What is the meaning of "Va'yatzar oso ba'Cheret"?
Rashi #1: It means that he wrapped it in a cloth.
Rashi #2 and Targum Onkelos: It means that he carved pictures on it 1 with a chisel.
Rashbam: He wrapped all the rings in a cloth 2 - and shaped them into a calf.
Targum Yonasan: It means that he wrapped it in a cloth and carved it with a chisel.
What was Aharon's plan of action?
Rashi and Rashbam: It appears that he simply employed delaying tactics, and that it was either the sorcerers of the Eirev Rav who made the Golden Calf via sorcery, 1 or Michah, whom Moshe had saved as a baby from being squashed into the wall 2 , and who threw,into the pot, the plate on which was written 'Alei Shor'. 3
Ramban: Based on the fact that the people now required a leader to replace Moshe Rabeinu to lead them in the desert, 4 he opted to harness the power of the ox 5 (one of the creatures that supports Hashem's Throne) 6 via an image of a physical calf (a young ox). 7 And his plan was to build a Mizbe'ach and, via the ox that supports Hashem's Throne 8 to sacrifice on it, to transfer their thoughts from the Calf to Hashem - in whose Name all Korbanos are brought.
As the Zohar explains.
Moshav Zekenim: To Moshe's question as to why this was done to children of the Avos, Hashem replied that He was weeding out thorns from the vineyard, but that, if he so so wished, he could take one out and see his end (if he will indeed be a Rasha). Hadar Zekenim (in Pasuk 24: Hashem told Moshe to throw His name [into the wall] and save a baby. Moshe saved Michah, who now threw that plate into the pot, and it made the Eigel.
Rashi: Which Moshe had used to bring up Yosef's coffin from the Nile prior to Yetzi'as Mitzrayim. The plate caused a calf to come out.
Refer to 32:2:151:2 and note as to why he did not pick a human leader.
A man (king of the world), a lion (king of the beasts), an ox (king of the animals) and an eagle (king of the birds).
Why did Aharon choose specifically a calf?
Rashi #2 and Rashbam: It was Michah 3 who now threw into the pot a plate on which was written 'Alei Shor', and a calf emerged.
Ramban 4 : Because, based on the Pasuk in Yirmiyah 1:14 "mi'Tzafon Tipasach ha'Ra'ah ... " and the fact that the ox was on the left of the Shechinah, 5 the ox represents destruction and was therefore the ideal celestial power to lead them in the desert, a location where desolation and destruction are predominant. 6
Da'as Zekenim (in Pasuk 24, citing a Midrash Agadah): At Matan Torah, Yisrael saw [the honor of] Hashem and Chayos (a class of angels), whose feet are like calves' feet. 7
Chizkuni: Who chose a calf, because at Matan Torah, they saw only the feet of the angels under the Kisei ha'Kavod, which are like calves' feet, and they thought that they were the feet of Hashem (Kevayachol).
As stated in Yechezkel 1:14, which is synonymous with the north (and with Midas ha'Din) (Ramban) - bearing in mind that the Shechinah is in the west.
Ramban: Moreover, the left is generally indicative of Midas ha'Din.
See Yechezkel 1:7.
What are the connotations of the word "Maseichah"?
Rashi #1: It means molten (cast in metal).
Rashi #2: The Gematriyah of "Maseichah" is a hundred and twenty-five - the equivalent of the number of Kantarin 1 that it comprised.
An extremely large denomination of coin (Refer to Bereishis, 23:16:1:1).
Did they really believe that this image, that had just been formed before their very eyes, took them out of Egypt?
Ramban: They all knew and believed that Hashem had taken them out of Egypt and not the Eigel ha'Zahav, 1 and they sinned in that, whereas Aharon had in mind to bring Korbanos to the Midas ha'Din of Hashem, 2 they had in mind to bring Korbanos to the calf directly. 3
Rashbam: Idolators know that Hashem created the world, and they err due to the Ru'ach ha'Tum'ah of their idols. Consequently, when the calf spoke 4 ; they attributed to it Ru'ach ha'Kodesh from Hashem 5 , therefore they declared 'Your god 6 who took you out of Egypt.
As they heard and accepted at Har Sinai "Anochi Hashem Elokecha asher Hotzeisicha me'Eretz Mitzrayim".
Refer to 32:4:3:3**.
R. Chavel's footnotes, citing R. Bachye.
Riva: They thought that the Ru'ach ha'Kodesh that rested on Moshe will rest on their idol.
Rashbam: Much in the same way as Lavan referred to his Terafim (Refer to 32:1:4:2*) as his god (Bereishis 31:30).
What did they mean when they announced "Eileh Elohecha Yisrael"?
Rashi: Refer to 32:4:7:1.
Rashbam: Refer to 32:4:5:1.
Seforno: ''This will be for you a god to whom you can Daven in time of need and whom you should worship to obtain all your desires!'
Why did they say "Eileh Elohecha Yisrael!", and not "Eileh Eloheinu!"?
Rashi: This serves as proof that it was the Eirev Rav 1 who made the Golden Calf and who were now speaking to Yisrael to lead them astray after it.
Why did they say "Asher He'elucha" (plural)
Rashi in Shabbos, 88b): Because they desired many gods. 1
Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 10:2: They actually made thirteen calves - one for each tribe ?Eileh Elohecha Yisrael ? ?) and a communal one for all of Yisrael ("Zeh Elohecha asher He'elcha (singular) me'Eretz Mitzrayim" - Nechemyah, 9:18).
Oznayim la'Torah: How absurd! A short while back they had declared "Ki Zeh Moshe ha'Ish asher He'elanu me'Eretz Mitzrayim!". But then, did they not also ask for many gods? 2 And so it is; Sheker has many faces, whereaas Emes has only one!
The Gemara in Sanhedrin 63a explains that "Asher He'elucha" (plural) combines folly (the Eigel) with Hashem, and that, had they said 'He'elcha' (singular), denoting the Eigel alone, they would have been annihilated. But the Pasuk in Nechemyah 9:18 relates that they said 'He'elcha'?
Riva (in Bamidbar 8:8, citing R. Tam): It was the Resha'im among them who said "He'elcha". Others, who did not believe completely in the Eigel, only they thought that it had some [power], said 'He'elucha'.
