9:3 And speak to the Children Of Israel saying, ?Take for yourselves a goat for a sin offering and a perfect one-year old a calf and sheep for an olah offering.?

The Safra notes that the goat was to atone for the sin of selling Yosef (Joseph) and the calf was to atone for the sin of the golden calf.

The Malbim commentary asks why the sale of Yosef needed to be addressed at this point in time. He notes that atonement was not a prerequisite to make the Jewish people eligible for either the Exodus or for receiving the Torah.

He provides the following explanation.

For most of the Jewish people, the sin of the golden calf was a misguided effort to set up a vehicle through which they could serve G-D. The intent had merit but the act had none, for the golden calf was unauthorized.

We find the reverse by the sale of Yosef. The act of his brothers eventually put Yosef in a position of power and gave him the ability to prepare the Jewish people for their ultimate redemption. There, the intentions were misguided but the act provided a great merit. (Genesis 50:20).

The Be?er Yosef says that the sanctuary served as a vehicle through which we served G-D, only unlike the golden calf, it was authorized.

To become eligible for the sanctuary we needed to fully atone for the golden calf. We needed to either provide a defense for what we did or we would need to fully address the deficiency. Our only defense would have been that the intent justified the act. However, in doing so we would re-open the case of Yosef?s sale, where the defense was to focus on the act rather that on the intention. So we needed to atone for both.

We find a parallel in the Purim story.

The Talmud provides two reasons for the decree against the Jewish people. (Megilah 12a).

One was that they complied with King Nebuchadnezer?s edict and bowed down to his image. The act was questionable but their intent was to save their lives, not to worship idolatry.

The second reason was that they derived pleasure from King Achashverosh?s meal.

The Be?er Yosef suggests that the lavish folk meal caused some people to feel comfortable with the idea of settling permanently in Persia and not returning to their homeland.

Here, the act was permissible, as their dietary needs were accommodated and the food they were served was strictly Kosher. However, the intent during the festivities was problematic.

May we all feel a readiness for redemption as we approach the annual festival of redemption. May we achieve this readiness through an appreciation of our destiny.

========================= Courtesy of JewishAmerica http://www.JewishAmerica.com

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