the supernatural creation
of the idol conflicts with the earlier narrative of the Torah that: "He
[Aaron] took it [the gold] from their hands and bound it up in a cloth,
and he fashioned it into a molten calf" (Ex. 32:4); and with the
later narrative of the Torah that: "Then HaShem struck the people with a
plague, because they had created [a deity from] the calf that Aaron had
made." (Ex. 32:35). Moreover, by asserting that the idol had actually created
itself ex nihilo, Aaron thereby attributed to it divine powers. In
other words, in attempting to justify his disgraceful behavior to Moses, Aaron put
himself in the ironic position of claiming that the idol was indeed a god!
Clearly, Aaron's lie concerning the creation of the idol purchased for him no
honor. For, a Jewish leader must forthrightly admit his mistakes as the
first step in avoidance of their repetition. David, second king
of united
Secondly, the fact that the people were, in fact, predisposed toward committing evil acts did not justify Aaron's embrace of it. On the contrary, as a leader of the Jewish people, he was expected to guide them in overcoming such predispositions. This is not to minimize the huge Chillul HaShem caused by the Jewish people in initially demanding the creation of the idol, and in thereafter worshipping it. However, although the people were certainly responsible for their own lack of faith and their own sins, they were not responsible for Aaron's lack of faith and sin -- a type of sin which only a leader of the Jewish people was capable of committing.
While a Jew who lacks the responsibilities of leadership might be forgiven
for choosing appeasement and safety over confrontation and danger, a Jewish
leader -- by virtue of his exalted status -- will be forced to suffer the dire
consequences of his faithlessness and cowardice. So it was with Aaron. For,
although God did not punish Aaron at that time, he was eventually
punished, together with Moses, on account of their joint sin at the waters of
strife (see Num. 20:1-13). Like Moses, Aaron was not permitted to enter the
The tragedy of Aaron's lack of faith and consequent failure of leadership is
similar to that which befell Saul, first king of united
With Jewish leadership comes awesome responsibilities, chief among which are the obligations (a) to rule under the yoke of Yirat Elokim (fear of Heaven) -- which requires a Jewish leader to rush towards Kiddush HaShem and flee from Chillul HaShem -- and (b) to lead.
© Mark Rosenblit