A Stubborn Nation | Rabbi Moshe Wilhelm

Only 40 short days after the Yidden received the Torah, on the 17th of Tammuz, while Moshe was still in Shomayim, the Yidden did a terrible sin, the Golden Calf. Go, descend, the Ribono shel Olam says to Moshe Rabeinu, your nation has sinned. They made a golden calf, danced to it and slaughtered to it. And then the Ribono shel Olam continues and says, I saw this nation, it's a stubborn nation, a stiff-necked nation. And the Ribono shel Olam continues, And now, leave go of me. Leave me be, and I will destroy them. Rashi brings down from the Gemara that the words ‘Leave me be’ were really a hint to Moshe Rabeinu, that the time was ripe for him to start defending them. To what may this be compared? says the Gemara, where there's a king. He has a friend sitting next to him, and he's there, about to punish his son. And he turns to his friend and he says, Don't stop me! Don't stop me! I need to punish my son. What he's really telling the friend is that you have the power to stop me. You have the strength, the power, to make it that I will not punish my son. And that is what the Gemara says is what the Ribono shel Olam was doing to Moshe Rabeinu. But the order of the Psukim seems a little interesting. It seems that the Ribono shel Olam is telling Moshe Rabeinu, My nation is a stubborn nation, and now go and save them, go and defend them. It's almost as if being stubborn was a good thing. Another question. The Ribono shel Olam said I saw this nation, past tense. Why is the Ribono shel Olam saying, Perhaps the Psukim could be understood this way. The Ribono shel Olam is saying, I have seen this people. When I created this nation, when I made this nation, I saw that they're going to be going through an exile after exile. They're going to be going through challenge after challenge. And I saw that there is no way that I will have a Klal Yisroel that will be successful at being a servant of Hashem, without having this character trait of being stubborn, of being a stubborn nation. Yes, I gave them this character trait of stubbornness. I made them stubborn. And yes, there are side effects and sometimes it doesn't come out right. So now, ועתה הניחה לי leave go of me and go defend them. And he did. Yes, Hashem gave His nation this wonderful character trait. He foresaw that they're going to need it. He foresaw that there are going to be the Leviim that will have to cut off their thumbs, so as not to play music for their oppressors. He saw that there's going to be the Yidden that will have to write the holy Tosfos, while being imprisoned in the castles of the Crusaders. And he saw the Yidden that will be dancing towards the gas chambers. And he said: This nation needs to have this character trait. There will come a time, when my children will live in an exile, an exile of the Western culture, and we’ll be faced with challenges that perhaps no man has ever faced before. Challenges of Shmiras Einayim and challenges of immorality. But I made them my stubborn nation. We are constantly being faced with challenges and they get harder every single day, but Hashem prepared us to face them. We are stubborn. It's in our blood.