Sorry I wasn’t around Friday to post this but better late than never:
Mussar HaTorah
27 Shevat, 5769 Vol. 10, No. 18 Parashas Mishpatim
[If the Jews would have not made the Golden Calf]
Of course, once the Jews had sinned with the Golden Calf, their sin was a negative factor that weighed against them and the scales of judgement were no longer so overwhelmingly tipped in their merit that they could live forever. Still, the greatness remains in every one of us, because we all have free will and we all can struggle to overcome our yetzer hara. That potential has never left us, and as we look at our fellow Jews, and perhaps more importantly, as we look at ourselves, we must see the grandeur of our potential for holiness. We should appreciate the profound love that Hashem feels for us, to endow us with this incredible blessing of bechira, a potential so lofty that it deserves eternity.