The Golden Calf as the Anti-Tabernacle (פרשת ויקהל-פקודי)

This week’s double Torah portion, Vayakhel-Pekudei (Exodus 35:1–40:38), brings the Book of Exodus to a fulfilling close with the building of the Mishkan (משכן) or Tabernacle, aptly described by Hebrew Bible translator and commentator Robert Alter as a “perfect earthly abode for God in the midst of the Israelites,” the construction of which had been “traumatically disrupted by the story of the Golden Calf and the shattering of the tablets of the Law.”

As Alter points out, the construction of the Mishkan mirrors or parallels the making of the Golden Calf, which was “conceived as the terrestrial throne or platform for the deity …, having precisely the same function as the cherubim over the Ark,” upon which the Divine Presence (שכינה‎) was to rest. “The Golden Calf,” Alter reasons, “is thus a kind of anti-Tabernacle or anti-Ark, meant for the same end of making the divine dwell among the people but doing it in a prohibited fashion.”

As I’ve noted in another blog post, Alter's reading is similar to the interpretation of the 12th-century Jewish philosopher Judah Halevi. Halevi suggests that the Golden Calf was not an idol but simply a material symbol that the people constructed to facilitate their worship of God. For Halevi, the only difference between the creation of the Golden Calf and the creation of the cherubim is that God did not command the calf. "They themselves had no right to determine the mode of worship and make an altar and sacrifices in accordance with it." In other words, it was not the fashioning of material symbols that was problematic--after all, what were the Ark and the throne of the cherubim if not material symbols?--but the fact that the Golden Calf was not made in accordance with God's wishes. In support of this view, Halevi notes that God says "they have quickly turned from the way I commanded them" (Exodus 32:8), not "they have turned aside from Me."

We know that the Mishkan and the Ark are completed in the proper way in this week’s portion because (as Alter notes) their completion “echoes the report of God’s completion of creation, Genesis 2:1-3, with completion of the work at the beginning and blessing at the end” (Exodus 39:43). In addition, when the work is completed, “the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34). The proof of the rectitude of the building, we might say, is in the dwelling.

In sum, according to Halevi and Alter, what made the Golden Calf an anti-Tabernacle or anti-Ark is that it was constructed in an unauthorized fashion, which is to say, not according to God’s explicit, specific, and detailed instructions. These instructions are repeated in this week’s portion (Exodus 36:8-38; Exodus 37:1-28), as if to underscore this point. As Alter puts it, the significance of the repetition lies in “the fact that the Tabernacle is now faithfully assembled in all its prescribed splendid details.”

Are there any other meaningful differences between the making of the Golden Calf and the construction of the Mishkan that would help to explain why the former merits wrath and the latter a blessing? At least two such differences stand out to me.

One important difference is the manner in which the Golden Calf and the Mishkan are constructed. The donations for the Mishkan come from “every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing” (Exodus 35:21), every willing-hearted person (Exodus 35:22), every wise-hearted woman (Exodus 35:25), and every man or woman “whose heart made them willing” (Exodus 35:29). None of these qualities are mentioned in the Golden Calf episode. Aaron tells the people to bring him their golden rings, and the Torah states laconically that they did (Exodus 32:2-3). As Nehama Leibowitz writes, “gold alone was given to the calf, but gold and a willing heart was given to the Tabernacle.” Malbim infers from this difference that gifts of gold are “not the chief thing in the eyes of God, since it is the heart that the Almighty demands.”

Reinforcing this point, the people bring “too much for the work of the task that the Lord charged to do” (Exodus 36:5). This detail too is lacking in the Golden Calf episode. There is no mention there that the people give more gold to Aaron than he needs. In short, the people are more generous and enthusiastic in their donations for the Mishkan than in their donations for the Golden Calf.

The different manner in which the Mishkan is constructed is also evident from what the portion says about Bezalel, the man upon whom the Lord calls to manage its construction. Bezalel is provided with detailed instructions, but he doesn’t construct the Mishkan by rote. Rather, God filled Bezalel with wisdom (חכמה), understanding (תבונה), and knowledge (דעת); and God “put in his heart that he may teach, both he and and Oholiab” (Exodus 35:31-35). Alter comments: “God has endowed Bezalel, together with his chief assistant Oholiab, not only with the skill to execute all these sundry crafts but also with the capacity to instruct the crews of ordinary craftsmen how to carry out their work.” To borrow from Christopher Wren’s apt story, Bezalel knows he’s building a cathedral, not just laying bricks, and he helps his workers to understand this too. In contrast, the making of the Golden Calf involves no wisdom, understanding, or knowledge (there is no reference to any of these qualities in the story), nor does the maker of the calf, Aaron, instruct others in how to carry out this work. In fact, Aaron describes the making of the Golden Calf as if he himself doesn’t understand what happened: “I flung [gold] into the fire, and there came out this calf” (Exodus 32:24).

Second, this week’s portion emphasizes how the Mishkan, though composed of many parts, “became one whole” (Exodus 36:13, 18). Alter, commenting on a nearly identical phrase in a previous portion (Exodus 26:6), writes that it “leads Abraham ibn Ezra to muse over how unity in the greater world is constituted by an interlocking of constituent parts that became a transcendent whole.” This is presumably an aspect of the construction of the Mishkan that Bezalel’s wisdom (endowed by God) allows him to understand. In contrast, the Golden Calf is made through the literal melting down of its constituent parts. It represents a very different kind of unity, one without differentiated and specialized components, like the sameness of Hegel’s night in which all cows are black.

To conclude, we see that what made the Golden Calf an anti-Tabernacle or anti-Ark is not only that Aaron failed to make it to specification, but also that it was made without heart, and without wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, including an understanding of that complex unity-in-difference represented by the Mishkan.