As we read through the upcoming Torah portions, the excitement of the events of Sinai continues to speak to us, and then we encounter the betrayal of the Golden Calf.

The text tells us that Moses is late returning from the top of Sinai, and the Jewish people have suddenly become strict about keeping to a schedule.

Our solution is to build a concrete object upon which we can focus, since we relied on Moses to communicate with God, and clearly he does not seem to be returning. We are motivated by fear, and the text shows us how quickly fear can redefine the character of a people and lead us to destructive places.

The setting of the events of Sinai is depicted in very concrete ways. Moses, the mountain, the thunder and lightning – everything the Torah describes is an assault on our physical senses, and the sudden disappearance of Moses without his scheduled reappearance invokes within us the fear of the unseen. We solve it by building something we can see.

Yet, one group within the Jewish people refuses to participate in creating the Golden Calf. It appears that the women were not willing to contribute any materials to the building of the idol. According to the midrash in Pirkei deRabbi Eliezer, the women told their men: “You want to construct an idol and mask which is an abomination and has no power of redemption. We will not listen to you.” The midrash continues by saying that God rewards Jewish women by giving them the celebration of the new moon, Rosh Chodesh, more than to the men.

On the one hand, the connection of a woman and the moon is apparent on a physical level, as a woman’s body will cycle in a rhythm, just as the moon cycles regularly. Yet, the text of the Golden Calf and the midrash emphasize the fact that the women were beyond needing the concrete and, therefore, rejected the building of the idol. The women did not fear or doubt what they could not see, since their cycles permit them to carry a new life within them, which they know they will not see as it grows.

Once the women show they can be trusted with a clear understanding of the place of the concrete and its limitations, God can safely place the new moon in their hands. Designating the moon as a focal point of time and blessing it once a month could easily slip over the line into an inappropriate, idolatrous understanding of the moon. Once the women show they understand the appropriate line between what is concrete and what is not – that is, once they reject the idol because they know the concrete cannot redeem – only then are they trusted with the moon.

The women will never allow the moon to be an object of worship, but will always frame it as the marker of time. Israel panicked when we believed Moses was late in returning – we misunderstood the time marker. As a result, we abandoned the abstraction of time and headed for the safety of the concrete, the idol. The time marker is safely returned to Israel through Jewish women.

According to the Jerusalem Talmud, it is acceptable that women not work on Rosh Chodesh, and the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law, supports this custom.

Within one of the darkest covenantal hours – Israel’s betrayal of God through the Golden Calf – is a glimmer of understanding and safety that should be recognized with every Rosh Chodesh: Jewish women. The Talmud recognizes this view when it states: “Women, they are a people unto themselves.”