There were special offerings given by the leaders if they inadvertently made a mistake, both the religious leaders as well as the religious. The reason is that people will base their decisions on what they do and say.
Category: Holiness
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Being Responsible for Our Actions
The sin offering is brought for an unintentional sin. That is something that happened but was not intended. It is not an accident but it caused damage either spiritually or physically. We are still responsible for our actions.
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Under God’s Guidance
The Book of Exodus ends with the Pillar of Fire to guide the Jews by night & the pillar of smoke in the day. This is to show the Jews that they are to follow God’s ways throughout their lives.
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The Ritual Keeps Us
The reason that we have so much detail in the Torah about building the Tabernacle is that people need ritual in order to remember. As has been observed, more than the Jews have kept Shabbat, the Shabbat has kept the Jews.
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Why All The Rules
The Torah goes into detail about everything in the building of the Tabernacle. Why? To avoid misinterpretation by the artist.
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The Importance of Shabbat
The Torah stresses that keeping Shabbat is more important that building the Tabernacle. That if we do not keep Shabbat then what is the Tabernacle for?
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A Leader Must Lead
After the incident of the Golden Calf Moses rebukes Aaron for allowing the situation to get out of control. He reminds him that a leader is responsible for the actions of his subordinates.
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Idolatry is for Children
When Moses seems to be delayed coming back from Mt. Sinai the Jews build an idol. It seems strange until we remember that they were only recently freed from Egyptian bondage and the only society that they knew was Egyptian.
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Why an Inherited Priesthood
The institution of the Priesthood was an inherited position. Why? The idea was to take politics out of the service in the Tabernacle. When politics mix with religion it is usually bad for both. By making the priesthood inherited the Torah was accomplishing this goal.
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Clothes Make the Man
The Torah spends a lot of time describing how the Priests in the Taberbernacle should dress. The reason is what they represent. They represent God to the people and the people to God.