Ki Tisa, 5772/2012 thoughts: Questions & quotes

I was having too much fun on Purim to post this on time. :)

You can read the basics of Parshat Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11–34:35) here.

Some questions of mine

1. HaShem took the Israelite slaves out of a land rife with the worship of humans (the Pharoah), animals (such as cats), and idols of both of the aforementioned. So why was HaShem surprised when the ex-slaves, panicking at the absence of their leader, Moshe/Moses, built and worshiped a golden calf? Shouldn't HaShem have seen this coming? And why did HaShem keep Moshe on the mountain for long enough to make the people panic?
2. What kind of a G-d-and-Moses cult did HaShem create, that it never occurred to the Israelites to appoint Aharon/Aaron as their temporary leader?
3. Aharon's excuse for building the golden calf (Exodus 32:22-23) is laughable. (It would have made more sense if he'd said that he was afraid the people would kill him if he didn't make an idol for them.) Why was he not taken to task by either Moshe or HaShem?
   
4. Why, in the Torah/Bible, do our ancestors get lauded and/or rewarded for wholesale slaughter? Was it really necessary for the tribe of Levi to kill thousands? (For that matter, was it really necessary for Esther to ask for permission to slaughter the enemies of the Jews for a second day?)
5. Am I the only one who finds it most interesting that, almost immediately after the Israelites have been punished for worshiping a golden calf, Moshe asks to see G-d's glory?
   

Famous quotes from Parshat Ki Tisa

• Exodus, chapter 31, quoted in the Maariv/Evening Service, Shacharit/Morning Service , and the Kiddush (sanctification of the holy day over wine or grape juice) of Shabbat/Sabbath:
  

טז וְשָׁמְרוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶת-הַשַּׁבָּת, לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת-הַשַּׁבָּת לְדֹרֹתָם, בְּרִית עוֹלָם.	16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
יז בֵּינִי, וּבֵין בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל--אוֹת הִוא, לְעֹלָם: כִּי-שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים, עָשָׂה יְהוָה אֶת-הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת-הָאָרֶץ, וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, שָׁבַת וַיִּנָּפַשׁ. {ס}	17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and rested.' {S}

• Exodus, chapter 34, quoted at least in part in the services on Shalosh Regalim/Pilgrimage Festivals and Yamim Noraim/High Holidays:

ה וַיֵּרֶד יְהוָה בֶּעָנָן, וַיִּתְיַצֵּב עִמּוֹ שָׁם; וַיִּקְרָא בְשֵׁם, יְהוָה.	5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
ו וַיַּעֲבֹר יְהוָה עַל-פָּנָיו, וַיִּקְרָא, יְהוָה יְהוָה, אֵל רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן--אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם, וְרַב-חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת.	6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed: 'The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth;
ז נֹצֵר חֶסֶד לָאֲלָפִים, נֹשֵׂא עָו‍ֹן וָפֶשַׁע וְחַטָּאָה; וְנַקֵּה, לֹא יְנַקֶּה--פֹּקֵד עֲו‍ֹן אָבוֹת עַל-בָּנִים וְעַל-בְּנֵי בָנִים, עַל-שִׁלֵּשִׁים וְעַל-רִבֵּעִים.	7 keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and unto the fourth generation.'

• Exodus, chapter 34, part of verse 9, quoted in the prayers on the Yamim Noraim:

וְסָלַחְתָּ לַעֲו‍ֹנֵנוּ וּלְחַטָּאתֵנוּ וּנְחַלְתָּנוּ.

and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance.'

• Exodus, chapter 32, part of verse 12, a quote that appears in the "Long Tachanun" (recited on non-holiday Monday and Thursday mornings only) that's so obscure that neither the Birnbaum nor the Koren-Sacks siddur/prayer book cites it, but the ArtScroll siddur does:

שׁוּב מֵחֲרוֹן אַפֶּךָ, וְהִנָּחֵם עַל-הָרָעָה לְעַמֶּךָ.

Turn from Thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against Thy people."

(For more fun from my "quote-hunter" series, start here, and follow the link.)

Woodrow/Conservadox posts some interesting thoughts.

See also my previous posts:

• What I learned from Parshat Ki Tisa (Wednesday, February 23, 2011)
• Parshat Ki Tisa, Thursday, February 17, 2011
• And one of my favorites, "My kingdom for a dry cleaner," or Mrs. Cohen's complaint (Tuesday, February 26, 2008)