1. According to your level of knowledge is your level of responsibility. The mistakes of people in positions of power have huge consequences. 2. According to your level of responsibility is your level of accountability. The greater you are, the bigger the impact of your decisions, therefore you must be held to an extremely high standard. The Jewish people had been given the responsibility for the world at Mount Sinai, and these principles explain the criticism that God levels against Jews and why it is so super-strong. We also learn here another fundamental idea of the Torah -- that every Jew is a guarantor for every other Jew. The nation of Israel is a "body" and the individual Jews are like cells in this body. If part of the body does something wrong, the whole body is held accountable. Judaism teaches you're either part of the problem or you're part of the solution, and Judaism teaches that you have a legal obligation to be part of the solution. Being a by-stander is not an you're either part option.
of the problem or you're part of the This issue repeats itself over and over again in the Bible and throughout Jewish solution. history. That's why when a small group of Jews does something wrong and the rest of the nation doesn't stop them, all are held accountable. THE AFTERMATH Moses spends a lot of time back in the camp dealing with the aftermath of the golden calf debacle. He smashes the idol, gathers loyal Levites around him and executes those responsible. (As you might have noticed the Bible is not a liberal book. While it is full of the merciful acts of God, it also emphasizes that there are serious consequences for wrongdoing.) He goes back up the mountain on the 1st of Elul -- Rosh Chodesh Elul. Elul is the month before Rosh Hashana, before 1st Tishrei, the beginning of the Jewish year. He spends forty days on the mountain again. He comes back down with the second set of tablets, and this is a clear sign that God has forgiven the Jewish people. What's the day Moses comes back down? Yom Kippur. All Jewish holidays are tied to specific historical events. Each of these events All Jewish implants within the holiday a certain spiritual power which can be accessed.
holidays are tied to specific From Yom Kippur we get the spiritual power of teshuva -- of repentance, of returning historical events. to closeness with God and repairing relationships with our fellow human beings. As a sign of forgiveness God tells Moses He will dwell among the Jewish people, and He instructs how His "home" is to be built. "They shall make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them." (Exodus 25:8) Following this command, the Torah spends many chapters giving intricate descriptions just exactly how to build this portable sanctuary.