Ki Tissa begins with an account of the census of the Children of Israel. Each man over the age of twenty made a token payment of half a shekel of silver, which was then used for the construction of the Sanctuary. The Sedra continues with the story of how the people made the most dramatic mathematical error ever - no, not missing out a decimal place, but rather miscalculating the amount of time Moses had spent on Mount Sinai, collecting the Torah. So, they fashioned a molten calf out of their jewellery and proclaimed that it was actually this calf, not G-d, which had brought them out of Egypt. How could such a thought enter their minds; they had just witnessed the belittling of one of the most powerful nations at that time through a set of incredible miracles, in order to save this minute nomadic nation. After all this, as well as hearing the voice of G-d (or some form of representation of G-d) they decided it was a calf which performed all these miracles for them!

One explanation suggests that it serves as a lesson for future generations. Regardless of how knowledgable and wise we may be, and how much we try to do the right thing, no-one is ever totally rid of the desire to do the opposite, and the desire to ignore the ways of our religion. Maimonedes explains that if we wish to follow a certain commandment such as giving charity or keeping kosher, then we should do the action as often as possible, even excessively, until it becomes a habit. You may ask, isn't this denying us free will - how can we be rewarded for a habit? Rav Dessler elucidates that we can imagine ourselves to be on a spiritual ladder. There are some actions which one particular person wouldn't even dream of doing because they have been brought up as a child not to do that action, whereas another person may find it extrememly difficult to refrain from doing it. Everybody has their own rung on this ladder. Our goal is not to 'deny ourselves free will' by learning to perform the commandments by rote since this is impossible - there will always be another rung ahead of us. Rather our whole aim in life is climb the ladder as high as possible, each at our own pace and in our own particular way.