In an ostensibly irrelevant pasuk (16:34) regarding the Yom Kippur service, we are told that Aharon ‘did just as HaShem had commanded Moshe.’ Why does the Torah need to tell us this? Rashi points out that this pasuk is singing the praises of Aharon, who did exactly as he was told by Moshe. Moreover, the Ohr Hachaim adds that our pasuk is also praising Moshe for passing over to Aharon the exact instructions that HaShem gave to him. But this all seems a bit funny; why would we have thought that Moshe and Aharon would have diverged from the instructions that HaShem gave them as to how to do the Yom Kippur service; who knows what is spiritually beneficial more than HaShem Himself? Is it really a praise for them to have done what they were expected to do anyway? Perhaps an answer is Moshe might have thought to add more atoning features to the Yom Kippur service, for example more davening or a late-night Torah-learning session. Thus, the Torah sings the praise of Moshe in that he kept rigorously and strictly to what HaShem told him to relay to Aharon. As for Aharon, his praise is that he resisted the temptation to try and get close to HaShem (albeit in an illegal way) by going into the kodesh kodashim any other time during the year, as well as the fact that Aharon performed the Yom Kippur service with total humility; he did not do it with any feeling of his own greatness, but instead did it purely for HaShem’s glory and honour.
On my own
Rav Pinkus used to borrow a pasuk from our sedra (16:17) to answer an age-old Shabbos question. In the pre-Kiddush shalom Aleichem sing-song, we end off by telling the angels to ‘go in peace.’ Now this doesn’t seem to be pleasant etiquette at all - we have just welcomed the angels in and a minute later we are asking them to leave? In certain places in England you’d be shot for such poor manners (joke). Rav Pinkus used to answer via Rav Avigdor Miller’s principle that Shabbos matches the Beis HaMikdash (e.g. they both have special clothes, candles, song, and easy death penalties, amongst other similarities). Now since the highest point of the avodah in the Mikdash is the Yom Kippur ketores service, when ‘no man is to be in the ohel mo’ed when he comes in to atone…’ (16:17) - for HaShem mandates a direct connection between Him and the Kohen Gadol (acting on behalf of Klal Yisrael), so too on Shabbos does HaShem want a direct connection and relationship with us - with no angels in the way. So the angels are asked (politely) to ‘leave in peace’ so that we can ‘live with HaShem’ alone, and experience that direct relationship with Him that is part and parcel of who we really are.
Parashas Acharei/Kedoshim – Animals, Relationships and Relationships with Animals:
Another double header Torah reading this week with Parashas Acharei and Kedoshim. Majority of Parashas Acharei deals with the Yom Kippur service with the Torah taking us through the steps in which we tried to gain repentance on this holy day... from the selection of the offerings to the order in which they were slaughtered and in what way, down to small details such as what the Kohen Gadol was to wear and where each part of the service took place (which as you can imagine, has embedded in it important halachas amongst deep symbolism). We are then given the laws regarding the slaughtering of animals outside of the Tabernacle which flows on to (no pun intended) the prohibition against eating blood and its related laws. Parashas Acharei concludes with a large section on the various forbidden relationships, ending with a reminder of the holiness of the land... which we shall discuss in more detail. The second reading this week, Kedoshim
Do not perform the practices of the land of Egypt in which you dwelled, and do not perform the practices of the land of Canaan to which I bring you, and do not follow their traditions" (Leviticus 18:3).
This is a rather peculiar commandment. Why are we commanded to keep our practices different from only the inhabitants of these two lands? Rashi, explains that these two were the most abominable of all nations. How then does this apply to us nowadays? Canaan and Egypt don't even exist anymore (as they did in the time of the Torah). How can we keep this mitzvah today?
Mesillat Yesharim (The Path of the Just), Rabbi Moshe Chayim Luzzatto quotes the fundamental dictum of our sages that one of the ways to lead a saintly life is by "putting a fence around the Torah". By keeping a fence around
At the beginning of this weeks double parsha, Hashem places a serious restraint on Aarons’ access to the innermost and by definition most spiritually intense, point of the Mishkan. The reason given for this restraining order of sorts is that Hashems’ Presence will reside permanently at this innermost point and it is, therefore, imperative that access to this area be limited[1]. This is however somewhat troubling; the whole purpose of the Mishkan (and Mikdash) was to create a point of fusion between spirituality and physicality thereby allowing G-d’s Presence to be felt in a very tangible way. Aaron had been chosen above everyone else, including his revered brother and teacher Moshe, as the person most suitable to represent the Jewish people and experience the Divine Presence at the centre point of the Mishkan. With this is mind, what rationale can possibly explain G-d limiting Aarons’ access to the Mishkan specifically because His Presence was to be experienced there permanently. This seems totally counter-intuitive?! When the Beis Hamikdash (Temple) was standing there was a mysterious halacha governing peoples’ visits during Festivals; it was forbidden
The Torah says in vayikra 18:14 "My ordinances you shall do, and My statutes you shall observe, to walk with them, I am the Lord, Your God." What does the Torah mean "to walk with them?" The Ksav Sofer, commented that the words "to walk with them" mean that a person needs to continuosly ‘walk’ from one level to the next. A person should constantly keep on growing and elevating himself. It is not enough to keep on the same level that you were on the previous day. Rather, each day should be a climb higher than the day before. When difficult tests come your way, you might not always appreciate them. The only way to keep on elevating yourself is to keep passing more and more difficult life-tests. View every difficulty as a means of elevating yourself by applying the appropriate Torah principles. This is especially important at this time in the jewish calendar where we are counting the omer, the omer is not just a count of days to mattan torah, it is a count to revive our kedusha as a nation and on a
For on this day (Yom Kippur) He will forgive you, to purify you; that you will be purified from all your sins before God (VaYikra 16:30). Why is the purification mentioned twice? On the one hand, "to purify you" implies that God actively does the purifying; whereas "you will be purified" implies that we will purify ourselves! Rabbi Akiva said in Gemara Yoma 85b: Happy are you Israel! Before Whom are you purified? Who purifies you? Your father in Heaven! As the verse says "then I will sprinkle pure water upon you and you shall be purified" (Ezekiel 36:25) and another verse states "The hope (Mikvah) of Israel is God!" (Jeremiah 17:13). Just as a Mikvah (ritual bath) purifies the impure, so God purifies the Jewish People. Why did Rabbi Akiva ask his question twice? And why did he answer his question with two verses that appear to be saying the same thing? Rabbi Yehoshua Heller explains that there are two types of purification process: sprinkling the pure water, whereby the impure person stands still and the purification comes to him; and Mikvah of water, whereby the impure person comes towards the purification. In a similar vein, there are
To sponsor this website or to advertise to the thousands of people that see ShortVort.com every month or hundreds that receive the weekly email contact moishe@shortvort.com
Site Dedication
This website is dedicated to the memories of
Moshe Shlomo ben R'Shmuel | Shlomo ben R'Chaim | Aryeh Leib ben Pinchas Tzvi
