Emet Inspire - Rabbi Binyamin Yuhanan - Parashat Ki Tisa - Golden Calf is Part of Our Nation

in his prophecy yeshayahu the prophet Isaiah quotes the Jewish people wondering perhaps Hashem forgot about us perhaps Hashem abandoned us and yesaiah says that Hashem will never forget you God says a mother may forget about her baby but I will never forget the Jewish people and the talmud quotes this verse and says a mother may forget her baby that refers to Hashem forgetting the sin of the golden calf but I Hashem says will never forget the Jewish people I will always remember how they stood by Mount Si and accepted me as their King and they accepted my Torah a question is asked how can Hashem say I will forget the sin of the golden calf when in this week's para Hashem tells mosha that whenever the Jewish people sin and God needs to punish them throughout history he will remember the sin of the golden calf during his punishment and he will add the sin of the golden calf to the calculation for the Jewish people so did God forget about the sin of the golden calf or does he always remember it and punish us for it gives a beautiful answer he says it's true Hashem never forgot the sin of the golden calf but how does he remember it whenever the Jewish people sin and Hashem judges them he remembers that there was a time right after the giving of the Torah the revelation of God himself the Jewish people sank very low and Hashem says I understand that the Jewish people are capable of sinning much more than they sin now long in the future the sins of the Jewish people will seem small in comparison to the sin of the golden calf and therefore yes Hashem will remember the sin of the golden calf but for the benefit of the Jewish people to take things in perspective and say when they were a Young Nation they sinned much worse than they're sinning now then they had great leaders then they saw Miracles then they saw God himself and still they sinned what can I ask of them now they don't see God's glory they are exiled they are oppressed and therefore remembering the sin of the golden calf will cause Hashem to remember the Jewish people for good to remember for them the fact that they accepted the Torah on Mount Si that despite their upbringing in Egypt among Idol worshippers they were brave enough to say isma we will accept everything God says and we will listen and that is why in this week's Torah portion Hashem teaches the the Jewish people a secret of the 13 attributes of God's mercy when exactly after the greatest of sins Hashem says don't worry this will evoke mercy of God on you and therefore Jewish people never give up even when we look at the current events and the long 2,000 year exam and we might worry perhaps God forgot about us we remember the sin of the golden calf and say if God didn't destroy us then God will forgive us now as well God remembers our loyalty our acceptance of Torah following him in the desert and therefore our commitment to God is strong and God's commitment to our safety is strong as well may we see the revelation of God's glory again may we see Miracles and may we see the rebuilding of yush in gathering of Exiles and may we have the Merit to serve Hashem in the Third Temple speedily in our days shabbat [Music] shalom