Comentario sobre Exodo 29:15

Take the first ram. The more perfect of the two.

V. 15. Sodann haben sie ihre künftige Stellung als Würde und sich als איל, und zwar zuerst in dem als solchen von ihnen zu erwartenden Einfluss sich zu vergegenwärtigen, "an die Spitze der Gottesherde" gestellt zu sein und erleuchtend und leitend voranzuschreiten.

וסמכו אהרן ובניו את ידיהם, “and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands, etc.: according to our author’s version of the Torah, the name of Aaron is spelled here with the letter ו which never occurs elsewhere. (Minchas shay) [The fact is that in our versions of the Torah it is spelled in the usual way, without that letter. Ed.] Our author raises another question concerning the word וסמכו, i.e. a plural mode, whereas in verse 10 it is spelled in the singular mode as we expected. [In both instances only one animal is being sacrificed, so why would Aaron and his sons all place their hands on that one ram? Ed.] Also in verse 19 the Torah again reverts to using the singular mode for that word although the subjects are both Aaron and his sons. It appears that according to the Midrash on verse 15 the word Aaron has also been spelled with the additional letter ו; according to Rashi, commenting on a similar anomaly of the spelling of the word לטוטפות once with the plural letter ו and once without, (Exodus 13,16, Deuteronomy 6,7 and 11,18 respectively). [In our editions it is not spelled with the letter ו on the last two occasions. The versions quoted and discussed in the Talmud are not binding for us nowadays. There is therefore no point in translating the speculations of our author on the subject. A comment by the author of minchass shy a well known exegete of the 17th century is not relevant as our author lived about 4-500 years earlier. Ed.]