These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly portion: #1299 – Can You Remove Your Yarmulka for a Job Interview? Good Shabbos!
The pasuk in Parshas Chukas says, “Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon at Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom: Aharon shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land that I have given to the Children of Israel…” (Bamidbar 20:23-24). The Torah describes the ceremony of how Aharon HaKohen died on the first of Av, and how his son Elazar took over after him as the Kohen Gadol. The pasuk then says: “When the entire assembly saw that Aharon had perished, they wept for Aharon thirty days, the entire House of Israel.” (Bamidbar 20:29).
Rashi famously points out here that when Aharon died, the pasuk says that he was mourned by “kol Beis Yisrael” – the entire house of Israel. However, when Moshe died, the Torah only mentions that he was mourned by “Beis Yisrael” – the house of Israel, but not by “kol Beis Yisrael.” Rashi explains that Aharon was mourned by both the men and the women because he was a peacemaker who brought shalom between arguing parties and between quarreling husbands and wives.
This is not to say that the women did not mourn the death of Moshe Rabbeinu, but they were particularly saddened by the death of Aharon HaKohen, who was known as an ohev shalom v’rodef shalom, who patched up many troubled marriages. In short, there was a greater outpouring of grief for the loss of Aharon than there was for the loss of Moshe.
Avos D’Rav Nosson (12:3) describes Aharon HaKohen. The Mishna says (both in Avos and in Avos D’Rav Nosson) that Aharon was a lover of peace and a pursuer of peace. Avos D’Rav Nosson says that the pasuk “The teaching of truth was in his mouth, and injustice was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and with fairness and turned many away from iniquity” (Malachi 2:6) is referring to Aharon. Avos D’Rav Nosson then describes Aharon’s peace-making technique: When Aharon would be walking along the road and meet a wicked person, he would give that person a very friendly greeting. The next day, when that person was tempted to do an aveira, the person would stop in his path and say “Woe is me! How can I do such a thing and ever be able to look at Aharon HaKohen straight in the eyes again? I am too embarrassed to disappoint him like that because he treated me as such a friend!” So the person ceased and desisted from doing any further aveiros.
I saw an observation brought down in the name of Rav Avrohom Yitzchok Bloch (Rosh Yeshiva of the Telshe Yeshiva in Europe at the time of its destruction in 1944). As we all know, there are people who, whenever they meet you, they greet you with a big smile and say, “How are you? It is so great to see you. How are things going?” But when the person walks away from you, you feel that the greeting was really just lip service. He didn’t really mean it.
Why didn’t people have that attitude with Aharon HaKohen? Why didn’t people say “He was just putting on an act. He doesn’t really care about me!”? In fact, how was it that Aharon, who was a tzadik, was able to mean it when he greeted all those reshaim with such a warm and friendly disposition?
The answer is that if we reexamine that pasuk in Malachi which describes Aharon HaKohen, we notice that Aharon was not only a lover of peace and a pursuer of peace. The pasuk also notes that “The Torah of truth was in his mouth and iniquity did not pass his lips.” These two phrases: 1) Toras emes hayesa b’feehu (i.e. – he never uttered a falsehood) and 2) avla lo nimtza b’sfasav (i.e. – when he had to give a person mussar, he apparently gave him mussar, but it was never in an angry or annoyed way). Aharon did not give mussar (chastise) with venom or a put-down or scorn. This is a very difficult needle to thread. On the one hand, Toras emes hayesa b’feehu – when Aharon saw you doing something wrong, he was not going to pull his punches. He spoke words of truth. But yet, avla lo nimtza b’sfasav – he never said a cross word!
So, when he gave someone this warm “Shalom aleichem! How are you? It is so good to see you!” people believed his sincerity. He had the reputation of being impeccably honest. His warm greeting and his Shalom aleichem were not fake emotions. As much as he was known for being an ohev shalom v’rodef shalom, he was equally known for speaking only truth and Toras emes. He never faked it or put on an act.
Therefore, someone who met Aharon and was greeted so warmly by him would not turn around and do an aveira tomorrow – simply because he would be too embarrassed to meet Aharon again. That was a very hard tightrope to walk, but Aharon HaKohen was successful in doing it.
Saraf Sensitively Suppresses Sinful Serpent Associations
The middle of Parshas Chukas contains the story of the serpents. The pasuk says that the people complained that there was no bread or water, and that they were sick and tired of eating just mann. As a punishment, Hashem made nechashim (poisonous snakes) attack and bite them, causing many of Bnei Yisrael to die. Of course, at that point the people repented. Hashem told Moshe to construct a saraf (serpent) and post it on a flagpole. In Hebrew, there is a difference between nachash, saraf, and akrav – all of which refer to snakes. Here the mitzvah was to specifically make a saraf, hang it on a high flagpole so that anyone bitten by the snakes could stare at it and be healed.
However, when describing what Moshe actually does, the Torah says that he made a nachash hanechoshes (copper snake) and placed it on a pole. Notice carefully what transpired: The plague involved nechashim. Hashem told Moshe to construct a saraf but Moshe actually constructed a nachash nechoshes! Moshe apparently did not follow the words of Hashem here! What happened? Why did Hashem specify a saraf? And if Hashem told Moshe to make a saraf, why did Moshe make a nachash?
The Rishonim (the Riva, the Rosh, etc.) ask this question. Listen to how Rabbeinu Efraim (one of the Baalei haTosfos and a disciple of Rabbeinu Tam) answers this question, and ponder the lesson we may derive from it:
Moshe Rabbeinu thinks to himself, “We are being attacked by nechashim; Hashem told me to make a saraf. Consider for a minute… When Hashem first appeared to me at the burning bush and He was displeased that I first hesitated to accept His mission, He told me to throw down my staff and turned it into a nachash. Again, when I was supposed to circumcise my child and I didn’t, He sent a nachash to swallow me up! Also, now when the people complained, He sent nechashim.” Moshe reasoned that every time he or the people slipped up, Hashem sends nechashim as a warning/punishment. Therefore, Hashem is now telling me to make a saraf, because had he said make a nachash, I would be frightened that He is coming to remind me of my past aveiros. In other words, Moshe felt that Hashem really wanted him to make a nachash, but He used the word saraf as a type of euphemism for the word nachash, inasmuch as the latter word evoked painful memories for Moshe. He knows that I am sensitive to that word and He doesn’t want to make me feel bad.
On the basis of this assumption, Moshe Rabbeinu changed what Hashem told him and made a nachash rather than a saraf. Why? Because Hashem acts with sensitivity. Hashem would even avoid saying a word which might make someone feel badly. The practical lesson of all this is simple: There is a mitzvas aseh (positive Biblical command) of “Hevi domeh lo” – to emulate the ways of Hashem. If the Ribono shel Olam acts with such sensitivity to human beings, how much more so do we need to act that way to each other.
Transcribed by David Twersky; Jerusalem [email protected]
Edited by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MD [email protected]
This week’s write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissochar Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly Torah portion. A listing of the halachic portions for Parshas Chukas is provided below:
- #018 – Rending Garments on Seeing Yerushalayim
- #063 – Intermarriage
- #107 – Rabbonim and Roshei Yeshiva — Do Sons Inherit?
- #152 – Halachic Considerations of Transplanted Organs
- #199 – Stam Yeinam: Non Kosher Wines
- #245 – Skin Grafts
- #335 – Postponing a Funeral
- #379 – The Jewish “Shabbos Goy”
- #423 – Tefilah of a Tzadik for a Choleh
- #467 – Detached Limbs and Tumah
- #511 – Autopsies and Insurance
- #555 – Women Fasting on 17th of Tamuz, Tisha B’Av and Yom Kippur
- #599 – Blended Whiskey
- #643 – Choshed Bekesherim and Daan L’kaf Z’chus
- #687 – Water, Coffee and Tea
- #731 – Shkia – 7:02: Mincha 7:00 A Problem?
- #775 – Wine At a Shul Kiddush
- #819 – Mayim Geluyim – Uncovered Water – Is There a Problem
- #863 – Shabbos In The Good ‘Ol Summertime
- #907 – Bracha Acharono on Coffee and Ice Cream
- #951 – The Body Works Exhibit
- #994 – Bilam and His Donkey: A Problem with Tzar Ba’alei Chaim?
- #1038 – Flowers At The Cemetery?
- #1082 – Should You Buy An Expensive Esrog Box?
- #1125 – Saying Kaddish For More Than One Person; Lo’aig Le’rash for Women?
- #1167 – “If Hashem Saves Me, I Make A Neder to…….” Good Idea or Not?
- #1210 – Postponing A Funeral Revisited
- #1255 – I keep 72 Minutes, You Keep 45 — Can I Drive Home With You After 45 Minutes?
- #1256 – The Last Day of Sheva Brachos Starting Before Sh’kia, Bentching After Tzais — Are There Sheva Brachos? And other such Shailos.
- #1299 – Can You Remove Your Yarmulka for a Job Interview?
- #1343 – Making a Mi’she’bairach for a Choleh on Shabbos – Is It Permitted?
- #1387 – May A Kohain Attend the Funeral of the Gadol HaDor
- #1431 – Reuven Has Yahrzeit for Father; Shimon Has Yahrzeit for Mother -Who Gets Maftir?
- #1475 – Can You Pay Someone to be a Shomer for a Mais? – Can You Use a Used Matzeiva?
- #1519 – What Does Hashem Prefer: Small Miracles or Big Miracles?
- #1561 – Does the Torah Care About Your Money?
A complete catalogue can be ordered from the Yad Yechiel Institute, PO Box 511, Owings Mills MD 21117-0511. Call (410) 358-0416 or e-mail [email protected] or visit http://www.yadyechiel.org/ for further information.