For the source text click/tap here: Horayot 4
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In the previous mishnah we learned that if the court issued an errant ruling and everyone acted erroneously in accord with that ruling, they bring a bull, as it says in Leviticus 4:14, “The congregation shall offer a bull of the herd as a sin offering.”
Our mishnah discusses who the “congregation” is that brings the bull. Throughout this mishnah we will read that there is a distinction made between sins involving idol worship and all other sins.
In the introduction to the tractate, we explained that the rabbis understood Leviticus 4 as referring to regular sins and Numbers 15:22-29 as referring to idol worship.
If the sin was idol worship, then the congregation brings a bull and a goat (Numbers 15:24). עָשׂוּ כָּל הַקָּהָל שׁוֹגְגִין – מְבִיאִין פַּר
We explore communal culpability in Biblical and Talmudic traditions.