Close To Torah

In most years the Shabbos after Pesach is Parshas Shemini as it is this year. This is quite fascinating. We spent the Yom Tov of Pesach eating Matzah and fulfilling a Torah mitzvah in every bite according to the Vilna Goan. The Zohar calls Matzah, “bread of healing” and “bread of emunah, faithfulness.” We may wonder just what effect is the Matzah supposed to have upon us?

Dietary Laws

Parshas Shemini talks about the sanctity of the Jewish Nation and how Hashem commands us to only eat things that are kosher. The Torah lists off all of the non-kosher animals which we are forbidden to eat. The animals that are prohibited have negative traits. The pig is the quintessential non-kosher animal and represents Eisav HaRasha, the evil one. The pig has split hooves and pushes them forward to show, “look at me, I’m kosher!” Just as Eisav pretended to be righteous before his father Yitzchok. But on the inside, it does not chew its cud and thus it is not kosher. So too, Eisav did not work on his internal growth and was disconnected from spirituality.

Outward View

The Vilna Goan explains that Eisav represents the last Galus, exile, before Mashiach’s arrival. This exile is one characterized by a focus on physicality and outward appearances. The culture focuses on looking good on the outside regarding dress, outward manners, styles, trends, status and honor, but has no internal focus or morals. Just as the pig has a kosher symbol (split hooves) on the outside, but lacks the required kosher symbol on the inside (rumination). We don’t eat a pig because Hashem told us that it is prohibited. At the same time, we must take the lesson as to what is wrong and undesirable regarding each individual animal.

Food’s Effect

You are what you eat and anything that we consume has an effect on us. This is seen in many ways. In a physical sense, when we eat healthy foods, we receive the best nutrients and are feel most recharged and strong. When we eat junk food, we feel slow and lethargic.

The non-kosher birds are all predators that pounce upon their helpless victims. The Torah shuns this trait and teaches us to stay far away from such an approach. We love our neighbors and strive to help them out and watch their backs. We are the exact opposite from the predator birds.

Elevating Food

Another way in which we elevate our eating is through pronouncing berachos before and after. Additionally, by eating L’Shem Shamayim, with the intent of being strong and healthy so that we can serve Hashem, we turn our meals into spiritual experiences. Just as friendships are formed through eating a meal with others, so too, we connect to Hashem through a hearty meal filled with berachos, words of Torah and gratitude to Our Provider.

Matza

The Matza is a simple piece of dough made of flour and water. It teaches us to be humble and not haughty like the rising yeast. When we eat Matza its message becomes part of us. We remember the importance of focusing on spirituality and on connecting with Hashem. This is the healing power of Matza; this is the message of faithfulness towards Hashem that Matza imparts into us. Just as the foods in Parshas Shemini have an impact on us, so too, we recognize the spiritual growth which we were privy to by going through a Pesach and fulfilling the mitzvah of Matza. We become what we eat and we are elevated through the Matza.

In this week’s Parsha Aharon HaKohen taught an eternal lesson for all generations. After Nadav and Avehu brought their firepans into the Kodesh HaKadoshim, they were punished by death from Hashem. This was supposed to be a most joyous day for Aharon and his wife and it turned into one of tragedy and mourning.

Chazal tell us that really Aharon has many valid things to say at that point. He would not have been blamed for opening his mouth and sharing his questions with Hashem on how such a terrible thing could have happened. Yet at this great moment of pain and confusion, Aharon conjured up the strength to take control and remain silent. “Vayidom Aharon, and Aharon was silent” (Vayikra 10:3). Rashi tells us that Aharon was rewarded for this in that the very next Parsha which contains the laws that outline the Kohen’s prohibition from drinking wine, were taught specifically to Aharon and not in the usual manner in which Moshe was the one who introduced them to Klal Yisrael.

The contrast of Aharon’s mourning and the prohibition of alcohol consumption has always perplexed me. Aharon and his family were then sitting as mourners and the last thing on their mind was alcohol consumption?

I believe that there is a powerful lesson here. The consumption of alcohol greatly impairs one’s ability to think rationally and it also pushes off one’s defences and frees up the tongue. People often become extremely verbal and expressive when they are under the influence, often saying regretful things. Alcohol represents the loss of personal control. The strength and character that Aharon displayed in his acceptance of Hashem’s decree was a most powerful display of deep connection and dedication to Hashem. Aharon’s conscience choice to remain silent and respectful towards Hashem’s actions was a most eloquent lesson and example for his family and Klal Yisrael.

Hashem gave Aharon the floor and asked him to carry on that message and teach the laws of self control for proper respect in the Beis HaMikdash. It was precisely because Aharon illustrated his proficiency and deep rooted expertise in self-control and respect for Hashem, that he was asked to teach it to the entire nation. Aharon taught them how when one stands before Hashem, he is prohibited from consuming beverages that throw off the proper level of respect and sensitivity needed for being in the holy Mikdash. Indeed, it is now understood how Aharon taught so many people to pursue and love peace. Self-control and thoughtful respect are healthy components for developing and nurturing relationships. May we all merit to gain inspiration from Aharon’s lessons.

CONSULTING GEDOLIM

“And on the eighth day, Moshe called Aharon and his children and the elders of Klal Yisroel” (Vayikrah 9:1).

On the eighth day of the inauguration of the Mishkan, the Jewish people are instructed to offer a number of sacrifices. Among the korbanos they brought were a calf and two goats.Chazal explain that the calf was to atone for the transgression of the Golden Calf, and the two goats amended for the sale of Yosef Hatzaddik.

We can understand why, at this auspicious moment, it was crucial to atone for the sin of the Golden Calf. His action caused the Divine Presence to depart from the Jewish people, and in order to bring it back, a sacrifice was definitely needed. But why, together with the calf, was it important to bring a korban for the sale of Yosef?

Yosef Hatzaddik was tried according to din Torah and it was ruled that he was trying to usurp the kingship of Yehudah and was, therefore, liable to the death penalty. However, before carrying out the verdict, the brothers should have taken one more action: they should have consulted with their father, Yaakov, to determine whether their ruling was correct and ascertain that they were not merely acting out of bitter feelings toward their brother.

The same principle is true regarding the transgression of the chet ha’Eigel. Had the Jewish people consulted first with Aharon, they would not have made a Golden Calf. By rushing to act without taking counsel, they were influenced by the Eirev Rav to completely throw off the yoke of Hashem.

Before inaugurating the Mishkan, both of these transgressions needed to be atoned for. The Jewish people had to learn that from now on, their actions should be guided by the wisdom of the gedolei Yisroel, the great Jewish leaders of every generation. For this reason, the Torah stresses that Moshe and Aharon performed these sacrifices together with Ziknei Yisroel, the elders of Klal Yisroel.

ACCORDING TO THE GENERATION

Once, when Nadav and Avihu were walking behind Moshe and Aharon, they commented, “When will these two old men die so that we can take over the leadership of the Jewish people?” Chazal reveal that it was this transgression that was the cause of the death of Aharon’s children (Sanhedrin 54a).

At first glance, the words of the Gemara are shocking. Even the basest and coarsest individuals would not make such a crass comment, let alone the completely righteous children of Aharon Hakohein. What was the deeper meaning behind their statement?

Moshe and Aharon were the humblest individuals that ever lived. Their great humility enabled them to withstand the complaining and misbehavior that the Jewish people engaged in on a regular basis. As long as they were the leaders of the generation, Moshe and Aharon would shoulder the burden of Klal Yisroel‘s actions, and the Jewish people, in turn, could “get away with” continuing to act improperly.

Nadav and Avihu, on the other hand, were disconnected from all worldly matters and had no connection with the intricacies of political management. They just did not possess the personalities to deal with internal strife and the sorting out of national issues on a daily basis as Moshe and Aharon did. Had Nadav and Avihu been the leaders of the Jewish people, they would not have been able to shoulder the misbehavior of Klal Yisroel.

In truth, Nadav and Avihu were not wishing that Moshe and Aharon would die. Rather, they were davening for the day that the Jewish people would act properly. This way, they would no longer need leaders who were willing to deal with all of the difficulties and strife in their interactions. .

Despite their good intentions, their words were not completely free of bias. There was a certain element of self-glorification in their statement, a wish to take over the leadership of the Jewish people. Slight as it was, that hint of tainted intentions was the cause of both of their untimely deaths.

POSITIVE HESITATION

“And Moshe told Aharon to draw close to the mizbeiach…” (Vayikrah 9:7).

Why did Aharon need to be instructed to go close to the mizbeiach? Rashi explains that Aharon was embarrassed to take a leadership role for himself. Therefore, Moshe Rabbeinuhad to encourage him and reassure him that he had been chosen for this position of honor.

One might view Aharon’s hesitation as a show of weakness; in truth, it is just the opposite. One of the signs of a great Jewish leader is the hesitation to take responsibility upon himself, lest he not be worthy of this exalted role.

A young talmid chochom who had been selected to be the rov of a city approached the Chofetz Chaim to take counsel regarding his new position. He understood the level of learning that a rov should really have and felt that he was unworthy to take on such a role. The young man asked the Chofetz Chaim if he should, nonetheless, accept the job.

The Chofetz Chaim replied that his reluctance was proof that he understood the tremendous responsibility involved with being the rov of a city. If an issue came up that was beyond his grasp, he would surely speak to other rabbonim greater than he to help him resolve the question. His hesitation was the strongest proof that he was the right choice for the job.

DOING WHAT’S RIGHT

Although a talmid chochom will tend to resist taking a position of honor, when it comes time to stand up for the truth, he will do so without hesitation. Even during the most difficult periods, he will strive to overcome all physical and emotional barricades in order to do what is right. All other concerns fall to the wayside and he only sees what the Almighty asks of him.

For example, the untimely demise of Nadav and Avihu was a shock to all of Klal Yisroel. Chanukas haMishkan, which was supposed to be a time of great joy, was exchanged for a time of tremendous mourning. Understandably, this threw off the avodah of the other sons of Aharon Hakohen – the brothers of Nadav and Avihu – as well. But when Moshe Rabbeinusaw that Aharon’s sons had not consumed the korbanos that they were permitted to eat even while mourning, he put his humility aside and reprimanded them for their actions (Vayikrah10:17). Moshe Rabbeinu‘s only concern was the truth. He could not stand hesitation when it came to fulfilling the Divine will.

When Aharon told Moshe Rabbeinu that the halacha was not as he thought, Moshe did not try to cover up his error. He immediately admitted his mistake. He was not embarrassed to say that he had not heard this halacha from Hashem (Rashi, Vayikrah 10:20).

DIVINE JUSTICE

“And Aharon was quiet…” (Vayikrah 10:3)

Witnessing the death of children is one of the most painful experiences that a parent could possibly endure. Yet, when Aharon’s two sons died, he did not react to what happened; rather, he responded with complete silence. Chazal praise him for his ability to accept the harsh judgment of Hashem.

Most people cannot stand up to the brunt of middas hadin so staunchly. The shock of bad news will inevitably throw them off and disrupt their Divine service. Only gedolim can follow in Aharon’s ways and accept such circumstances with peace of mind.

During the Holocaust, the Nazis took entire kehillos and slaughtered them. In one such incident, they allowed the rov of the community, Rav Baruch Karmarner, to speak beforehand. He related the following:

The Torah writes, “With my kerovim [close ones] I am sanctified, and in front of all the people achaveid” (Vayikrah 10:3). The simple translation of achaved is, “I am honored.” Deaths of those who are close to Hashem exhibit His attribute of strict justice, as well as how exacting He is with those who are close to Him. However, the word achaveid can also mean difficult.

Based on this alternate translation, we can understand the words of the Torah in a different light: Only those who are close to Hashem can honor their Creator with silent acceptance of His strict justice; for most of the Jewish people, this is extremely hard.

After those words, Rav Baruch Karmarner’s entire kehillah was killed.

Hashem has high expectations of the leaders of the Jewish people. They are meant to live a dual existence, on one hand shying away from honor, yet, at the same time, staying firm and standing up for what is right. Even under the most adverse conditions, they are expected to cast all other considerations aside and focus solely on what Hashem wants from them. Happy is the nation who has been given such great leaders, and may we have the insight to consult them regularly.

ויקחו בני אהרן נדב ואביהוא איש מחתתו… (י:א).

Aharon’s sons.. each took his firepan… (10:1)

The Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 20:8) discusses the tragedy of the death of Aharon’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu. There we find a perplexing comment, “their sin was that they did not ask advice one from another.”

It is clear from Chazal that their sin revolved around them taking the law into their own hands and their decision to serve Hashem according to their own personal agenda and their failure to ask Moshe and Aharon for their perspective. How then can the Midrash state that their sin was in not communicating between each other? More so, each one performed the same “holy act” and thus certainly would have endorsed the others actions as well?! What does the Midrash mean that they should have consulted one another?!

What emerges is a powerful lesson. Sometimes in life we are so caught up in what we are doing that we cannot see our own faults. This is why it is so important to have a friend and mentor whom we can turn to for advice. More so, human nature is that if someone describes something to us, we are able to clearly and truthfully define it as wrong and against the Torah. However, when it is then pointed out that we are doing this exact thing, we have all the justifications and explanations in the world!

Another insight here expresses a different aspect of their sin. If they were both trying to serve Hashem in this special way, why did they not do it together? The answer is that they lacked respect for one another; they had no appreciation for the other’s input.

Perhaps each would have indeed endorsed the other’s act, but there was no unity among them to even allow them to ask! Each one didn’t care what the other had to say.

It is most interesting that this lesson is stressed by Aharon HaKohen’s children. Aharon’s Yahrtziet (1 Av) is the only death date mentioned in all of the Torah. Why is this so? The month of Av signifies the mourning of the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash. The Mikdash was destroyed because of Sinas Chinam, unwarranted hate between the Jews. Aharon’s trait was to pursue peace. Hence, his death date, Av, serves as a powerful reminder of our job to instill peace between us. His sons were punished for not upholding the family trait.

Interestingly, a direct parallel is found by the holy Arizal who died on 5 Av in the year 1572. Before his death, he warned his students that if they did not stop bickering, he would perish. They were lax in this warning and after a heated fight broke out among his disciple’s wives and spread to the men as well, the Arizal announced that because of the lack of unity his fate had just been sealed. He perished immediately after. The Torah, and especially the Kabbalah, can only be acquired through Shalom and Achdus.

Indeed, we are now in the Sefiras HaOmer mourning period. It was in this time period that Rebbe Akiva’s students perished on account that they did not accord proper respect to each other. Rebbe Akiva was the leader of his generation in Torah and the teacher of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai, author of the Zohar. Torah could only be transmitted through love and respect for one another.

It comes as no surprise that the Arizal himself states that one who reads the story of the death of Aharon’s sons when it is read on Yom Kippur and is moved by it, will merit a year of life! One who internalizes the lesson of respect and care for our brethren has earned the privilege to be a link in our chain of Torah transmission.

The Midrash states that the four non-kosher animals singled out in our Parsha represent the Four Kingdoms that subjugate the Jews until the coming of Mashiach. The last, the Chazir, pig, refers to Rome, the final exile. The Midrash explains, “She’machzeres, it returns the crown to Hashem”. The word Chazir, pig, can also mean, “to return”.

It seems very strange to focus on this play on words in the name Chazir? What is the depth?

The Ramchal explains that the more evil and darkness present in the world, the stronger Hashem’s ultimate revelation will be manifest. In other words, when a magician performs, the more death-defying  and scary his setup is, the greater triumph is expressed when he sets himself free at the end. Whereas we are dealing with very deep concepts here, I believe that this answers my question.

Rome is the darkest exile. In a world where perversion and denial of Hashem permeates our lives, this is precisely where Mashiach will reveal most powerfully the truth of Hashem. This is how Rome ultimately serves to fulfill its name precisely- “Chazir”- it returns all of the grandeur of Hashem!

In this weeks parsha Aharon Ha’kohen loses his two sons Nadav and Avihu due to the fact that they brought an Eish Zara in the Mishkan. They became intoxicated thinking that they would be able to reach higher spiritual levels in their Avoda. The only problem is that they weren’t commanded to so by Hashem so even though they had good intentions they were still punished for taking such initiative. After learning of the death of his two children he began to weep. Moshe however explained to him that this is the will of Hashem. Thereupon the Torah tells us V’yidom Aharon, he was silent. He accepted the decree of Hashem even though he was so personally involved and affected. The Siforno explains that he found comfort in the knowledge that they sanctified the name of Hashem. Rashi tells us that in the merit of him being silent, he was rewarded that the Parsha of Yayin was addressed exclusively to him alone.

We find here a very important foundation in Judaism. We are supposed to follow the Torah the way the Torah wants us to. It is not upon us to interpret “how happy Hashem would be with us” by doing something that we weren’t commanded to do. We also see that with the acceptance of Hashems will and the following of the Torah without any questions, even though it might be extremely difficult then the reward is great. We are able to achieve a special closeness with Hashem through the Torah that he gave us. This closeness is unfathomable, but can only be achieved with the Torah that we have, not with the one we make up ourselves.

 וזה לכם הטמא בשרץ השורץ על הארץ… (יא:כט).

“These creeping creatures are prohibited…” (11:29).

The Torah discusses the permitted and prohibited animals for human consumption. After this comes a list of the eight creeping creatures which convey tumah, ritual impurity, to one who touches them. The astounding question is that the one animal which represents impurity and would be expected to be on this list, is absent! The snake represents the root of all sin and perversion as his forbearer, the first serpent, caused Adam and Chava to sin, yet he is not on the list? Why is this so?

Rabbeinu Bechayah is perplexed by this question. He proposes the following answer which represents the beauty and goal of Torah living! The way of the Torah is defined as, “all its paths are pleasant and harmonious” (Mishley 3:17). Hashem did not declare one tamey for touching a snake for this could cause a hazard to human life. If it were to confer tumah upon touch this might deter someone from immediately killing a snake found in his proximity for fear of becoming tamey when touching it. Thus, any potentially dangerous animal was omitted from the list of those that are impure as a precaution to not cause any Jew to ever get hurt because of it. All eight creatures listed are harmless to humans. The Torah is kind and sensitive to man’s mentality and does not want to place his health in jeopardy for even the smallest fraction of time.

Rabbi Paysach Krohn recounts the story of a beloved and dedicated educator named Rabbi Binyomin Liftin who told over the reason that he dedicated his life to learning and teaching Torah.

As a young student, he set out to study under the great Rabbi Shimon Shkop. He feared the well known difficult entrance-exam required to join the prestigious Yeshiva. He spent an entire day riding the train to Grodna, preparing diligently the entire ride and finally arriving at the Yeshiva, feeling apprehensive, hungry and exhausted.

Not wasting any time, he immediately presented himself before the great Rosh HaYeshiva. It was then that he had the conversation that changed his life. Reb Shimon saw how long of a day it had been for him. He smiled at him and said, “I have only two questions for you… Did you eat yet? Do you have a place to sleep?” When Binyomin answered in the negative, Reb Shimon said, “then let’s get that taken care of immediately! We will speak in the morning when you are well rested! “Wow,” Binyomin thought, ever impressed with the care and concern he so strongly felt, “if this is what Torah stands for, then this is what I want to connect with!”

Reb Shimon’s two questions on that fateful day became the answer to the rest of his life!

The way of the Torah is the most pleasant and sweet. Praiseworthy and fortunate is one who has a part in it!