When Moshe Rabbeinu was begging Hashem for mechilah after the sin of the eigel, he said, “אנא חטא העם הזה חטאה גדולה”, “the Jewish people have sinned a great sin.” Usually, when asking forgiveness for something, we want to diminish the harshness of the aveirah. Moshe should have said, “Klal Yisrael made a mistake. They didn’t mean it.”
Says the Oheiv Yisrael, that Moshe was telling Hashem, don’t punish the Yidden, they were already punished! After a Yid does an aveirah, he feels terrible! He is filled with regret and remorse! This is itself the biggest punishment.
This article was found in Nekuda Tova Issue 73.