It saddens me when I will observe a child or even an adult acting in a self-destructive way out of fear of how others will respond or look at his actions. I do not see such actions as courageous, I see them as cowardice. So please, help me understand how do we know that when Aaron guided the Jews through the construction of the Golden Calf, that his intentions were intentions of strength, not of cowardice. How do we know that Aaron wanted to protect the people, as we are taught by the sages, rather than his being terrified?