In this week’s Parsha we learn of many exciting moments at the inauguration of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, in the desert. It begins with the laws of lighting the menorah in the Mishkan, and later in the Beit Hamikdash. Keep in mind that this mitzvah sets up another one much later in history, the mitzvah of Chanukah. The parsha then discusses the purification process of the Leviim allowing them to serve in the Mishkan.
There is an interesting comment by our Sages on a phrase that frequently repeats itself in this week’s parsha. Yet, in this week’s parsha the phrase or one similar to it appears plenty of times. After reviewing the laws of lighting the menorah in the Beit Hamikdash, the Torah states, “And Aharon did so.” Our Sages comment that this was stated to tell us that Aharon did not deviate from anything that Hashem commanded. We are told the same description regarding the inauguration process of the Leviim. After the Torah describes the service, our Sages comment that the Leviim did not stray from one command. Although we often see this comment, in our parsha we find it specifically in relation to Aharon. When Moshe was named the leader of the Jewish people – thereby replacing Aharon – Our Sages relate how Aharon went out and met Moshe with joy and not jealousy. When Aharon’s sons offer up a strange service and die by God’s hand, our Sages point out that the Torah specified that Aharon accepted the sentence and did not cry out in protest.
Why does the Torah stress specifically Aharon’s devotion and following of the mitzvoth? To answer this question let us state a rule in analysis of the Torah. When a point is stressed, it is done so to preempt an opposite idea. It would seem that Aharon’s devotion is stressed because we might have thought that his devotion was lacking. Why would we have thought that Aharon’s commitment was to be questioned? Aharon made one mistake in life, and that was the sin of the golden calf. His good intentions did not end up as he had hoped and the people thought that with his permission they could worship an idol. If one would analyze Aharon’s actions, they could come to the conclusion that Aharon had a tendency towards avodah zara, that his sin was not completely unintentional. The Torah wants us to understand that this is not true. Aharon slipped once, and it was a limited mistake. Except for that one episode, Aharon was the ideal Jew.
There are times where someone we know makes a mistake. They wrong us. It could even have been intentional. It hurts us; it upsets us, and even angers us. The person then asks for forgiveness. We know the proper thing to do is to forgive. It is in our nature to forgive, we are forbidden from holding grudges. Yet, it is difficult to look over, the wrong perpetrated against us. Every time we see that person we relive the hurt and the anger. We might even tell the person that we forgive him, but deep down, we are still bearing that grudge. This week’s parsha tells us to let it go and forgive. We must overlook the insults, the difficult moments in our relationships and understand that although people make mistakes and that they have faults, they are overall good people and deserve our forgiveness.
In the Torah portion of Beha’alotcha there appears a phenomenon that is found in no other place in the entire Tanach – two sentences are bracketed by two backwards facing Hebrew letters, nuns, as a way to set them apart from the rest of the text. “And when the ark would journey, Moses said: ‘Arise God and let your enemies be scattered, and let those that hate You flee from before You.’ And when it [the ark] rested he would say: ‘Rest peacefully God among the myriad thousands of Israel” (Numbers 10:35-36). The first sentence is recited in synagogues around the world when the ark is opened and the Torah removed for public readings, and the second sentence is recited when the Torah is placed once again in the ark.
Rashi, quoting the Talmud, (Shabbat 115b-116a) explains that these two sentences are set apart due to the fact that they are not in their natural chronological place. Rabbi Avraham Arieh Trugman comments: ‘This alone would not seem sufficient reason as Rashi tells us many times that various events recorded in the Torah are not in a sequential order. What then, according to the Talmud, is the reason that they appear here? Rashi informs us: in order to separate between a series of sins which occurred in the desert. The Talmud continues by stating that these two sentences actually are considered an entirely separate book! In this manner the five books of Moses are actually seven, as this two sentence book actually divides the book of Numbers into three books.
As with all verses, mitzvot and stories in the Torah, there are multilevels of understanding, especially when there is a one time phenomenon such as inverted letters that create a separate book of just two sentences.
The Slonimer Rebbe quotes a Torah from the Maggid of Koznitch who suggests that the ark represents a Torah scholar who is compared to an ark containing the Torah. The Torah has been so integrated into his being that he is like a “walking Torah scroll.” The word for “journey” in our verse shares the same root as the word for “test.” Therefore, anytime the ark, in this case a Torah scholar, journeys, it is inevitable that he will face challenges and tests. The Slonimer explains that this idea really applies to every person who wants to journey from one spiritual level to a higher, more refined level of consciousness, which is the ultimate goal of Torah and mitzvot.’
Devorah Abenhaim
