(15)May the words of my mouthand the prayer of my heart be acceptable to You,O ETERNAL One, my rock and my redeemer.

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, the people gathered against Aaron and said to him, “Come, make us a god who shall go before us, for we do not know what has happened to Moses—the man who brought us from the land of Egypt.”

(15) You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth—I will be with you and with him as you speak, and tell both of you what to do— (16) and he shall speak for you to the people. Thus he shall serve as your spokesman, with you playing the role of God to him.

(4) You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. (5) You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the ETERNAL your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me,

(6) Another matter, “Moses implored,” what is “Lord, why is Your wrath enflamed against Your people?” (Exodus 32:11). Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Neḥemya, Rabbi Yehuda says: To what is this matter comparable? To a king who had a member of his household whom he placed in charge of all that was his. That member of the household went and lent people by means of guarantors. He lent fifty gold pieces to this one, a hundred to that one, and two hundred to that one. The borrowers fled. Sometime later the king heard and he was unhappy. He said to him: ‘Did I put you in charge of what was mine in order to lose it?’ The member of the household said to him: ‘I lent, and it is my responsibility that they pay. I am restoring all of it to you. So and so is guarantor, and has one hundred gold pieces in his possession, and in the possession of so and so there are fifty.’ So too, Moses said to the Holy One blessed be He: ‘Why are You angry? Is it not because of Your Torah? It is my responsibility, I and my colleagues will fulfill it; Aaron and his sons will fulfill it, Joshua and Caleb will fulfill it, Yair and Makhir will fulfill it, the righteous will fulfill it, and I will fulfill it.’ That is, “why is Your wrath enflamed against your people?”
Rabbi Neḥemya said: When Israel performed that act, Moses rose to placate God. He said: ‘Master of the universe, they assisted You and You are angry at them? The calf that they crafted will assist You; you will cause the sun to shine, and it, the moon; You, the stars, it the constellations; You will cause the dew to fall, it will cause the wind to blow; You will cause the rain to fall, and it will cause plants to grow.’ The Holy One blessed be He said: ‘You, too, are mistaken like them; it lacks substance!’ He said to Him: ‘If so, why are you angry at Your children?’ That is, “why is Your wrath enflamed against your people?”

Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.”

And all the people took off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron.

This he took from them and cast in a mold, and made it into a molten calf. And they exclaimed, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!”

When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron announced: “Tomorrow shall be a festival of GOD!”

Early next day, the people offered up burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; they sat down to eat and drink, and then rose to dance.

לצחק TO PLAY — There is implied in this term besides idolatry also sexual immorality, — as we find the word used in, (Genesis 39:17) “to mock (לצחק) me” where unchastity is meant as is evident from the context — and blood-shed, as it is said, (II Samuel 2:14) “Let the young men arise and play (וישחקו) before me; [and they caught every one his fellow by the head and thrust his sword in his fellows side]”— here, too, Hur was assassinated (Midrash Tanchuma 3:9:20).

AND THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND TO DRINK. This means that they all sat down together to eat and drink inordinately, as they would do at feasts and on festivals, and afterwards they rose up to make merry with their idols and indulge in revelry. Scripture tells us this on account of what Moses [later] said, the noise of them that sing do I hear, for Moses found them acting riotously in front of him and his heart was lifted up in the ways of the Eternal, to take it from before them and to burn it in their presence [and scatter its powder upon the water] and make them drink of it.
Now Scripture first completed the account of everything they had done with the calf, and afterwards told of what the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, Go, get thee down. This communication, however, was given to Moses early that morning, when they worshipped the calf and sacrificed to it. When Moses came down from the mountain they had sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to make merry, and he found them in revelry. This also is proof to what I have explained [that at first their intent was not to worship idols], since it was not said to Moses, Go, get thee down, for thy people have dealt corruptly on the day that Aaron made the [golden] calf and the altar, [for had they been made for the purpose of idolatry, Moses] would have come down immediately. Instead, it was only when the people sacrificed to it and worshipped it that He told Moses to go down.