Why Doesn't Hashem Reveal Himself to Me?

This week's portion, Ki Tisa, provides us with an answer. Once upon a time, there indeed was “one revelation,” and even before it concluded, the Israelites sinned. And these weren't ordinary people like us; they were a generation of great wisdom, deemed worthy of this revelation.

So maybe it’s not so simple. But why?

People tend to focus on the apparent, visible cause of everything, but behind every reality lies a great force. There are reasons for every obstacle and transgression people encounter, but these reasons are just breaches that allow the great force of transgression to enter. Thieves don’t steal because there's a hole in the fence; they steal because they strongly wish to steal. If there’s no hole in the fence, they might find another way to steal. If there's no way to steal, they might cheat in trade, and so on.

Behind the sin stands the desire for what appears to man as freedom. The Giving of the Torah, with all its grandeur and the noble intentions of the Israelites, was also like being forced under a mountain. "The celebrations are over," from now on, there are very clear instructions on what is allowed and what is forbidden. This, our Sages explain, is why "the people were crying with their families." The sin of the Golden Calf was a reaction to the harsh feeling that freedom had ended. The question was only through which breach the sin managed to enter, and as it turns out, it was quite a "good" breach, since even Aaron the Priest sinned in some subtle way, to say the least.

If Hashem were to reveal Himself today, the breach of thoughts of denial would be sealed, at least for a while, but then other breaches would open, as this is inevitable by the world’s nature. Even if Hashem declares what He wants and chooses a person whose role it is to relay His will, there might come a time when that person isn’t around, and then people will feel compelled to decide for themselves. They’ll find some method to explain that it’s not prohibited, and then they’ll dance for joy.

On the face of it, this is obvious to us. The Golden Calf was a statue and an idol. True, they worshipped Hashem, God of Israel, but the Ten Commandments forbade worshiping Him through statues and images. On the other hand, didn’t the Tabernacle also have cherubim? Who decides which form is permissible and which isn’t? It's not explicitly stated in the Ten Commandments that even if worship is directed to the God of Israel, statues and images are forbidden.

Once we understand the principle, we no longer ask why Hashem didn't explicitly say in the Ten Commandments that even worshipping the God of Israel forbids making a statue or image. The answer is straightforward: the power of sin would find a new breach. They’d create a large image of gold, but not a calf—a symbol, say a Star of David. The force driving the calf is the desire for freedom, dancing, and feeling that we still have our culture. A loophole can always be found. If the Torah had forbidden making a "form," they would have created one without form, and if it had forbidden making "gold," they would have made it from wood. The story of the Golden Calf isn’t about the calf, but the independent celebration, which they were not commanded to observe. Those who sinned with the calf were unable to digest that from now on, they’d only celebrate the holidays of the Torah, only before Hashem, and only according to command. And it all hinges on this; no law or rule could prevent it.