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This Parasha-Page was dedicated in memory of Yechiel Tovia ben Menachem Manis, who passed away on the 24th of Tevet

Shmot 5755

THE LOT OF THE ZEALOT

Hashem said to Moshe, "Go, now, and I will be with your mouth and I will instruct you what to say." But [Moshe] said, "Please, my L-rd, send your mission through someone else." Hashem became angry with Moshe, and He said, "Is not your brother Aharon the Levi? I know that *he* knows how to speak. He is now coming out to greet you, and he will see you and rejoice in his heart."
(Shmot 4:12-14)
"Aharon your brother the Levi" -- He was originally supposed to be a mere Levi, while the priesthood was supposed to have come from you. Now, however,(because of your insistence on rejecting My call) this will no longer be the case; rather, he will be the Kohen, and you will be the mere Levi, as it says, "And as for Moshe, the man of G-d, his children are counted with the tribe of Levi." "And he will see you and rejoice in his heart." -- It is not as you think, that he will mind that you are attaining a high position." Because of this goodness of heart that Aharon displayed, he was awarded the privilege of wearing the breastplate, which was worn over the heart.
(Rashi, 4:14)
Moshe lost the privilege of being the progenitor of the priestly class because of his excessive refusals of Hashem's requests to carry out His mission. On the other hand, Aharon merited just this position through his trait of goodness of heart and his ability to rejoice in the ascendancy of his younger brother. Are these two traits of Moshe and Aharon related? What exactly is the character attribute that is considered crucial to becoming the founder of the institution of Kehunna (the priesthood), and how was that trait shown lacking in Moshe and present in Aharon?

II

Rav Yakov Kaminetzky, Zatzal, points out in his book Emet LeYakov (B'reishit 34:17, 47:4, 49:7) that it perhaps was not coincidental that Levi became the progenitor of the tribe designated to be the spiritual leaders of the entire Jewish nation. It was Levi who exhibited a fiery zealousness in his reaction to Shechem's abduction of his sister Dinah ("Shall he treat our sister like a harlot?"). He risked his life attacking the city of Shechem in order to avenge what he perceived as a Chillul Hashem (desecration of the sanctity of G-d's Name). This is the quality that Hashem sought in the priests that would serve in the Beit Hamikdash. The accomplishment dearest to the priests' hearts must be the sanctification of the Name of Hashem -- it must be dearer to them than even their own lives. Levi showed that quality, and that is why he was chosen for the holy service.

Rav Yakov proves this contention from a verse in last week's Parsha (B'reishit 49:7): "Cursed is their (Shimon and Levi's) anger, for it is fierce... I will spread them out among Israel." Rashi comments there that Levi's being "spread out among Israel" is a reference to their traveling from place to place to collect their Levitical tithes. Thus, we see that Yakov Avinu himself made the association between Levi's fierce impetuousness and selfless zealousness, and his rights to the Levitical and priestly dues. Someone who considers his devotion to the sanctity of G-d's Name more important than his own personal safety is worthy of becoming His representative in the priestly service of the Beit Hamikdash.

As Rav Yakov demonstrates, this trait of Levi surfaces several other times throughout the Torah. In Sh'mot 32:26, when the Jews sinned with the Golden Calf and Moshe cried out, "Whoever is for Hashem, let him come to me!", we read that the only ones who responded were the Levi'im: "All the children of Levi gathered to him." The Levi'im were even willing to eradicate the sinners in their own families, as the Torah tells us in Sh'mot 32:29 and D'varim 33:9.

Rashi to B'midbar 26:13 quotes the midrash which relates that after the death of Aharon the B'nei Yisrael lost heart and began to march back to Egypt. It was again the tribe of Levi that pursued them and, through fierce fighting and with numerous casualties, managed to bring the people back to their journey towards Eretz Yisrael.

In Yehoshua 22:13, it was the Kohen Gadol, Pinchas, who headed the delegation that went to reprimand the eastern tribes who had built an unauthorized altar in their territory, and to warn them that they would be faced with armed resistance if they did not capitulate. We also find that the prophet Eliyahu, who according to most opinions was a Kohen, was outstanding in his zealous behavior (see I Melachim, Ch. 18 and 19:14).

Perhaps we can add to Rav Yakov's observation, that even after Biblical times we find this trend continuing. The zealots who found the courage to defy the powerful Greek army in the Chanukah story were none other than the Chashmonaim, Kohanim from the family of the Kohen Gadol.

The Mishnah in Sanhedrin (9:6) tells us that if a Kohen would ever dare try to perform the sacrificial service in a state of ritual impurity, he would not be brought for a trial to the religious court. Rather, his fellow Kohanim would split open his head with hatchets. Guarding against the desecration of the Temple grounds and the sacrificial rite, one of the main functions of the Kohanim and the Levi'im (see Rashi B'midbar 3:7), had to be carried out with zealous fervor

III

We can draw support to Rav Yakov's suggestion that the Kohanim were chosen for their zealousness from a number of additional sources. Whenever the tribe of Levi was granted a new or expanded role as spiritual representatives of the people, we find that this was as the result of some matter of zealousness that they exhibited.

When the Levi'im were first appointed to their position, replacing the firstborn of Israel as the spiritual leaders of the people, this was as a response to their positive reaction in the wake of the episode of the Golden Calf (Rashi B'midbar 8:17).

Pinchas was granted the status of a Kohen (which he would not ordinarily have been entitled to despite his being descended from Aharon) as a result of his zealousness in the face of the sin of Baal Peor (Rashi B'midbar 25:7,13).

Perhaps this is also why Yocheved merited to become the ancestress of the Kohanim and Levi'im after she refused to slay the Jewish male-babies, in the beginning of this week's Parsha (Rashi Shmot 1:21). When Yocheved valued the honor of heaven over her own life, and risked her life to defy Pharaoh's orders to eliminate the Jewish nation, she demonstrated the zealousness of the priestly servants of Hashem.

IV

Although both the Kohanim and the Levi'im are the chosen servants of Hashem, the holy service of the Kohanim in the Beit Hamikdash is clearly of a more intimate nature than that of the Levi'im. While the Levi'im guard the temple grounds and sing the praises of Hashem, it is the Kohanim who attend to all of the Korbanot [sacrificial offerings] and the daily Temple services. Therefore, in light of Rav Yakov's thesis, it would be appropriate for the Kohanim to be chosen from the more zealous members of the tribe of Levi.

In our Parsha, Hashem tells Moshe that He is ready to rescue the people of Israel from their dire situation in Egypt, to take them out and lead them to their promised land. Yet when Hashem offers Moshe Rabbeinu to be the agent of this historical event, he tries to refuse. The trait of zealousness to rectify any desecration of the holiness of G-d's Name -- as the enslavement to Egypt certainly was -- despite personal discomfiture, was not present to a sufficient degree in Moshe. By his refusal to accept this divine mission, he showed that he did not have the proper qualities for being the founder of the institution of the Kehunna.

Aharon, on the other hand, demonstrated just this quality. When he learned that his younger brother was to become the spokesman and leader for the entire nation before Pharaoh, while he himself was to be the attendant and assistant, he displayed not the slightest hint of jealousy or uneasiness about this demeaning situation. Aharon was too preoccupied with rejoicing over the fact that the process that was to lead to the Exodus from Egypt was finally getting under way, that the Israelites would finally be removed from the depravity of Egyptian culture and would be free to worship Hashem, to entertain such petty personal thoughts. This, then was the man who showed himself worthy of becoming the first Kohen, and the ancestor of all future Kohanim. The very first appointment to a position of Kehunna was thus also the result of a show of zealousness. Aharon was chosen to be Kohen for demonstrating that his yearning to see the revelation of Hashem's glory took precedence over any personal considerations!


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