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Why did the men at Har Sinai wear earrings? The shiur explains that pierced ears with earrings symbolized eternal servitude to Hashem (ה׳), like an eved ne'ertzah whose ear is pierced. Yet Moshe criticized the Golden Calf sin as stemming from excessive gold—suggesting that what the generation believed was pure avodas Hashem may have been partly motivated by showing off their wealth.
The shiur opens with a startling observation from the episode of the Golden Calf: when Aharon told the people to bring earrings from their wives and children, hoping for resistance that would delay them until Moshe's return, the men instead removed their own earrings. This reveals that the dor dei'ah—the generation that stood at Har Sinai—wore earrings themselves. Rabbi Zweig explains the deeper significance of this practice. The earrings were not mere jewelry but symbols of eternal servitude to Hashem (ה׳). Just as an eved ne'ertzah (a Hebrew servant who chooses to remain with his master) has his ear pierced as a sign of permanent servitude, so too the Jewish people at Har Sinai wore earrings to demonstrate their status as avadim to Hashem. This connects directly to kabbalas HaTorah itself, which was fundamentally an acceptance of servitude, as expressed in the declaration "na'aseh v'nishma." Indeed, Moshe described the giving of the Torah (תורה) by saying "ta'avdun es Hashem Elokim al har hazeh"—you will serve God on this mountain.
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Ki Sisa (Golden Calf episode), Devarim (Moshe's review of the sin)
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