"The people saw that Moshe delayed in descending the mountain, and the people gathered around Aaron and said to him, 'Rise up, make for us G-ds who will go before us, for this Moshe, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt - we do not know what became of him!'"
There are several troubling questions regarding the incident of the Golden Calf - many of which stem from the above pasuk. One question, after all that B'nei Yisrael had witnessed from the time that Hashem lef them out of Egypt to this point - how could they turn their backs on Him and worship an idol?? The second question, what does Moshe's delay in descending the mountain have to do with their desire to worship said idol? The answer to both questions is the same!
If we take a closer look at the pasuk, we see that there is no mention of Hashem in it - the people saw that Moshe delayed so they asked Aaron to make G-ds to represent them because Moshe seemed to have disappeared. The pasuk didn't say that Hashem abandoned them, it said that Moshe abandoned them!
"Make G-ds who will go before us, for this Moshe...we do not know what became of him." B'nei Yisrael wasn't looking for a G-d to "create" them - they were looking for a G-d to lead them - the way Moshe had been doing!
The commentaries explain that B'nei Yisrael didn't feel that they were capable of serving Hashem on their own - they needed a "go-between" to represent them. That go-between was Moshe. When they miscalculated his return and thought that Moshe had left them (the Satan presented them with an image of Moshe in heaven), they thought they had lost that go-between and would no longer be able to serve Hashem properly. Therefore, they asked Aaron to make them "G-ds who would go before them" - who would represent them.
It's often hard for us to fathom the idea that we - as individuals - are capable of having our own relationship with Hashem. Indeed, we don't need a go-between, we can speak to Him directly - and he will answer us!! B'nei Yisrael, too, could not fathom this relationship - that is why they panicked when Moshe didn't return and asked Aaron to build a G-d that would lead them. You see, B'nei Yisrael wasn't turning their backs on Hashem. The opposite, they wanted to serve Him!! They just didn't think they could do it alone!!
May we all recognize the personal relationship we are fortunate to have with our creator and in doing so, may we come to serve Him properly!
Shabbat Shalom!
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