[...]Perhaps the most difficult question in this parashah is: how could the Jewish people, after having witnessed the power of God demonstrated in the ten plagues and the Splitting of the Sea and after having received the Torah at Mount Sinai a mere forty days before, commit the sin of the Golden Calf? Although there were many mitigating factors that make their apparent sin much less heinous than a cursory reading of the text of the Torah would imply, the fact still remains that, in the Talmud's words: "Israel was not capable of committing such an act!" The Talmud's answer is that "the whole affair was God's decree, in order to set a precedent for the penitent."1 In other words, God maneuvered the Jewish people into this sin in order that they repent for it and come to know the sweetness of reconciliation.
The paradox of sin is that repentance makes it possible to forge a greater connection with God than was possible prior to the sin. Before sinning, an individual's relationship with God need only be strong enough to keep him on track; as long as he reminds himself that there is a God in the world who requires him to do x, y, and z, he will have no problem doing what is required of him. He is happy, stimulated, and inspired and is growing and developing spiritually in his relationship with God. Once he sins, however, he is confronted with the stark realization that, as perfect as this relationship may have seemed, it was neither strong enough nor deep enough to keep him from sinning (the proof being, of course, that he just sinned). By his choice, he demonstrated—at least on the level of consciousness on which he was functioning—that the enticement of this sin meant more to him than his commitment to God.
He must therefore delve into himself in order to find a place in his soul where God means more to him than the pleasure or fulfillment this indulgence seemed to offer him. This exercise in deepening his consciousness and awareness of God and re-establishing his relationship with Him at this new, deeper level is called teshuvah ("returning" to God) and is the essence of repentance. If the teshuvah is real, the individual will have reached a place within himself where his relationship and commitment to God are now so strong that he will no longer be able to commit the sin he is repenting for. Obviously, the more serious the sin, the greater the teshuvah required, and the deeper the resulting bond between the individual and God. [...]
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