<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">We are taught: <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; "></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px; ">Following Mattan Torah, and before the sin of the egel hazahav, the Jewish people were on the level of <em>tzaddikim</em>. Then they committed the sin of the Golden Calf. My question is:</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">If they were truly righteous (which is what <i>tzaddikim </i>means), then how could they have even considered committing such an egregious sin? If you want to tell me that even <i>tzaddikim </i>sin, then we have a contradiction of terms. Either they were not <i>tzaddikim</i> or the egel hazahav was really not a sin in its context. And how can that be when the Torah depicts it as a sin</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">worthy of chayav missa.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">ri</span></div></body></html>