To a certain degree, there is a causal connection between the receiving of the Torah and the sin of the Golden Calf.
To explain this connection, let us examine the condition known as “baby blues,” a mild form of depression that many women experience following childbirth.
In most cases, this sense of depression passes after a short while without becoming serious.
In other cases, it becomes more serious and develops into full-blown postpartum depression, and there are even rare cases where the woman does not recover from it.
What is the cause of this phenomenon?
At the moment of birth, the mother’s whole body is mobilized for a tremendous effort.
Massive releases of adrenaline and other hormones advance the labor vigorously to enable the birth of the child.
All of the body’s systems speed up dramatically, so the birth is, in every respect, an incredibly intense experience.
Shortly after the birth, all of this intensity subsides, and suddenly all that remains is a void.
The disparity between the preceding emotional high and the new reality in which all of this has dissipated creates a subjective sense of having fallen from a high peak to a deep pit.
Before, there was heightened tension; now, all of this has vanished.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz