Behaaloscha - Start Anew

You're listening to the weekly parsha podcast with Ari Goldwag, recorded with the help of my running assistant in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel, 5779, 2019. This week's parsha in Chutz L'Aretz is Beha'alotecha. I'd like to share with you reading inside a beautiful midrash that many of you may know, but I'd like to share with you some new insights perhaps into what the midrash says and why the midrash says it. Beginning of our parsha Beha'alotecha Taneris, Hashem gives a command to Aaron HaCohen, to Aaron the priest, light the menorah, light the special candles in the temple. And as is the way of the midrash, and Rashi points out often, there's a reason why the Torah places certain parshios next to each other. There's a an order in the Torah, it's not necessarily a chronological order, but certain pieces are put next to each other and there's often a lesson to learn from it. Midrash says, "Mach shiv l'ma'ala min ha'inyan?" What does it say above? What does it say previous to the concept of Beha'alotecha Taneris, the command to light the candles? She'ne'emar "Vayehi b'yom kalos Moshe vayeikrevu nesi'ei Yisrael." The verse tells us in the previous in the previous parsha, chapter 7, verses 1 and 2, that it was when Moshe Rabbeinu finished, so the I mean, he's finished setting up the Mishkan, the tabernacle, so the Nesi'im, they arrived, they came, and they wanted to give, bring their sacrifices, and we had the whole list of their sacrifices. 12 different days, 12 consecutive days. Va'achar kach, "Daber el Aharon Beha'alotecha et ha'neirot." And then immediately following the korbanos of the Nesi'im, of the princes of each tribe, the Torah tells us that God gave the command to to Aaron HaCohen to light the candles. "Zeh sh'amar Hakadosh Baruch Hu." Says the midrash, this is what the verse means when it says, "You as Hashem Kedoshim ki im Anochi Hashem Eloheichem." That a person who is holy fears God, a person such a person those who fear Hashem they don't miss out on anything. What's the idea here as follows? We find above a Makrivu. We have 11 shvatim we have 11 tribes bringing Korbanos bringing sacrifices and we find that Yosef his tribe was split into two Manasseh and Ephraim. Okay, so every other shave it every other tribe besides for Levi had an opportunity to bring a Korban. Okay. Every single one of the princes brought except for the prince prince of the Levites. We find who was the prince of the Levites is that Aaron it's Aaron the priest the verse says in Bamidbar in numbers 17:18 and Aaron the tribe of Levi each of the different tribes had a different staff the name of Aaron was placed on the staff of of Levi. So Aaron's like hey what's going on Aaron like he didn't have an opportunity to bring a Korban with all of the other CM. Okay, so let's just point something out here immediately and note that while it's true that all the other CM all the other princes had an opportunity to bring a sacrifice. The Levites did have an opportunity to serve in the Mishkan of course they would serve in the Mishkan every single day we spoke about last week we spoke about the week before they had opportunities all the time to serve. They were the ones that were involved in the singing in the Mishkan they were the involved in the carrying the pieces of the Mishkan when it when it would travel. So we need to understand what does it mean that Aaron felt like he was missing out. He didn't get a chance to bring that Korban with of the Nesi'im. There will be a many other opportunities to serve. So, we need to understand that point. Okay? But, the Medrash nevertheless says the Aharon of the Nesi'im didn't get a chance to bring in the inauguration. Right? The way I only He said, "Woe is me." Woe is me. He said, "Maybe it's my fault. Maybe I did something wrong." Which was actually a reference as some say it's a reference to the fact that he was involved in causing the Jewish people to do the eigel. Excuse me. Right? So, maybe I did something wrong and therefore Hashem doesn't want to even receive not just me, but even the entire tribe of Levi. God says to Moses, "Tell Aaron, don't be worried." Don't be worried. The reason that you didn't have an opportunity in the inauguration is not because you messed up. We've already forgiven that sin. The eigel has already been forgiven. Right? Moshe Rabbeinu came down already on Yom Kippur with with the atonement for the Jewish people. All right? So, so what's what's the idea here? There's something greater I have something I have something in store for Aaron that is greater. What is that? Aaron will have the lights of the menorah. Therefore, it says, "Speak to Aaron and tell him you're going to to raise up or bring up the fire, the flames, the menorah." Okay? So, he's going to have something even greater than than than they did. And that was the the menorah. So, somehow we need to understand what's the concept here. So, somehow the menorah is greater than the inaugural sacrifices that the other Nesi'im brought. Why? So, the measure says They're inaugurating the carbonas. They're inaugurating the sacrifices. Those sacrifices will continue as long as we have a base of English, as long as we have a temple, as long as we have a tabernacle. While the narrows But the but the narrows, the candles they will they will be lit forever. They will be lit all the time even when there's no temple. That's what it sounds like. Doesn't say that explicitly. Doesn't say the words even when there's no temple. But it sounds like somehow the menorah will continue to be lit. Which of course needs an explanation. And the measure should add something which you might not have heard. I don't remember hearing this. There's another parsha. We have a smichus of a parsha of lighting the menorah to the parsha of the nasiim which is before and we also have right immediately following we have another parsha which is Kois of which Hashem says, "Give this blessing to the Jewish people of which I will bless them through you." The special special blessing of the priests that they they give they give them they still to this day. You walk into any shul in chutz l'aretz on on yom tov, you walk into any shul in Israel any day the priests still give that priestly blessing. What is the idea? We see here that since these parshas were placed next to each other there's there's a teaching here. As the measure just saying that somehow because they're giving that blessing and that's something that's going to be done even when there is no temple and somehow there's going to be candles that are going to be lit even when there is no temple which we need to understand what that means. That's going to somehow take away Aaron and Kohanim's sadness for not being part of the dedication the inauguration of the temple that the the Nesi'im had an opportunity to do. So, what is the idea here and how does it relate specifically to Levi, to the tribe of the Levites, to the Kohanim, to the priests? And how does it relate to us? What can we learn from this as well? So, many of them are fortunate here quote the Ramban. The Ramban says an amazing thing. He says that what what was it? There was a Hanukkah that was going on here. There was an inauguration that he missed out on. He missed out on the inauguration. What is the idea of an inauguration? We need to understand that. We're going to get to that shortly. But, he says there's another inauguration that occurs that Hashem was reassuring Aaron about. You missed out on the inauguration, which is a sad thing. You missed out on what the Nesi'im did. You missed out on that inaugural sacrifice that was brought. But, there's another inauguration that you are inaugurating now, which is going to be inaugurated again in the times of the Second Temple, says the Ramban. The inauguration is that the the Kohanim are going to come, the Hasmoneans. They're going to come, the Maccabees are going to come and they're going to reinaugurate the temple after terrible things have gone on with the Greeks, etc. They're going to have an amazing miraculous victory over those Greeks. They're going to come back and rededicate the temple, dedicate the menorah, and thereby bring about a tremendous Kiddush Hashem, of course, a tremendous sanctification of God's name, but a miracle will occur which will be commemorated for all times, even when there is no temple, with the lighting of the menorah on Hanukkah. So, Hashem was reassuring Aaron the Kohen there's going to be another inauguration of the temple that's going to inaugurate another mitzvah which is going to continue even when the mitzvah when the Beit I'm sorry, the Beit Hamikdash, the temple and tabernacle are no longer existing. Okay? So, that's the first thing. That's the first point that he's being reassured, which is very interesting. It's not the pashut shat in the mid- Doesn't say that in the midrash, but the Ramban explains that and it's clear that has to be something that lasts forever. So, that's the first point. Now, the second point, which is the blessings, we need to understand what exactly is the idea that the blessings last forever or said in a different way, how does it relate really? How do the fact that the Kohanim give this blessing to the Jewish people, how does that relate to the to the menorah, the lighting of the menorah? What is the idea of the blessings? It's a very interesting point. I'd like to read to you from the Imrei Yosher. He says something as follows, which also needs explanation. He says an amazing connection between the menorah and the blessings. The blessings I gave you to give to the Jewish people, they will never be bottle forever. So, he says like this, they will never be nullified forever. They could law me I you Shiva Sanhedrin. They may die from the fact that it says that the seven candles will light. We find that there are seven aspects or seven concepts of blessings within the priestly blessings. The whole pasuk I'm sorry, base the whole pasuk. Each verse has two. That's two. Hashem will bless you and Hashem will protect you. Should shine his face upon you and show you kindness. Should turn towards you and give you peace. That's six. And then you have the seventh. What's she is? Hashem says, I will bless them. When you bless them, I will bless them. So, that's the seventh aspect, okay? So, we need to understand why is that and what does that mean it's the seventh aspect? What do you mean we have six and the verses themselves are six blessings and God says, I will bless them. What does that mean that that that God's blessing which he brings through the Kohanim is a seventh blessing. What is that idea? How does that relate to the menorah as well? We know that there are seven We have this We have the six uh branches on either side, and we have the seventh in the middle. They all turn towards the middle. It represents the six days of the week and Shabbos. Shabbos is the source of all blessings. What is the idea here? How are we to understand this? What is the concept? And I'd like to I'd like to point out what is the concept of the inauguration. What What is What is Aaron missing? So, we we The first question that we asked initially was that we said that Aaron the Kohen, you know, what's the big deal? What does he care? The Nasi, okay, they're getting to do something. But Aaron has Aaron has is is a Levite. He's a Kohen. He's a priest. So, his tribe is going to get something for the entire for the entire length of the time that we have a Tabernacle. The time that we have a Mishkan. The time that we have a Beis Hamikdash. We're turning again when the when the when Mashiach comes, when Messiah arrives. We again will have the sacrifices. We'll again We'll We'll have the menorah. We'll light the menorah. So, what what does he feel is missing that he doesn't have that they have? What He's got it all. He's got it all. So, that was the question. And the answer clearly is something amazing. It's just amazing. It's beautiful. And it's something so powerful that there's something special about bringing a sacrifice at the inauguration. There's something special about being the one to start things. What does it mean that a Nasi of each tribe comes and brings the the initial sacrifice? It means that every single one of the tribes has somebody who represents them. And that person on their behalf inaugurates the service. Inaugurates the relationship with Hashem, which is represented by the Tabernacle. So, each and every one of them has an opportunity to inaugurate, to be the first thought. Right? Think about Think about when a when a couple when a man and a woman come together and they create a child. So, obviously the woman does all the work. She's That's where all of the the the the child develops within her. The fetus develops within her. But there's that first inspiration. The first inspiration. Somebody composes a song. They may not be the one who actually sings the song, but but they're the one who had that first thought, who had the initial idea. And they get credit for that even though someone else may have made that song famous, right? That's the idea. The inauguration is that first thought. It may be It may develop further and further later, but whoever does it first is called in their name. It's Ev- everything else is just a continuation from them. Right? So, that's the power of inaugurating something, inaugurating the Mishkan, something spiritual, starting a Yeshiva, starting uh any kind of organization that involves chesed, doing mitzvahs, being the first ones to to start a town in Eretz Yisrael. All these things are inaugurations. When When we have a house and we buy a house we purchase a house is an idea of chanukas habayis. An idea of inaugurating the home. Now we're going to use this home. This is a place for us to accomplish in our relationship with Hashem, with our relationship with each other, with our relationship with ourselves. This is the place. This is the opportunity. Excuse me. So, that's the idea of an inauguration. Every Hakol holech acher hashchala. Everything goes based on how you start it. If something is started with a with excitement, if something is started with joy, if something is started with the right intents, people get married. Ev- everyone's so happy. Who knows what's going to happen? No, this is an incredible joy. This is a new beginning. When there's a new beginning, that joy is how it starts. It infuses everything that's going to be after it. Right? So Aaron says they had the opportunity. They had the opportunity to start it right. Maybe I started things wrong. I wish I would have been supposed to come down with the I was supposed to come down with the beginning of the relationship with with the Torah. Supposed to come down with that. And what happened? They were supposed to be ready to receive that. They were like they were standing under the or they were under the wedding canopy with God. And then what happens? They build the goal. I don't know what kind of I messed up the beginning. I ruined the start of things. I ruined the whole beginning. Maybe because I ruined the inauguration of the Jewish people's relationship with them. Maybe now I lose out and my tribe loses out. Yeah, we might be part of the service of God. Who says that? But we're not part of the beginning of it. Maybe we lost out in the initial surge of inspiration that exists at the beginning. This says no, don't think that. Don't think that at all. You have been a tone for. We've already a tone for the sin. The goal is forgiven. Who's coming to be she's coming to bring down his divine presence into the Jewish people. That sin is over. Don't worry. The inauguration This is a new inauguration. There's a new opportunity here for inauguration. And don't think that that you lost it. Not only that, but there's going to be another opportunity for inauguration. It's going to be in the future time when things seem very bleak. Then the Jewish people are very far from God in the times of the Greeks. There's going to be a new opportunity for inauguration. And it's an amazing thing I think that's going on here. Very deep and beautiful thing. Aaron is the one who who messed up so to speak. Aaron is the one who led the Jewish people. Perhaps it was done in the right you know, to prevent them from if they would have killed him it would have been a terrible much greater sin. Right? He was if he would have tried to them. So, he did the lesser evil. But, he sinned nevertheless. The Jewish people sinned with the hate ego. Maybe once you mess things up, you can never start again. Maybe if things are when you mess up, you're lost. No, who says to him, you mess up and you can reinaugurate. You can start again. And there's going to be a time when the Greeks are going to decimate, cause a spiritual decimation to the Jewish people. And it's going to be time for a to start over and people are going to say, how can we ever start again? We're too small. There's not enough people that are on our side. You're going to have great grandchildren that names going to be the Hasmonaeans and you're going to and you're going to be able to start again. All right, that's the message here. That's one of the messages here. And there's a little flame in the middle. This is part of it. This is part of the idea. There's a little flame in the middle which miraculously never goes out. And from that flame all the other ones are lit. There's always there are going to be the Kohanim who are going to come back. Hashem said, "Mi Lashem Elai." When there was a ego, there was a sin of the golden calf. The the the Levites were at the forefront standing up to come back to Hashem and reinspiring the Jewish people. Aaron, you have that power. You will reinspire the Jewish people. Your great great grandchildren will also reinspire after a time of great sin, after a time of great assimilation. Your great grandchildren will reinspire the Jewish people. Cuz they have that little light which is in the middle. Which comes out and lights up all the ones around it. And there's a blessing. There's a blessing which I give. The blessing comes from me on the central on the central branch, so to speak, God says. The blessing comes from me, but it comes through you. And it goes out in six different directions. In six, you know, we have six different directions. We have forward, back, right, left, up and down. Right? We have the six different directions. That blessing is going to go out in all the directions. It's going to come from the center, from the center direction, from the center point, which is Hakadosh Baruch Hu, through you, through the Kohanim. You have the ability to give that blessing out from the center and light up everything around you. That's the unique ability of a Kohen, of a priest. That's the unique ability of someone who's about teshuvah, someone who realizes they've done wrong. Aaron the Kohen realizes he's done wrong. He can create a new beginning, a new inauguration. And that new inauguration will carry through. It's something that never never gets lost. The Nesi'im made the inauguration. Yes, it's true. They made that initial inauguration of the Temple, of the Tabernacle. And that lasted as long as it could last. But the the inauguration of Aaron the Kohen was a different type of inauguration, cuz it came after a fall and ri- and a rising again. And so, each and every one of us has an opportunity. Really, there are many opportunities to inaugurate things. But what if we inaugurate today a new day, a new week, with something that we've we've we've fallen in the past? And we say, "I'm going to start anew. I'm going to start a new chapter in my life. This is going to be a new beginning, a real new beginning, a real change in my life that's going to have an effect on the generations after me. It's going to have a an effect not only on my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, but even a thousand generations down the line. It's going to be something that will give an opportunity when I make a new beginning, when I am that middle flame, so it has the effect of of spreading out to all the other flames. When I'm the one who brings blessing into the world, which is done through teshuvah, through my simple time, and through repentance, and through good deeds. When I'm that one who's that the one bringing the blessings into the world, it affects everybody around me. So, it's an incredible lesson. I I to bless you and ask you to bless me. Hashem should help us. That we should be zechut, we should merit to be able to recognize that sometimes we may have done wrong. Sometimes it seems we've lost an opportunity to inaugurate because of our sin. Let us recognize that and may Hashem help us recognize that no, the very thing that we've done wrong is an opportunity now to start anew, to start again, to to begin a new inauguration of thing the way that things should be. And by doing so, may Hashem help us to inspire ourselves, inspire all those around us, and bring those blessings into to every person that we meet. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful Shabbos. This podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.arigoldwag.com or search on iTunes Ari Goldwag.