Transcript
Okay, good morning. It feels like it's been a very long time since we had the parsha class, probably because it's been a very long time. But this morning we continue with parsha Shmini, page 588 in the Stone Chumash. First we'll give an overview and then we're going to go through the first few פסוקים psukim of the parsha.I want to dedicate our learning this morning to a רפואה שלמה refuah shlema, a speedy recovery to the close to 40 people who were injured in the bombing yesterday. With the hope and a prayer that our brothers and sisters in Israel have safety and security, the violence not escalate but in fact disappear. And you know there were a few Americans, seminary girls who were injured in this attack, a girl from Cleveland and another girl. לאה ברכה בת שושנה בייג' Leah Bracha bat Shoshana Baj? Ah. So let's have them in mind as we learn.Okay. Parsha Shmini. The end of last week's parsha, the end of צו Tzav. The end of last week's parsha dealt with the inauguration of the משכן Mishkan. We had gone through all of the instructions, all the diagrams, all the details of how it was to be assembled, of its materials, of its architecture. And now Moshe did a dry run for seven days. In fact, this was an opportunity for Moshe in a certain sense to serve as a כהן גדול Cohen Gadol. He was denied that opportunity because he rejected a leadership position, he hesitated when called upon, so it was given to his brother Aaron. But these seven days, Moshe spent putting together the משכן Mishkan, going through a dry run of what would take place within it, and then taking it apart, and doing that each of the seven days in the presence of Aaron and his sons so that they could learn exactly what it is that was expected of them. And that was the end of last week's parsha, which begins this week's parsha. ויהי ביום השמיני Vayehi bayom hashmini. It was the eighth day. The eighth day after what? The eighth day after the inauguration, after Moshe had been doing this dry run for seven days, it was the eighth day. We'll go through these פסוקים psukim a little bit further. Wasn't that an exception to a normal... Even if they put a new כהן גדול Cohen Gadol under him? Well, Moshe never really was the כהן גדול Cohen Gadol. He was acting that part. There's a big discussion in fact, what clothing did Moshe wear during those seven days? Did Moshe wear the priestly garments, did he wear his own garments? Was it, what, did it have the status of a עבודה Avodah? Was it not the עבודה Avodah? That's a discussion, but not for now. Because they did ויהי ביום השמיני vayehi ba yom hashmini. I know, but why did he need seven days? It makes sense, one week to go through the entire, we assume a week is a unit of time, so to go through one unit of time of rehearsal to make sure.So that's how the parsha begins is on the eighth day. The dry run was complete, the משכן Mishkan was assembled, its inauguration was complete, and now the כהנים Kohanim were beginning their service itself. So Moshe calls upon his brother Aaron to come perform the service, and it's inaugurated with a specific order of sacrifices, not the daily sacrifice and not the usual sacrifice, but something very unusual. We'll see in a moment what it is. They come and they offer the sacrifices. Aaron completes it and he gives a ברכה bracha to the people. Then Moshe and Aaron together give a ברכה bracha because it seems that God did not yet come down to dwell. And then God comes so to say, reveals himself through the fire that comes and consumes the קרבן עולה Korban Olah, the elevation sacrifice and the חלבים chalavim, the fats that were on the altar. The people interpret this to understand that God is, divine presence is dwelling. The God is satisfied, he's happy with the construction of the משכן Mishkan, with the inauguration, and with the beginning service of the כהנים Kohanim. Then נדב ואביהוא Nadav and Avihu, Aaron's two sons then step forward and what do they do wrong? There's 4,000 interpretations exactly what they did wrong. The פסוק pasuk says they offered an אש זרה eish zarah, foreign fire. What exactly that means is up to interpretation, but the consequences are horrific. They're struck dead on the spot. They die. A fire comes out and consumes them as if they are a קרבן korban themselves. Moshe tries to comfort his brother. וידם אהרן Vayidom Aharon. His brother is silent. Moshe then instructs his brother and two remaining nephews not to mourn, that the show must go on. They are to continue. אלעזר Elazar and איתמר Itamar take their place. I spoke at the memorial we did last week for the Fogels. The city of איתמר Itamar where the Fogels lived is named for this youngest son of Aaron. אלעזר Elazar which is in גוש Gush and איתמר Itamar which is in שומרון Shomron are both named for these two sons. And that איתמר Itamar, when he witnessed the tragedy of the sudden loss of his brothers, inexplicably, incomprehensibly, he stepped up, put one foot in front of the other, took his place and kept the service going. There's a lesson to be learned from that about the notion of איתמר Itamar and בקרובי אקדש bekrovai ekadesh. That sometimes God is sanctified through the ones that he is closest with. Then the consequence, many interpret that נדב ואביהוא Nadav and Avihu their sin was entering the מקדש Mikdash while intoxicated, while inebriated. Where do they get that from? The very next paragraph, God warns, השם Hashem spoke to Aaron saying you're not allowed to drink wine in my presence. You can't drink wine in the משכן Mishkan, in the מקדש Mikdash. It's punishable by death, the death penalty. So we'll talk about why also in a moment. Then, yes? In the prior one, this is the first time that people were blessed by Aaron with that beautiful blessing? Correct. We'll get back, we'll get back to that. We'll see what that is exactly. Then Moshe spoke to Aaron, to אלעזר Elazar and איתמר Itamar, the remaining sons, about taking the meat, the disposition of the day's offerings, of giving it out, what what's shared and so on. And then we have a dispute between Moshe and between Aaron. Why didn't you eat the sin offering, the קרבן חטאת Korban Chatas? במקום הקודש B'makom hakodesh, it's קודש קדשים kodesh kodashim and so on.And then we get into the laws of כשרות kashrus, all that we know about the species that are kosher, not kosher, what are the signs to determine a kosher animal, kosher fowl, kosher fish, list of forbidden birds, list of forbidden insects, it's all from our parsha. In fact, some like to suggest, you know the Torah makes an incredible assertion here. The Torah tells us that every animal that has split hooves, chews its cud, with exceptions. Every animal that has fins has scales, with exceptions. And it lists the exceptions. And some want to prove from here the divine nature of the Torah because if the Torah was authored by a human being, how could they possibly, when the Torah was written thousands of years ago, have knowledge of every species on Earth of fish, fowl, animals, and be able to say so definitively that these are the only exceptions to the rule? And indeed by the way, no more exceptions have been found than those listed in the Torah itself. So why would a committee of human beings who are authoring a document to try to promote a religion, why would they even offer an assertion of something that they could never possibly defend? The moment an extra specie was found, species was found, it would undermine their entire religion. So you see that within within כשרות kashrus. Not allowed to eat a שרץ sheretz, you can't eat these creepy crawly things. And that's how the Torah ends. כי אני השם אלוקיכם והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים Ki ani Hashem Elokeichem v'hiskadishtem v'hiyisem kedoshim. כשרות Kashrus somehow is the transforms us into a holy people, into a holy nation. We sanctify ourselves through our commitment to what we eat, to כשרות kashrus. The רמב\"ן Ramban asserts that we are what we eat literally. That there is spiritual energy contained in these different animals. The forbidden animals have the character trait of cruelty, they're predatory in nature, and therefore when we consume them, we absorb their character traits. So רמב\"ן Ramban basically says we are what we eat and therefore that's כשרות kashrus. Others suggest that כשרות kashrus is a חוק chok. Again, we're not studying כשרות kashrus today, but כשרות kashrus is a חוק chok. There's no real reason, but it's an opportunity for God to cultivate and refine within us a sense of discipline. That if you could be disciplined in terms of what you eat, then you can be disciplined in every area of life. That God gave us a תאווה taivah, he gave us desire, he gave us temptation, and if we can nevertheless lead a disciplined life vis-a-vis our hunger, our appetite, what we want to eat, then we will cultivate and refine in us a sense of discipline and that's godliness. The ultimate expression of imitating God is the ability to be disciplined, to be sovereign, to be in control of our temptation and of our desire. So that's how the parsha ends, with the topic of כשרות kashrus.Okay, so that's an overview of the parsha. Let's go back to the beginning. I want to examine the first few פסוקים psukim together.ויהי ביום השמיני Vayehi bayom hashmini. It was on the eighth day. So the eighth day of what? Look at Rashi. למילואים La'miluim. It was on the eighth day of these מילואים miluim, of the inauguration ceremony that Moshe had for seven days, Moshe had imitated what was going to happen. And now it's the eighth day. And what day is that? Moshe began the מילואים miluim on the 23rd of אדר Adar. So that makes this the eighth day, ראש חודש ניסן Rosh Chodesh Nissan. שהוא קם המשכן בו ביום ונטל עשר עטרות השניות בסדר עולם She'hukam ha'mishkan bo b'yom v'natal eser ataros hashniyos b'seider olam. This was the eighth day, was ראש חודש ניסן Rosh Chodesh Nissan, the first day of the month of Nissan. It was the day that the משכן Mishkan, not הוקם המשכן hukam ha'mishkan, was erected because Moshe had been... It means permanently erected. Now even that doesn't mean permanently because they were to take it down when they traveled, but it means it was put into... it's like you threw out the first pitch. It's official. The game has begun. It it has started.So what happened on this eighth day? קרא משה לאהרן ולבניו ולזקני ישראל Kara Moshe l'Aharon ul'vanav ul'ziknei Yisrael. Moshe called Aaron, he called his at the time four sons, נדב, אביהוא, אלעזר, ואיתמר Nadav, Avihu, Elazar and Itamar, ולזקני ישראל ul'ziknei Yisrael, he also called the elders of the Jewish people. So, by the way, just still on the שמיני shmini, look at the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim. שמיני קרא משה בגימטריא היה ביום ראש חודש ניסן Shmini kara Moshe b'gematria, haya b'yom rosh chodesh nissan. The eighth day is the numerical value of it was ראש חודש ניסן Rosh Chodesh Nissan. אמר משה לפי שסרבתי ז' ימים בסנה, לא זכיתי לשמש אלא ז' Omar Moshe, l'fi she'sarafti zayin yomim b'sneh, lo zachisi l'shamesh ela zayin. Moshe said to himself, I refused God. When God came to recruit Moshe to be the leader of the Jewish people, Moshe had an inappropriate humility. Humility does not mean to shield oneself or to be understated. Humility doesn't mean to deny one's skills or attributes. Humility does not mean to not realize one's full potential. Humility means to recognize that whatever gifts we have are from above and just as quickly as we have them, they can be taken away. That real humility is to meet our obligation, to fulfill our mandate in life. So when God came to Moshe and he said, I've identified you, I'm singling out you, you are the man. Humility would have been to say, thank you, I accept the position because if you as God are asking, then there must be something I can offer, but I recognize that it's only out of your goodness and your graciousness and as quickly as you've given it, you could take it away and so on. So seven days, God had to play a cat and mouse game. Seven days God was trying to recruit Moshe and convince him. Seven days Moshe hesitated and he said no. So Moshe understood now that the fact that he functioned in the משכן Mishkan for seven days as part of its practice, the preseason, so that was corresponding with the seven days he gave God a hard time. That he only got to function כביכול k'viyachol as a כהן גדול Cohen Gadol for seven days corresponding with the seven days he gave God the runaround that he wasn't allowed to. And that's what the בעל הטורים Ba'al HaTurim hints to here in the גימטריא gematria.The Ibn Ezra also notes, ויהי ביום השמיני vayehi bayom hashmini, הנראה לי כי יום השמיני, שמיני לניסן ha'ni're li ki yom hashmini, shmini l'Nissan. When you hear שמיני shmini, you'd think, what is the eighth day? So one would think it was the eighth day of the month of ניסן Nissan. כי משכן הוקם באחד לחודש Ki mishkan hukam b'echad l'chodesh, because the משכן mishkan was established on the first of the month of Nissan. רק המעתיקים אומרים שהיה ראש חודש ניסן Rak ha'maatikim omrim she'haya rosh chodesh Nissan. ובשבעת ימי המילואים היה משה מקים את המשכן בכל יום וסותרו כדי להרגיל בו וללמד V'b'shiv'as yemei miluim haya Moshe mekim es ha'mishkan b'chol yom v'sostro, k'dei l'hargil bo u'l'lamed. Moshe again was assembling and disassembling the משכן Mishkan in order to teach Aaron and his sons how it was going to function, what was going to happen.The אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim HaKadosh asks, I think a very powerful question. And he has a long, long comment here. ויהי ביום השמיני Vayehi bayom hashmini. The language of ויהי vayehi. Does it strike anybody? ויהי Vayehi comes from ווי voy, which is a moan, a קרעכץ krechts. ויהי Vayehi means something bad. The גמרא Gemara in מגילה Megillah asks, the אור החיים הקדוש Or HaChaim HaKadosh, מה טעם אמרו ויהי ma ta'am omru vayehi? במסכת מגילה אומר רבי לוי, כל מקום שנאמר ויהי אינו אלא לשון צער B'maseches Megillah omer Rabbi Levi, kol makom she'ne'emar vayehi, eino ela l'shon tza'ar. Whenever we have ויהי vayehi, it's a moan, it's a קרעכץ krechts. ויהי מקץ Vayehi miketz, we studied when we studied ויהי מקץ vayehi miketz, after when Yosef was coming out of prison and going to interpret the dreams and so on. So where is the צער tza'ar? ומקשה וכתוב ויהי ביום השמיני... דתניא אותו יום היה שמחה לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא כיום שנבראו בו שמים וארץ U'makshav v'k'siv vayehi bayom hashmini... d'tanya oso yom haya simcha l'fnei haKadosh Baruch Hu k'yom she'nivru bo shamayim va'aretz. The גמרא Gemara then asks, how can you say ויהי vayehi is לשון צער l'shon tza'ar? ויהי Vayehi is negative, it depicts something sorrowful. What do you mean? We inaugurate the משכן Mishkan, it's introduced with ויהי vayehi, that's the happiest day for God, that was a day that was as happy as completion of the world. How do we know that? The גמרא Gemara itself juxtaposes two פסוקים psukim. כתיב הכא ויהי ביום השמיני וכתיב התם ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר K'siv acha vayehi bayom hashmini, u'k'siv hasam vayehi erev vayehi voker. Because it says with the משכן Mishkan, ויהי ביום השמיני vayehi bayom hashmini, it was the eighth day, and when God completed the creation of the world, ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר vayehi erev vayehi voker, it was the evening it was the morning. ומקשה ויהי בשמונים שנה, it says in מלכים א' Melachim Aleph, ויהי כאשר ראה יעקב vayehi ka'asher ra'ah Yaakov, ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר vayehi erev vayehi voker, a number of times where you see that the language of ויהי vayehi is used and it's not צער tza'ar, it's לשון שמחה l'shon simcha. So the גמרא Gemara has a שקלא וטריא shakla v'tarya, the גמרא Gemara has back and forth where the גמרא Gemara tries to conclude, is ויהי vayehi something sad? Is ויהי vayehi something happy? So the אור החיים Or HaChaim goes back and forth in quoting the גמרא Gemara, the different opinions, and what is ויהי vayehi and the evidence in both directions, and the גמרא Gemara seems to conclude that it's צער tza'ar. The אור החיים Or HaChaim tries to defend the different positions, but the אור החיים Or HaChaim ultimately is bothered, you see he has a long comment here. But ultimately he's bothered, where is the לשון צער l'shon tza'ar? Where can you see צער tza'ar? Because in the end of the day, the tradition that we have is that when the word ויהי vayehi is used, there's a negative connotation. Even in the creation of the world. By the way, it's a beautiful association the גמרא Gemara is creating. That's also worthy of interpretation. What is the connection? What does it mean God had as much joy when he observed the completion of the world as the completion of the משכן Mishkan? So it means the משכן Mishkan is a microcosm of the world. It means the משכן Mishkan is a realization of the purpose of the world. The משכן Mishkan is the epicenter of giving meaning and purpose to the world. It's a microcosm of the world. You have the world at large, and then you have a miniature world in which God dwells. A miniature reality. Maybe the world at large is the illusion and the משכן Mishkan is the reality. But this association is worthy of examination, what does it mean that the גמרא Gemara draws this connection that God was as happy when he saw the משכן Mishkan completed, it was the completion of the purpose of the world. In other words, ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר vayehi erev vayehi voker, God saw the physical world, then with the completion of the משכן Mishkan, he saw a spiritual world, a microcosm of what the world is meant to be. But צער tza'ar, the אור החיים Or HaChaim is assuming that ultimately our tradition is that there's negative. So what's the negative? So the אור החיים Or HaChaim says something astounding, that if I would have said it you'd put me in חרם cheirem. The אור החיים Or HaChaim, it's hard to point it out what number paragraph it is. In my אור החיים Or HaChaim, it's the second to the last paragraph within this דיבור המתחיל dibur ha'maschil, within this comment of ויהי ביום השמיני vayehi bayom hashmini, it begins with ואולי נראה עוד v'ulai nireh od. I don't know if you see it, ואולי נראה עוד v'ulai nireh od. ואולי נראה עוד V'ulai nireh od, I'll read it out loud. Says the אור החיים Or HaChaim, Rav Chaim Ben Attar, ואולי נראה עוד כי הצער שיגיד הכתוב הוא של משה V'ulai nireh od, ki ha'tza'ar she'yagid ha'kasuv hu shel Moshe. Whose anguish, whose pain was it? Why would one associate sorrowful language with the fact that this joyous day, they finished the משכן Mishkan, they're about to begin its service? So the אור החיים Or HaChaim says maybe it's Moshe who let out the קרעכץ krechts. כי ראה גדולתו, גדולת זרעו ביד אהרן ובניו Ki ra'ah gedulaso, gedulas zaro b'yad Aaron u'vanav. Because he saw who was going to have the legacy of leading in this place. Moshe felt the aura, the energy, he felt the elevation of being able to lead the service. This was it. Remember there weren't synagogues, there weren't שולן shuls. You didn't have דאווענען davening and קריאת התורה krias ha'Torah and rabbis giving דרשות drashas. This was it. The entire people came to the משכן Mishkan. There was no דאווענען davening. The עבודה avodah, the offering of the sacrifices was the way that we קרבן korban, the root of the word קרבן korban, Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch says is קרוב karov, it's to draw close, the way we drew close to God was the symbolism, the representation of the קרבן korban. Moshe gets seven days of getting to use that new space, to feel its energy, to understand its purpose, to feel its impact, and then he realizes, no, the legacy of those who lead is not him. Who does it belong to? To his brother Aaron. וצערו למען צער הקנאה מדבר טוב ומעשה, מדבר טוב מעשה מאינין בניו של שמעון הצדיק U'tza'aro l'ma'an tza'ar ha'kinah midvar tov u'ma'oseh, midvar tov ma'oseh, me'inyan banav shel Shimon ha'Tzadik. The אור החיים Or HaChaim is quick to point out that maybe this is a good jealousy. We've also spoken about that. Aaron himself suffered from jealousy, בהעלותך את הנרות b'haaloscha es ha'neiros. Aaron's so jealous of the נשיאים nesi'im, the princes offered their sacrifices. God says relax, you get to light the מנורה Menorah for generations to come. His jealousy, Moshe's jealousy. So he says no, sometimes jealousy is good. קנאת סופרים תרבה חכמה Kinas sofrim tarbeh chachmah the גמרא Gemara says. Jealousy amongst scholars promotes more knowledge, scholarship, advancement. So again, think about it. If I would have said this, you'd look at me, that ויהי ביום השמיני vayehi bayom hashmini, Moshe let out a קרעכץ krechts. Seven days he got to play in the new משכן Mishkan. And now it's the eighth day, ויהי ביום השמיני vayehi bayom hashmini, he's got to hand over the keys. Now it's time for Aaron and his brothers. He will never again be able to function, his sons, will never again be able to function as the כהן גדול Cohen Gadol. So he lets out a little קרעכץ krechts, ויהי vayehi, ווי voy. He lets out a little sorrowful groan because he will not have his legacy. ולצד שהכביד בשליחות פרעה, חרה אף בו ביום ההוא U'l'tzad she'hichzir b'shlichus Paroh, cher af bo b'yom hu. Because he rejected or delayed or hesitated to accept God's recruitment to be a messenger to Pharaoh, God was angry, ועזבו מלהיות כהן לעולם v'azvu miheyos Cohen l'olam. And therefore God transferred his merit of being able to be the priest. וכשהגיע יום הפקודה, נצטער על שפרח ממנו אות תפארת כהונת עולם U'k'she'higia yom ha'pkidah, nitzta'er al she'parach mimenu os tafres kehunus olam. So the אור החיים Or HaChaim is giving a second interpretation which is it's not jealousy of his brothers, the קרעכץ krechts was when he reminded himself, you know why I don't get to do this forever? You know why this is I have to hand the keys over? I failed God. I disappointed him. God recruited me, and when I look back with retrospect, I hesitated when I shouldn't have, and therefore I don't have the merit of serving. So it was not a moan about jealousy about his brother, it was not a moan that was an accusation against God, it was a moan in retrospect about his own failure. וגם כי עצם מאוד בצדקתו וענוותו, הכל לב חי מרגיש V'gam ki etzem ma'od b'tzidkoso v'anvaso, ha'kol lev chai margish. Because even though he was righteous and modest, but he felt it. Or a third interpretation of ויהי vayehi the אור החיים Or HaChaim is throwing in is, it was a sad day. This is prospectively. ויהי ביום השמיני Vayehi bayom hashmini, it was the eighth day. God was thrilled, there's a big parade, there's an excitement, there's an inauguration taking place, there's the installation of Aaron and his sons, a big party, but ויהי vayehi. There's a hint that this is going to be a very sad day, marked by the death of נדב ואביהוא Nadav and Avihu, silence of Aaron, and the sudden passing of Aaron's two sons, these כהנים kohanim who were to function in the משכן Mishkan. So this is a very interesting comment. Anytime you have a ויהי vayehi, even if it looks originally it's like שמחה simcha, it ultimately becomes צער tza'ar. Because like with the כהנים Kohanim, the כהנים Kohanim were the sons of Eli and the ones that sold the כהונה kehuna. I mean, yeah, but it's not, I mean again, you got to look at the אור החיים Or HaChaim where he goes through, yeah. He talks about its צער tza'ar to שמחה simcha, שמחה simcha to צער tza'ar, is it one or is it the other, but it seems he's bothered, he gives these answers because in the end of the day, he's bothered that it seems our tradition is that ויהי vayehi is לשון צער l'shon tza'ar. Does anyone address the idea that the פסוק pasuk from only starts giving from שבת Shabbos? ויהי ערב ויהי vayehi erev vayehi, the little bits that come before the ויהי ביום הששי vayehi b'yom hashishi? What do you mean it pops up? We were quoting a פסוק pasuk there, so that פסוק pasuk begins, you have to go back to בראשית Bereishis and say where is the צער tza'ar in that also. In other words, where is the צער tza'ar? Maybe the צער tza'ar is that God created man with a יצר הרע yetzer hara. Maybe the צער tza'ar is that yes, it was the completion, but that day אדם and חוה Adam and Chava were going to sin and change the world forever. You have to go back and interpret where is the צער tza'ar in the ויהי, ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר vayehi, vayehi erev vayehi voker.Here's another interesting fact that nobody's asking. ולזקני ישראל U'l'ziknei Yisrael. Moshe summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders. Now why did he summon the elders? So Rashi says, ולזקני ישראל u'l'ziknei Yisrael, להשמיעם שעל פי הדיבור אהרן נכנס ומשמש בכהונה גדולה ולא יאמרו מאיליו נכנס l'hashmi'em she'al pi ha'dibur Aaron nichnas u'meshamemesh b'kehunah gedolah, v'lo yomru mei'eilav nichnas. He wanted the elders there because he wanted them to witness that God had commanded him to turn the keys over, that God had instructed Moshe, now is the time to install your brother and his sons. And the זקנים zekeinim who represent the authority of the people would be able to witness and testify that this was not Aaron's own decision, this was not Aaron's instigation, but this was the direction and the directive of the Almighty himself. However the שפתי חכמים Sifsei Chachamim is bothered, if you look in the little print. The שפתי חכמים Sifsei Chachamim says, דקשיא לרש\"י, למה קרא זקני ישראל d'kashya l'Rashi, lama kar ziknei Yisrael? Obviously what bothered Rashi was, wasn't it enough for Moshe to call Aaron and his sons? And by the way if you look in a moment, they're going to call בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael. So what do you gain by זקנים zekeinim? He calls Aaron and his sons and he tells Aaron to call בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael. So what are the זקנים zekeinim in there for? אין לומר שרצה לדבר להם שיאמרו לישראל להקריב קרבנות, כי דכתיב אחרי זה ואל בני ישראל תדבר לאמור Eyn lomar she'ratzah l'daber lahem she'yomru l'Yisrael l'hakriv korbanom, ki'd'ksiv acharei zeh v'el Bnei Yisrael tedaber leimor. Because in a moment, in the next פסוק pasuk, two פסוקים psukim from now, Moshe is going to tell Aaron here's what to instruct the people. So the זקנים zekeinim can't be serving the role of relaying the message to the people. אבל להם לא אמר משה מדבר כלום Aval lahem lo amru Moshe m'daber klum. Indeed Moshe wasn't even talking to the זקנים zekeinim. ועל זה פירש להשמיעם B'al zeh peirush l'hashmi'eim. And that's why Rashi interpreted, the purpose was not to relay anything to the זקנים zekeinim, it was the זקנים zekeinim to listen. Even though at the end of צו Tzav, you have Moshe calling the זקנים zekeinim, and Rashi there commented the same thing, that lest you think that this is for my honor or the honor of my brother, so why is he doing it again now? יש לומר דהכא בא להשמיעם שעל פי הדיבור נכנס לשמש אף בכהונה גדולה, שהיא עבודה אחרת מעבודת כהן הדיוט Yesh lomar d'hacha ba l'ashmi'eim she'al pi ha'dibur nichnas l'shamesh af b'kehunah gedolah, she'hi avodah acheres me'avodas kohen hedyot. Because last time they were to testify that the regular כהנים kohanim were at the invitation of God, not the initiation of man, and now they are to testify that the כהן גדול Cohen Gadol himself, that Aaron is beginning to serve not on his own volition, but because God has invited him to do so. However, if you look at the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, he doesn't like it. Look at the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, ולזקני ישראל u'l'ziknei Yisrael. Says the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, לא מצינו שדיבר אל הזקנים כלום lo matzinu she'diber el ha'zkeinim klum. Why is Moshe calling the זקנים zekeinim? We don't find that he talks to them at all. ואם כדברי המפרשים שדיבר לאהרן בפני V'im k'divrei ha'mefarshim she'diber l'Aaron b'fnei... because he wanted them to witness that Aaron didn't come in on his own but at God's invitation, הלא כבר נאמר בפרשת צו, ואת כל העדה הקהל hala k'var ne'emar b'parshas Tzav, v'es kol ha'eidah hakeil. We already saw at the end of צו Tzav that that Moshe had done that. The זקנים zekeinim were present to show that this was not Aaron's initiative. מה יתרון לעשות כן שנית ma yitron l'azos kan sheinis. The same thing that the שפתי חכמים Sifsei Chachamim asked, the כלי יקר Kli Yakar is bothered by. ונראה לומר V'nireh lomar, he says something different. לפי שנאמר ואין קדש ישראל יגוז... וסמכו זקני העדה את ידיהם על ראש הפר L'fi she'ne'emar b'in kadas Yisrael yiguz... v'samchu ziknei ha'eidah es yedeihem al rosh ha'par. כמו כן בקרבנות ציבור אלו שבאו לכפר על מעשה העגל... ככל התורה מפורש בפרשת ויקרא בחטאת הקהל, על כן קרא לזקנים K'mo chein b'korbanos tzibur eilu she'ba'u l'chaper al ma'aseh eigel... ka'kol ha'Torah m'foraresh b'parshas Vayikra b'chatas ha'kal, al kein kara l'zekeinim. When a קרבן ציבור korban tzibur is offered, when a communal sacrifice is offered, the זקנים zekeinim play the role of representing the people and they do סמיכה smicha, they place their hands upon the animal that is to be sacrificed. Before an animal is sacrificed, there's סמיכה smicha. Normally if it's a קרבן יחיד korban yachid, if it's a sacrifice of the individual, the individual for whom the sacrifice is being offered does the סמיכה smicha. By the way, it can be a man, it can be a woman. Women are also do סמיכה smicha, they also rest their hands on the animal. But if it's a קרבן ציבור korban tzibur, if it's a sacrificial, a communal sacrifice, then the זקנים zekeinim represent the people and therefore they place their hands upon it. So the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says, these sacrifice that Aaron is about to bring is a sacrifice for the people because it's going to atone for the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, which we're going to talk more about in a moment. So therefore even though the פסוק, הפסוקים pasuk, the psukim themselves, the Torah never says that the זקנים zekeinim do סמיכה smicha, but it makes sense that if this is a communal sacrifice whose purpose is to atone for the people, מסתמא mistama, the reason that they were invited is to do the סמיכה smicha, to place their hands. ואף על פי שלא נזכר כאן... ואף על פי דכולא חטאת הקהל... קרבן הפר... שני הכא שחטאו בשרע העגל על כן רצה השם שיביאו שרע העגל Vi'af al pi she'lo niskar kan... v'af al pi d'chulo chatas ha'kal... korbanos par... shani hacha she'chatu b'sereh eigel, al kein ratzah Hashem she'yaviu sereh eigel. A different sacrifice than a normal communal sin offering, but it serves the same role, and therefore the כלי יקר Kli Yakar says the reason the זקני ישראל ziknei Yisrael are called is not to once again testify, that we already saw at the end of צו Tzav. The reason they're present is to play the role of סמיכה smicha, to place their hands on this sacrifice. But what it's getting at is the following, and here's what's really underlying this whole opening section of parsha Shmini. It's time to sacrifice. You can imagine, I mean, picture that day. The people all gather, the משכן Mishkan is complete. There's a brand new book by Artscroll on the משכן Mishkan, I don't know if you've seen it, it's beautiful, the diagrams are incredible. It really makes it come alive, everything about it. The משכן Mishkan is complete, it's beautiful, it's built. The כלים keilim, the utensils therein are complete, they're shiny, they're brand new, the gold and the, it's magnificent. Absolutely magnificent. Moshe has been doing the dry run, the rehearsal to make sure that everything is set. And now in the desert. And now you're ready to go. Everyone's ready to take their position. It's opening night on the משכן Mishkan. And Aaron is ready to step up, and Aaron is ready to offer the sacrifice. Now can you imagine what Aaron was thinking and what the people were thinking? If you were the people looking at Aaron, what were you thinking? If you were Aaron, what were you thinking? On the one hand, you're overwhelmed by the significance of the moment. This is something seminal, this is something tremendous. This is something cosmic. You're going to offer sacrifices to God, the Jewish people after everything they've been through, this is the culmination. But on the other hand, you know that why do you have this whole thing? Why is there a משכן Mishkan? Why are there sacrifices? Why does God allow himself to be represented in a tangible fashion? Because of the golden calf. In the back of your mind, if you're Aaron, if you're the people, is this memory that we failed God, and this is just God allowing us to feel connected to him based on our own misgivings and shortcomings and failings and needing, this is our moment of forgiveness. But if you're among the people, you also may be looking at Aaron and thinking, he's going to lead us? This guy that made the calf. He made the calf. He's the man now? He's got the lead role among all the people, two to three million people, and this guy's got the lead role when he's the one who called for us to give our money and offered the calf, and those people are all dead. struck down by plague, and not only is he allowed to live, here he is with the main role? So that's what's underlying this opening narrative, is what's going through Aharon's mind, that he thinks the people think that about him, what's going through the people's mind, what's going through all of their minds about their own shortcomings and the things that led to that day, and that's what's going on. So if you look, If Aharon couldn't do it, then it would be a negative to anybody that ever wanted to do תשובה teshuva. Oh. So George suggests the fact that Aharon can do it is an incredible statement to the people. No matter how far you've fallen, how far you've strayed, you could come back. You could come back. There's an opportunity for repair, for atonement, for repentance. There's an opportunity to get a fresh start. And maybe that's best represented by Aharon, that the very person who offered the חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, the קרבן korban, the עגל הזהב eigel hazahav, is the one who's going to inaugurate the the משכן Mishkan. Yes, sir. Isn't that message contradicted by the fact that נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu get killed and we don't even know what they've done for? The נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu, yeah. The, so that whole message gets contradicted if if if Aharon can do תשובה teshuva and represent the people because he has חטא העגל cheit ha'eigel, we don't even know what the son of Avihu did and they get killed. So it seems to be this kind of, They were not permitted to go in. Um, okay, we'll get to that in a moment. We'll get to that. We'll we'll try hopefully we'll get to that. We'll see. We'll see how much time we have. You think the people were a little nervous and hoping he did it right this time? I mean, you know, they're playing with fire here. Well, let's see, let's let's see, he was, let's see, let's see some of the commentaries. So look at Rashi. He wasn't the one who initiated it from the top on. Look at, he didn't initiate, but he facilitated it. Look at Rashi. קח לך עגל kach lecha eigel, I'm sorry, we didn't read the pasuk. ב' Beis. ויאמר אל אהרן קח לך עגל בן בקר לחטאת ואיל לעולה תמימם והקרב לפני ה' Vayomer el Aharon kach lecha eigel ben bakar l'chatas v'ayil l'olah tmimim v'hakrev lifnei Hashem. So Moshe tells Aharon, take for yourself a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for an עולה olah, for an elevation offering. It should be תמימם tmimim, it should be unblemished. והקרב לפני ה' v'hakrev lifnei Hashem, and offer it before God. ולבני ישראל תדבר לאמר U'livnei Yisrael tedaber leimor, to the people tell, קחו שעיר עזים לחטאת k'chu seir izim l'chatas, you're going to tell the people to take a goat for an offering, ועגל v'eigel and a calf, וכבש v'cheves, a lamb, בני שנה bnei shanah, one year old, תמימם tmimim, unblemished, לעולה l'olah as an elevation. ושור ואיל לשלמים U'shor v'ayil lishlamim, לזבח לפני ה' lizboach lifnei Hashem, and a bull and a ram as a peace offering. ומנחה בלולה בשמן U'mincha blulah vashemen, and a flour offering mixed with oil. כי היום ה' נראה עליכם Ki hayom Hashem nir'ah aleichem, because today God appears before you. And indeed that is what they did. So Rashi tells us on pasuk beis, קח לך עגל להודיע שמכפר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא על ידי עגל זה על מעשה העגל שעשה kach lecha eigel l'hodia shemechaper lo HaKadosh Baruch Hu al yedei eigel zeh al ma'aseh ha'eigel she'asah. We don't find sacrifice, this combination of sacrifices that Aharon is being asked to offer is not found. It's not found. The Ramban actually says that we do only find a similar formula of sacrifices one other day of the year. You know what day it is? יום כיפור Yom Kippur. This combination of animals, this formula of sacrifices is reminiscent of יום כיפור Yom Kippur. So you see right away that rather than this being a purely celebratory installation ceremony or inauguration, there's a a mixed feeling to it. It's also a יום כיפור Yom Kippur. This is a day of atonement. This is a day of repair of the עגל eigel. Because the משכן Mishkan as a whole is given as a repair, and because the עגל eigel in particular, as Rashi says, why is Aharon asked, the first sacrifice that he's asked to bring, not coincidentally is a עגל eigel. Is an עגל eigel. It's an opportunity to repair. An opportunity to repair. Look at pasuk beis in the אור החיים Or HaChaim. ביום אדיקא לחך שאמר ואל בני ישראל קח לך לאמר לי, מובן הוא שהעגל לו B'yom adika l'chach she'amar v'el bnei Yisrael kach lecha leimor li, muvan hu sheha'eigel lo. It says קח לך עגל kach lecha eigel. So it said Moshe says to Aharon and to the זקני ישראל ziknei Yisrael, he tells Aharon, take an עגל eigel and ואל בני ישראל תדבר לאמר v'el bnei Yisrael tedaber leimor, then speak to the people. So you see קח לך kach lecha, when he says קח לך kach lecha, take an עגל eigel before speaking to the people, what do you see? That the עגל eigel is not of the people, but it belongs to him. בדרשו שבא לומר שיקח משלו ולא משל ציבור B'dirsho sheba lomar sheyikach mishelo v'lo mishel tzibur. That Aharon is to take this עגל eigel personally, it's his, not of the people. אוד נראה לומר כי אומרו לך כי זה יהיה לך לאות עולם כי לא עשה הוא בעגל בכוונה חס ושלום וטעות אחרים אלא שבא ידו בלא כוונה בלא מחשבה רעה Od nir'eh lomar ki omro lecha ki zeh yihyeh lecha l'os olam ki lo asah hu ba'eigel b'kavanah chas v'shalom v'ta'ut acherim ela sheba yado b'lo kavanah b'lo machshava ra'ah. ולצד זה יבוא לכפר בעגל מה שאין כן ישראל לצד שמעשיהם בעגל בבחינת המזיד ולא יבוא העגל חטאת להם והוא אדרבא קטיגור U'l'tzad zeh yavo l'chaper ba'eigel ma she'ein kein Yisrael l'tzad she'ma'aseihem ba'eigel b'vchinat hameizid v'lo yavo ha'eigel chatas lahem v'hu adraba kateigor. ותמצא שהקפיד השם על אהרן במה שיכניס לבית השם פנימה ביום הכיפורים בבגדי זהב לצד שעשה עגל זהב V'timtza shehikpid Hashem al Aharon b'mah sheyachnis l'veis Hashem pnimah b'Yom HaKippurim b'vigdei zahav l'tzad she'asah eigel zahav. So you could read it in one of two ways. Aharon needs to bring his own עגל eigel, not that of the people. You can read it one of two ways. Either because he needs to atone for it because of his shortcoming, he led the charge to build an עגל eigel. Or the אור החיים Or HaChaim tries to read it as a merit. The other people had malicious intent in building the עגל eigel. You were just trying to buy some time till Moshe came back. So you could bring an עגל eigel as a sacrifice because you have the, you're entitled to achieve atonement because you really never had כוונה kavanah, you never really had intent to do anything so terrible. But everybody else who had intent to stray from God, אין קטיגור נעשה סניגור ein kateigor na'aseh saneigor. It would be wrong to use the vehicle for through which you sinned as the vehicle through which you atone. אין קטיגור נעשה סניגור ein kateigor na'aseh saneigor. We don't use the prosecuting attorney doesn't become the defense attorney. So we don't use that. So how why would Aharon bring a קרבן עגל korban eigel? To show that for him, this wasn't a terrible indiscretion as it was for the people. That's why he couldn't wear gold when going into the קודש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim. But he couldn't wear gold in the קודש הקדשים Kodesh HaKodashim because the gold was reminiscent of the עגל eigel, correct. Correct. But it's interesting, the next pasuk when the בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael have to bring their חטאת chatas, it's a שעיר עזים seir izim and not the עגל eigel. Because for the people, that's what the אור החיים Or HaChaim is saying. When the people bring their they say שעיר חטאת seir chatas, they don't bring an עגל eigel because the people, אין קטיגור נעשה סניגור ein kateigor na'aseh saneigor, for the people it would be inappropriate. If you look at the comment of the כלי יקר Kli Yakar, what does it mean ולבני ישראל תדבר לאמר קחו שעיר עזים u'livnei Yisrael tedaber leimor k'chu seir izim? Now he turns to the בני ישראל Bnei Yisrael. Why didn't Moshe? Moshe is telling Aharon, you are to turn to the people saying. Well, why didn't Moshe? מה שציוה משה לאהרן שידבר אל ישראל הוא ציוה הוא בעצמו להם Ma shetziva Moshe l'Aharon sheyidaber el Yisrael hu tziva hu b'atzmo lahem. Why did Moshe tell Aharon to speak to the people and not do it directly? לפי שרצה משה להראות לכל ישראל שאהרן נקי מן חטא העגל L'fi sheratzah Moshe l'haros l'chol Yisrael she'Aharon naki min cheit ha'eigel. Because God, Moshe was trying to put Aharon on a pedestal and show them that Aharon is entitled to charge you with bringing this offering, the sin offering, because he himself is free of sin. אם לא כן איך יצוום להם קחו לכם עגל לכפרה והרי יאמרו לו טול קורה Im lo chein eich yetzavem lahem k'chu lachem eigel l'kaparah v'harei yomru lo tol korah. If Aharon was guilty himself, they'd say, who are you to tell us to bring a sin offering? So Moshe specifically told Aharon, positioned Aharon to be the one to instruct the people, to relate to them, to communicate to them that he is free of sin. That he is free of sin. And that's why he didn't do it himself. He instructed, he instructed Aharon to do it. Okay. So it continues. ושור ואיל לשלמים לזבח לפני ה' U'shor v'ayil lishlamim lizboach lifnei Hashem, we read this, the קרבנות korbanos that are to be brought. ויקחו את אשר ציוה משה Vayikchu et asher tziva Moshe, pasuk hei. ויקחו את אשר ציוה משה אל אהל מועד ויקרבו כל העדה ויעמדו לפני ה' Vayikchu et asher tziva Moshe el ohel moed vayikrevu kol ha'eidah vaya'amdu lifnei Hashem. They took everything that Moshe had commanded to the entrance of the אוהל מועד Ohel Moed, and the assembly offered and they stood before God. ויאמר משה זה הדבר אשר ציוה ה' תעשו וירא עליכם כבוד ה' Vayomer Moshe zeh hadavar asher tzivah Hashem ta'asu v'yeira aleichem kvod Hashem. Moshe told them, this is the thing that God has commanded you, and then if you do it, you do your part and God will appear before you. You do your part and God will appear before you. You need to make your effort, you need to bring your קרבן korban, and then וירא עליכם כבוד ה' v'yeira aleichem kvod Hashem, God's countenance will shine upon you. You'll feel his presence. You'll feel his presence. Let me just offer one editorial comment. They're inaugurating the משכן Mishkan. They want to feel elevated. They want to feel great spirituality. They want to feel, Moshe's reminding them, you have to bring your קרבן korban. You have to make your effort and only then will God's spirituality dwell upon you. I can't tell you how often I feel, I I sit on the במה bimah and I look out at a room full of people who come to shul and they kick back in their chair, they say, okay, I'm here. Where's the spirituality? I don't feel elevated. The חזן's chazan's no good, and the talking's no good, and the people no good, and the rabbi's no good, and the דרשה's drasha's no good. I don't feel anything. I'm not elevated. There's no spirituality. I'm not moved. This doesn't do anything for me. Why isn't it all doing something for me? And I feel so frustrated when I look out and I see that room full of people. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. I'm not insulting anyone in particular or our community on a whole. I think it's a general epidemic. That that you have to walk into shul and offer a קרבן korban. You have to make the effort. You have to work hard. No pain, no gain. It's you have to, you have to make your effort. Where's your קרבן korban? Where's your attempt להתקרב l'hitkarev to get close to God, so that כבוד ה' kvod Hashem can be נראה אליכם nir'ah aleichem, so that God's countenance can shine upon you. Of course, the quality of the חזן chazan, and of course the decorum, and of course the sermon, and of course all of that will influence the experience that we have in our משכן מעט Mishkan Ma'at, in our miniature משכן Mishkan. But the opening of this parsha is Moshe is reminding the people, you've got to do your part. You've got to make your effort. Do you close your eyes and try to reflect on the important things in your life? Do you meditate on who God is and a desire to have a relationship with him? Do you love God and feel his love towards you? Do you make an effort to understand the words that you're saying, to say them slowly, to be present in what you're doing? Or is shul a social experience? You come in, you shake a few hands, you make a few greetings. I watch in shul. I won't, I don't want to specify which side of the מחיצה mechitza because I don't want to offend any particular gender, but it's prevalent in one side more than the other, that people come in, whatever time they come in, they first make the rounds. Like they're first, it's a greeting committee and a שלום עליכם shalom aleichem, and how's everybody doing, and I have to say hello to you. It's it's unbelievable. This is the משכן Mishkan. It's the משכן Mishkan. How do you walk in and do, it's the משכן Mishkan. So if you could, how are you going to sit down and open a סידור siddur and start to davening and וירא עליכם כבוד ה' v'yeira aleichem kvod Hashem, when first it was Starbucks. You first treated the place like Starbucks before you treated it like a משכן Mishkan. So, I'm just getting out a little frustration right now. Maybe I should save this for the, now that I have a ten-year contract, I could give this as the sermon tomorrow. But, the bottom line is וירא עליכם כבוד ה' v'yeira aleichem kvod Hashem, if we want to feel the result, if we're coming to shul to have a result, if you're coming to shul for a social event, so hang out in the lobby. Come for the קידוש kiddush. But if you're walking into the sanctuary to feel transformed, to feel a rendezvous with our creator, to feel the presence of the Almighty, to feel uplifted, then we've got to make the effort if it's going to be וירא עליכם כבוד ה' v'yeira aleichem kvod Hashem. Okay, I got that out of my system. Now, ויאמר משה vayomer Moshe, pasuk zayin. Pasuk zayin. ויאמר משה אל אהרן קרב אל המזבח ועשה את חטאתך ואת עולתך וכפר בעדך ובעד העם ועשה את קרבן העם וכפר בעדם כאשר ציוה ה' Vayomer Moshe el Aharon krav el hamizbe'ach va'asei et chatas'cha v'et olas'cha v'chaper ba'adcha u'va'ad ha'am va'asei et korban ha'am v'chaper ba'adam ka'asher tzivah Hashem. Moshe tells Aharon his brother, קרב אל המזבח krav el hamizbe'ach, approach the מזבח mizbe'ach, approach the altar. ועשה את חטאתך v'asei et chatas'cha and bring your sin offering and your elevation offering for you and the one on behalf of the people. ועשה את הקרבן v'asei et hakorban, לכפר בעדם l'chaper ba'adam on their behalf, כאשר ציוה ה' ka'asher tzivah Hashem. Even בעדם, בעדך ובעד העם ba'adam, ba'adcha u'va'ad ha'am is reminiscent of Yom Kippur. Very similar of the language. Think about the עבודה avodah that we read in the מוסף Musaf of יום כיפור Yom Kippur. The same נוסח nusach, on your behalf and on behalf of the people. There's a יום כיפור Yom Kippur quality to this day. It's not, we wouldn't think, imagine you build a new shul and you're celebrating its inauguration. The whole community is invited and the mayor is there and the dignitaries are there. You wouldn't, would you say that day is comparable to יום כיפור Yom Kippur? No, you'd say that day is pure celebration. But here this inauguration day has a יום כיפור Yom Kippur quality to it. But what's troubling is, why does Moshe have to tell Aharon קרב אל המזבח krav el hamizbe'ach? He just told them what to do. This is pasuk is utterly redundant. Moshe just told Aharon, you need to take a eigel, and you need to take this, and you need to tell the people what to take, and you need to offer these sacrifices. And now it's redundant. He tells him, קרב אל המזבח krav el hamizbe'ach. Now, go, go, approach. What's the impression you get? That Aharon was delaying. Aharon hesitated. And in fact, there's a certain beautiful imagery of his brother Moshe, his younger brother, saying to him, give me a little shove in the back and say, you could do it. Go ahead. No, you could do it. Don't delay. Go ahead, you could do it. This is what you need to get done. Why was he delaying? Why did he need the extra encouragement? So Rashi tells us, שהיה אהרן בוש וירא לגשת shehayah Aharon bosh v'yarei lageshes. Aharon was ashamed, he was fearful to approach the מזבח mizbe'ach. So אמר לו משה למה אתה בוש? לכך נבחרת amar lo Moshe lamah ata bosh? l'chach nivcharta. Moshe told Aharon, what are you embarrassed about? This is why you were chosen. God designated you the כהן גדול kohen gadol. Go do what's being asked of you. But we still don't know why was he בוש bosh? Why was he ashamed? Why was he embarrassed? So here you have to see a famous Ramban. The Ramban explains, fills in the gap. על דרך הפשט יאמר קרב אל צפון המזבח ועשה שם חטאת העולה Al derech hapshat yomar krav el tzfon hamizbe'ach v'aseh sham chatas ha'olah. Go to the north of the מזבח mizbe'ach, the north of the altar, and bring your sacrifices, כי הם שחיטתן בצפון ki hem shchitasan b'tzafon. Because a קרבן חטאת korban chatas and an עולה olah are slaughtered north of the altar. ויאמר משה כן בדרך קצרה שכבר ידע אהרן זה Vayomer Moshe kein b'derech k'tzarah shekvar yada Aharon zeh. And Moshe was reminding him, he had already told him this, and now he's just telling him, קרב אל המזבח krav el hamizbe'ach, go. אבל בתורת כהנים דרשו רבותינו בזה ומשל משל למלך בשר ודם שנשא אשה והייתה מתביישת מלפניו. נכנסה אצלה אחותה. אמרה לה אחותה למה נכנסת לדבר זה, לא שתשמשי את המלך Aval b'Toras Kohanim darshu raboseinu b'zeh u'mashal mashal l'melech basar v'dam shenasa ishah v'hayta misbayeshes milfanav. Nichnesa etzla achosah. Amrah lah achosah lamah nichnasas l'davar zeh, lo sheteshameshi es hamelech. So a woman marries a king and she's embarrassed to go serve the king, to be with the king. So her sister comes along and gives her a little nudge in the back and says, go. הגיסי דעתך ובואי שמשי את המלך Hagisi da'atech u'vo'i shamshi es hamelech. כך אמר לו משה לאהרן אהרן אחי למה נבחרת להיות כהן גדול לא שתשמש לפני המקום Kach amar lo Moshe l'Aharon, Aharon achi, lamah nivcharta liyot kohen gadol, lo sheteshamesh lifnei haMakom? In other words, the sister tells her sister, the king chose you because he loves you. He desires you. He thinks you're beautiful. Go be with him. Go be with him. So Moshe is telling his brother Aharon, God chose you because he thinks you're beautiful. לכך נבחרת L'chach nivcharta. This is why you were chosen. He's designated you. This is not a time for humility. הגיסי דעתך ובוא ועבוד עבודתך Hagisi da'atech u'vo va'avod avodatecha. הגס Hagas is like, not arrogance, but don't be humble. Have confidence. I would is confidence. Cuz self-confidence and humility are not opposites. They complement one another. You could be humble and have self-confidence at the same time. That's what I was telling you earlier. Humility is misinterpreted to be a lack of self-confidence. Humility is self-confidence to realize who you are and what you offer and to go do it. Don't underestimate yourself. Right? ויש אומרים היה אהרן רואה את המזבח כתבנית שור V'yesh omrim hayah Aharon ro'eh es hamizbe'ach k'tavnit shor. Aharon saw the מזבח mizbe'ach and he saw the two corners protruding from the altar and it appeared to him like a שור shor. והיה מזדעזע ממנו v'hayah mizdazea mimenu, he was fearful of it. נכנס משה אצלו אמר לו אהרן אחי אל תירא ממה שאתה מזדעזע הגיסי דעתך ובוא קרב אליו Nichnas Moshe etzlo amar lo Aharon achi, al tira mimah she'ata mizdazea, hagisi da'atech u'vo krav elav. וכך אמר קרב אל המזבח ואל יקרב המזבח בזריזות v'chach amar krav el hamizbe'ach v'al yikrav hamizbe'ach bizrizus. Now why? Aharon saw the two corners protruding, reminded him of an animal. He hesitates and Moshe says, go do. It's beautiful imagery, but why? The Ramban says, וטעם דבר זה כי בעבור שהיה אהרן קדוש ה' ואין בנפשו חטא זולתי מעשה העגל v'ta'am davar zeh ki ba'avur shehayah Aharon kadosh Hashem v'ein b'nafsho cheit zulati ma'aseh ha'eigel. Aharon was so righteous that he had no sins aside from, he had never failed God significantly aside from the עגל eigel. So היה חטאו קבוע לו במחשבתו hayah cheito kavua lo b'machshavto. It was permanently impressed in his head. A lot of us, you know, I think this is a powerful lesson here also. We make a mistake whether it's vis-a-vis God or whether it's vis-a-vis people we care about. And we think we went through the motions of asking for forgiveness. So now it's as far away from our memory as anything. We've moved on. It's it's part of the past. You can't move on. On the one hand in a healthy way you have to move on and on the other hand it has to remain, it's like what I spoke about yesterday last last Shabbos, אל תשכח וזכור al tishkach v'zachor. The אל תשכח וזכור al tishkach v'zachor, you have to remember the mistakes of the past if you're going to be sure not to repeat them. If you're going to be transformed through them, if you're going to grow and be elevated through the experience of them. So it was permanently impressed on Aharon's consciousness that he had failed God with the עגל eigel. כניין שנאמר וחטאתי נגדי תמיד kinyan shene'emar v'chatati negdi tamid. Like in Tehillim it says וחטאתי v'chatasi, my sin is נגדי תמיד negdi tamid, it is always opposite me. ודימה כי יורו צורת העגל שמה אקף לכפרתו וכך אמר לו הגס דעתך V'dima ki yoru tzuras ha'eigel shema akef l'kaparaso v'chach amar lo hagas da'atecha. So when Aharon approached the מזבח mizbe'ach, the altar, the two corners protruding looked like a an עגל eigel. she'af ruach kol kach shekvar rotzeh l'akem es ma'asav. So Moshe comforts him and he says, so Aharon looks and he sees an עגל eigel and he says, whoa, I can't bring this sacrifice. This reminds me of, who am I? I'm just not, I'm not the person. I'm not רואי ro'i, I'm not, I'm not, fitting. Fitting to do this. ואכן מפרשים שהיה השטן מעלה לו כן כמו שאמרו שם אהרן אחי אף על פי שנצרא את המקום לך פעמיים ונסעת צרך פיו של שטן שם יסינך בביאתך למקדש V'chein mefarshim shehayah hasatan ma'aleh lo kein k'mo she'amru sham Aharon achi af al pi shenisratza haMakom lecha pa'amayim v'nasecha tzarich piv shel satan shelo yasisecha b'vi'ascha l'Mikdash. Others suggested it was the שטן satan, the satan who was delaying him. So the Ramban is filling in the gap of the psukim. Pasuk just repeats the instruction, you wonder why. Why is he hesitating? Why does Moshe have to give him the nudge? So the Ramban says he gave him a nudge because Aharon sees the corners protruding, he's reminded of the עגל eigel of his own failure, and he hesitates. Moshe pushes him and says לכך נבחרת l'chach nivcharta, this is why God assigned you. You're chosen for this. Go do it. But the כתב סופר Ksav Sofer has a magnificent interpretation. The כתב סופר Ksav Sofer adds another layer. He says something incredible. The the classic understanding of לכך נבחרת l'chach nivcharta means, don't hesitate. God chose you for this, go and do it. Go and do it. But the כתב סופר Ksav Sofer says, no, לכך l'chach. לכך l'chach means not לכך l'chach to be the כהן גדול kohen gadol. לכך l'chach means because you're hesitating. Because you're humble, because you remember your failures of the past, נבחרת nivcharta. That's why you were chosen. I want to give a drasha about this and I quoted there's a a professor Erikson who's written extensive, extensively and done extensive research on the subject of what makes people talented. Is talent innate? Is talent learned? Who are the greatest surgeons? Who are the greatest doctors? And Erikson concludes that the greatest talent comes from learning from your mistakes, awareness of your mistakes. If you gloss over them and if you fail to recognize them, you never grow. And he talks about in his research that the best doctors, the further you are out from medical school, are surgeons. He says most doctors, if you measure them the further they are from medical school, you'd think that they more and more experience that they have, the better they should be, the less incidence of mistakes. But he says you don't see that. With one exceptions, and that is surgeons. Because most doctors, the further they are out, the less they're willing to acknowledge or confront um, or admit their mistakes, or deal with them. But surgeons, the feedback is instantaneous. They have no choice but to confront the mistakes that they make and therefore they learn from them and they're constantly sharpening their skills, in addition to their knives. So, um, so what you see is, so it's it's consistent with this this vort of the כתב סופר Ksav Sofer. It's a beautiful interpretation. He says, למה אתה בוש lamah ata bosh? Why are you hesitating? Why are you embarrassed? לכך L'chach, גופא gufa, עצם etzem the fact that you're hesitating, the fact that you're humble enough to learn from your mistakes, to be aware of your mistakes, נבחרת nivcharta, it's because of that that you were chosen. You understand? It's a different interpretation. לכך נבחרת l'chach nivcharta traditionally is understood to mean, לכך l'chach, to serve as the כהן גדול kohen gadol, נבחרת nivcharta, that's why you were chosen. The כתב סופר Ksav Sofer saying, no לכך l'chach, because you recognize your mistakes and learn from them, unlike most people who would say עגל eigel? I don't remember that. Oh yeah, something, yeah, in the past something, yeah, I don't know about that. We buried that hatchet. Yeah, that's past. But לכך l'chach, because you're aware of and remember your mistakes and seek to constantly learn from them, because you have that quality, נבחרת nivcharta, that's exactly why you were chosen. Beautiful, beautiful interpretation. That's why it's perfect that Moshe, who made the same mistake by hitting the rock, was able to tell him, hey. Right, Moshe who had his own failure. Yes. In the English, in the uh verse seven, at the end it says, an elevation offering to provide atonement for yourself and for the people. But then it says, then perform the service of the people's offering. So maybe it's a message to Aharon that your offering is not just for yourself and for your own uh, תשובה teshuva but for the people as well. So look at the Ibn Ezra, pasuk zayin. The Ibn Ezra on pasuk zayin, we'll end with this even though I had a lot more I wanted to say. It's how I end every class. לכפר בעדך ובעד העם L'chaper ba'adcha u'va'ad ha'am, the pasuk said Aharon has to atone for himself and on behalf of the people. שהיא מצוה שתכפר על נפשך בראש כל הכל Shehi mitzvah shetechaper al nafshecha b'rosh kol hakol. It's a mitzvah to seek atonement. וכבר פירשתי שתכפר בעדך V'kvar peirashti shetechaper ba'adcha, and on the bull of the sin offering, you'll achieve atonement for yourself. ואחר כך תעשה קרבן העם וכפר בעדם V'achar kach ta'aseh korban ha'am v'chaper ba'adam. And then you'll bring the sacrifice for the people. כי לא יוכל אדם לכפר על אחר עד היותו טהור מכל חטא Ki lo yuchal adam l'chaper al acher ad heyoto tahor mikol cheit. This is a beautiful thing the Ibn Ezra says. You have to first do for yourself. You might have thought it should be the opposite. How could he be so self-centered? First he should bring the sacrifice and atone for the people, and then he could focus on himself. Why is it that he first does it for himself and then for the people? So the Ibn Ezra says, a person can't seek atonement for others until he himself is clean. How are you going to stand up there and pretend rebuke people? How are you going to stand up there and try to inspire people when you're still guilty? You need to correct your ways before you can push people and try to have them uh, have them grow. You have to examine yourself before you push people. This is, you see this all the time, by the way. You see this all the time. We have a principle that uh, that כל הפוסל במומו פוסל kol haposel b'mumo posel. When a person is dismissive of another and and highlights a shortcoming in them, usually it's revealing the shortcoming in themselves. You know, you see it all the time. I'll tell you something that was funny, Rabbi Moscowitz and I, there was a pastor who announced in his church, this is remarkable. He forwarded me a Fox News story that this pastor in his church um announced that all the staff of the church need to cancel their Facebook accounts because he had counselled too many people who had met up with a a uh uh long-lost fling and they'd reunited with them and cheated on their spouse, and Facebook is a vehicle for terrible things. And therefore he told the staff, you know what, cancel Facebook, you can't work in this church. And he gave a sermon publicly encouraging everybody to withdraw from Facebook. So I wrote back to Rabbi Moscowitz, he emailed me, I said, I guarantee you, I guarantee you the pastor's having an affair with somebody he met on Facebook. Not not 24 hours later, Fox News runs the story that this pastor is, I don't even want to get into what he was doing. It was that bad. Whatever, really bad stuff. It's like Elliot Spitzer who fought prostitution. And like you can, you see it all the time. So this Ibn Ezra is very important. לא יוכל אדם לכפר על אחר עד היותו טהור מכל חטא Lo yuchal adam l'chaper al acher ad heyoto tahor mikol cheit. Don't fight a cause. Don't rebuke others. Don't make something your cause until you've rid yourself of it. Make sure you're clean before you make it your issue that you're trying to atone for everybody on a public level. So Aharon is instructed, first take care of yourself before you can take care of others. Okay, I wanted to get into the death of of uh נדב ואביהוא Nadav v'Avihu and how Aharon reacts and so on, but I guess we'll have to do that next year. We always have next year.
