Ask The Rabbi

Ask The Rabbi

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Golden calf and other stories

The Quran has a fanciful tale about how the Golden Calf came to life. Turns out the Talmud antedated that with four, totally different, stories of magic that explain way beyond what may be inferred from Torah, about charmed angel horse dust or an Egyptian magic splinter of wood that brought the calf to life. They sound like children’s stories. If not, then they are in defiance of Devarim 4.2, “You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it.”
Were these fantastic stories meant to be believed, or were they just used in sermons to perk up the imaginations of children and bored adults?

To answer your question, we must first define the term “exile.” In secular terminology, exile is defined as ‘the state of being barred from one’s native country, typically for political or punitive reasons.’
This is not the true Jewish connotation of exile. The Torah concept of exile includes being sent out of our country, but not only. The land of Israel is not called ‘the Holy Land’ as a sentiment. It truly is holy, and when the first and second Temples, the Batei Mikdash, were standing, G-d’s presence was felt there by ongoing miracles. Exile for the Jewish people means that the Temples were desecrated, G-d’s presence was not manifested by these miracles, and as is still true today, even though many Jews live in Israel, thank G-d, many Jews still look to the nations of the world for approval, and there is not enough awareness of the Divine plan.
Regarding the fifth exile, there is much discussion among the commentaries, but the whole concept of exile can be on a spiritual plane, and does not have to involve being under the actual physical rule of a foreign power.

The important thing is, what are we doing to bring about redemption from our personal spiritual state of exile?

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