When the people turned from their God, He said to Moses, who was still
in heaven: "'Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest
out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.'" Moses, who until
then had been superior to the angels, now, owing to the sins of Israel,
feared them greatly. The angels, hearing that God meant to send him
from His presence, wanted to kill him, and only by clinging to the
Throne of God, who covered him with His mantle, did he escape from the
hands of the angels, that they might do him no harm. [273] He had
particularly hard struggle with the five Angels of Destruction: Kezef,
Af, Hemah, Mashhit, and Haron, whom God had sent to annihilate Israel.
Moses then hastened to the three Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
and said to them: "If ye are men who are participators of the future
life, stand by me in this hour, for your children are as a sheep that
is led to the slaughter." The three Patriarchs united their prayers
with those of Moses, who said to God; "Hast Thou not made a vow to
these three to multiply their seed as the stars, and are they now to be
destroyed?" In recognition of the merits of these three pious men, God
called away three of the Angels of Destruction, leaving only two:
whereupon Moses further importuned God: "For the vow Thou madest to
Israel, take from them the angel Mashhit;" and God granted his prayer.
Moses continued: "For the vow Thou madest me, take from them also the
angel Haron." God now stood by Moses, so that he was able to conquer
this angel, and he thrust him down deep into the earth in a spot that
is possession of the tribe of Gad, and there held him captive.
So long as Moses lived this angel was held in check by him, and if he
tried, even when Israel sinned, to rise out of the depths, open wide
his mouth, and destroy Israel with his panting, all Moses had to do was
to utter the name of God, and Haron, or as he is sometimes called,
Peor, was drawn once more into the depths of the earth. At Moses'
death, God buried him opposite the spot where Peor is bound. For should
Peor, if Israel sinned, reach the upper world and open his mouth to
destroy Israel with his panting, he would, upon seeing Moses' grave, be
so terror-stricken, that he would fall back into the depths once more.
[274]
Moses did indeed manage the Angels of Destruction, but it was a more
difficult matter to appease God in His wrath. He addressed Moses
harshly, crying: "The grievous sins of men had once caused Me to go
down from heaven to see their doings. Do thou likewise go down from
heaven now. It is fitting that the servant be treated as his master. Do
thou now go down. Only for Israel's sake have I caused this honor to
fall to thy lot, but now that Israel has become disloyal to Me, I have
not further reason thus to distinguish thee." Moses hereupon answered:
"O Lord of the world! Not long since didst Thou say to me: 'Come now,
therefore, and I will send thee that thou mayest bring forth My people
out of Egypt;' and now Thou callest them my people. Nay, whether pious
or sinful, they are Thy people still." Moses continued: "What wilt Thou
now do with them?" God answered: "I will consume them, and I will make
of thee a great nation." "O Lord of the world!" replied Moses, "If the
three-legged bench has no stability, how then shall the one-legged
stand? Fulfil not, I implore Thee, the prophecies of the Egyptian
magicians, who predicted to their king that the star 'Ra'ah' would move
as a harbinger of blood and death before the Israelites." [275] Then he
began to implore mercy for Israel: "Consider their readiness to accept
the Torah, whereas the sons of Esau rejected it." God: "But they
transgressed the precepts of the Torah; one day were they loyal to Me,
then instantly set to work to make themselves the Golden Calf." Moses:
"Consider that when in Thy name I came to Egypt and announced to them
Thy name, they at once believed in me, and bowed down their heads and
worshipped Thee." God: "But they now bow down their heads before their
idol." Moses: "Consider that they sent Thee their young men to offer
Thee burnt offerings." God: "They now offered sacrifices to the Golden
Calf." Moses: "Consider that on Sinai they acknowledged that Thou are
their God." God: "They now acknowledge that the idol is their god."
All these arguments with God did not help Moses; he even had to put up
with having the blame for the Golden Calf laid on his shoulders.
"Moses," said God, "when Israel was still in Egypt, I gave thee the
commission to lead them out of the land, but not take with thee the
mixed multitude that wanted to join them. But thou in thy clemency and
humility didst persuade Me to accept the penitent that do penance, and
didst take with thee the mixed multitude. I did as thou didst beg me,
although I knew what the consequences would be, and it is now these
people, 'thy people,' that have seduced Israel to idolatry." Moses now
thought it would be useless to try to secure God's forgiveness for
Israel, and was ready to give up his intercession, when God, who in
reality meant to preserve Israel, but only like to hear Moses pray, now
spoke kindly to Moses to let him see that He was not quite inaccessible
to his exhortations, saying: "Even in Egypt did I foresee what this
people would do after their deliverance. Thou foresawest only the
receiving of the Torah on Sinai, but I foresaw the worship of the Calf
as well." With these words, God let Moses perceive that the defection
of Israel was no surprise to Him, as He had considered it even before
the exodus from Egypt; hence Moses now gathered new courage to
intercede for Israel. He said: "O Lord of the world! Israel has indeed
created a rival for Thee in their idol, that Thou are angry with them.
The Calf, I supposed, shall bid stars and moon to appear, while Thou
makest the sun to rise; Thou shalt send the dew and he will cause the
wind to blow; Thou shalt send down the rain, and he shall bid the
plants to grow." God: "Moses, thou are mistaken, like them, and knowest
not that the idol is absolutely nothing." "If so," said Moses, "why art
Thou angry with Thy people for that which is nothing?" "Besides," he
continued, "Thou didst say Thyself that it was chiefly my people, the
mixed multitude, that was to blame for this sin, why then are Thou
angry with Thy people? If Thou are angry with them only because they
have not observed the Torah, then let me vouch for the observance of it
on the part of my companions, such as Aaron and his sons, Joshua and
Caleb, Jair and Machir, as well as many pious men among them, and
myself." But God said: "I have vowed that 'He that sacrificeth unto any
god, save unto the Lord only, he shall be utterly destroyed,' and a vow
that has once passe My lips, I can not retract." Moses replied: "O Lord
of the world! Has not Thou given us the law of absolution from a vow,
whereby power is given to a learned man to absolve any one from his
vows? But every judge who desires to have his decisions accounted
valid, must subject himself to the law, and Thou who has prescribed the
law of absolution from vows through a learned man, must subject Thyself
to this law, and through me be absolved from Thy vow." Moses thereupon
wrapped his robe about him, seated himself, and bade God let him
absolve Him from his vow, bidding Him say: "I repent of the evil that I
had determined to bring upon My people." Moses then cried out to Him:
"Thou are absolved from Thine oath and vow." [276]