Time is of the Essence
Part of this week's parashah is dedicated to discussing the sin offerings that Aaron and B'nei Yisrael will bring. One of the korbanot to be sacrificed is a goat. Why was B'nei Yisrael required to offer this korban? Chazal explains that this korban parallels another event in B'nei Yisrael's history: the selling of Joseph by his brothers into slavery.
This seems like an odd time to remind B'nei Yisrael about an incident that occured years before. Why would God want to draw this connection now?
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says that, “To everything there is a season” and lists a number of different “times” to live, die, weep and dance. Yet one of these verses discusses something else: “A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together” (3:5).
Analyzing Joseph's brothers’ sin, we see they had “casted” away one of their stones, their own brother Joseph. Cruel as it may seem, this ultimately helped B'nei Yisrael: since he was sold into slavery in Egypt, Joseph and his family were saved from starvation. In comparison, B'nei Yisrael, in the desert, is a nation and not the eleven brothers that sold Joseph into slavery—now, they are a full-fledged nation. This nation saw the Tabernacle as a communal gathering place, where they gathered on Yom Tov and other holidays. As opposed to casting away stones, they are “collecting” their stones together, and become a community.
During the time of the Brothers, it was necessary to separate Joseph for the greater good of his family, now it is necessary for B'nei Yisrael to congregate and “gather” the individual stones to become part of a larger community.
The brothers needed to separate; B'nei Yisrael needed to come together.
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