The sin of the golden calf

The sin that the children of Israel committed in the wilderness was that they made a golden calf (as recounted in Numbers 4: "And they made a molten calf, and said unto it, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt").

("May it be for the congregation of Israel for water of sprinkling, but also the removal of the sin of the calf." Translation: "And it shall be for the congregation of Israel for water of sprinkling; the removal of the sin of the calf is also included" - Keter Yonatan, Numbers 19:9, and likewise: "And the words of our Rabbis in all the midrashim, that Moses did this because of the sin of the calf. Moses expounded: 'One excommunicated by the teacher is excommunicated by the student'" - Ramban, Exodus 33:7, and likewise: "All the shofars are valid except that of a cow, because the horn of the cow reminds [us] of the sin of the calf, and as is known, the prosecutor does not become the defender" - H. Baer / El Makom ShehaRuach Holech, 57)

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