In our weekly Torah portion it is written:
“On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel, and he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a bull calf for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without blemish, and offer them before the LORD. And say to the people of Israel, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both a year old without blemish, for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, to sacrifice before the LORD, and a grain offering mixed with oil, for today the LORD will appear to you.’” And they brought what Moses commanded in front of the tent of meeting, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD. And Moses said, “This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.” (Leviticus 9:1-9)
After reading this biblical segment, the following question emerges – what is the connection between the ‘sin offering’ and the appearance of the glory of the LORD?
An interesting interpretation explains this in a very simple and clear way, in accordance with the original Hebrew meaning for the English word ‘glory’ which is ‘Kavod’ {כבוד} and can be translated as ‘honor’ or ‘dignity’.
Once a person behaving with dignity and committed to making amends in order to fix the wrong he has done (which manifested in bringing a sin offering in our case), then the glory (‘honor’) of God is immediately appears.