idol worship, as in the story of the Golden Calf in Exodus 32. While Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the Israelites asked Aaron to provide them with a god to lead them. He collected their gold and shaped it into the form of a calf, which, mounted on an altar, induced them to a wild orgy. Moses, on his return, melted the calf down, ground it to powder, and scattered it on water he then forced the idolatrous Israelites to drink. In addition, God punished the Israelites with a plague.