Chasidut su Levitico 10:78
Kedushat Levi
Let us now explore what caused the scholars who claimed that these two sons of Aaron were drunk on the occasion mentioned in Leviticus 10,1-3, to arrive at that conclusion.. At first glance one shudders how these scholars could accuse these אצילי בני ישראל, “these noble souls” amongst the Israelites of having been guilty of such conduct when the Torah had not spelled it out! ? Had not the Torah in Leviticus 10,8-11 spelled out that entry into the Tabernacle in a state of inebriety is a capital sin? How could these sons of Aaron have ignored this?
I believe we can find the answer to this question by examining the text in Leviticus 10 more closely.
The words: זה הדבר אשר צוה ה' לעשות וירא אליכם כבוד ה', “this is the thing that you must do in order that the glory of Hashem will appear to you,” in that paragraph appear to be superfluous, or at least not connected to the subject under discussion. (Leviticus 9,6)
Rashi, in commenting on Leviticus 9,23 near the end of this paragraph where the Torah writes: ויצאו ויברכו את העם, “they came out (Moses and Aaron from the Tabernacle) and blessed the people,” writes that during the seven preceding days of the consecration rites for the Tabernacle the Shechinah had not manifested itself so that the people had complained why they had gone to such lengths to build the Tabernacle if after all this G’d had not seen fit to take up residence among them. Moses told them what they must do in order to merit that the Shechinah would manifest itself amongst them again as proof that the sin of the golden calf had been forgiven. He explained that seeing that his brother Aaron, who was the High Priest was more worthy than he, until Aaron had presented sacrifices in the Tabernacle, G’d’s glory would not become manifest. This is why in verse 24 we are told that Aaron performed his duties as a result of which the Shechinah manifested itself in that heavenly fire consumed the portions of the sacrifices on the altar. There does not appear to be an allusion to all this in the text of the Torah, so where did Rashi take his exegesis from?
When man serves his Creator he experiences a feeling of great pleasure as he is aware that he thereby provides pleasure for his Creator. This is the allegorical meaning of Proverbs 10,1 בן חכם ישמח אב, “that an intelligent son provides pleasure for his father.” This pleasure or joy is not limited to one domain in the universe but spreads throughout the universe. A call goes out in all parts of the universe to honour the person who, through his devoted service to his Creator, has provided so much pleasure in the whole universe. There is no greater pleasure than this.
However, seeing that we are aware of this, this reduces our service to the Lord to one that is tied to the expectation of reward. Maimonides in his hilchot teshuvah chapter 10 goes so far as calling such service of G’d as being שלא לשמה, “keeping Torah commandments for ulterior motives.” The principal purpose of pure service of the Lord is that it is performed in recognition of the greatness of the Creator Who provides all forms of life in this universe and Who has endowed us with souls that contain Divine qualities.
We may well ask why no mention is made in the Torah of any reward for performance of the Torah’s commandments that accrues to the doer in the world beyond death of the body. Reward in the עולם הבא, the world to come, while discussed at length by our sages, is not dealt with in the written Torah at all. [The conclusion of the author’s paragraph is missing.]
I believe we can find the answer to this question by examining the text in Leviticus 10 more closely.
The words: זה הדבר אשר צוה ה' לעשות וירא אליכם כבוד ה', “this is the thing that you must do in order that the glory of Hashem will appear to you,” in that paragraph appear to be superfluous, or at least not connected to the subject under discussion. (Leviticus 9,6)
Rashi, in commenting on Leviticus 9,23 near the end of this paragraph where the Torah writes: ויצאו ויברכו את העם, “they came out (Moses and Aaron from the Tabernacle) and blessed the people,” writes that during the seven preceding days of the consecration rites for the Tabernacle the Shechinah had not manifested itself so that the people had complained why they had gone to such lengths to build the Tabernacle if after all this G’d had not seen fit to take up residence among them. Moses told them what they must do in order to merit that the Shechinah would manifest itself amongst them again as proof that the sin of the golden calf had been forgiven. He explained that seeing that his brother Aaron, who was the High Priest was more worthy than he, until Aaron had presented sacrifices in the Tabernacle, G’d’s glory would not become manifest. This is why in verse 24 we are told that Aaron performed his duties as a result of which the Shechinah manifested itself in that heavenly fire consumed the portions of the sacrifices on the altar. There does not appear to be an allusion to all this in the text of the Torah, so where did Rashi take his exegesis from?
When man serves his Creator he experiences a feeling of great pleasure as he is aware that he thereby provides pleasure for his Creator. This is the allegorical meaning of Proverbs 10,1 בן חכם ישמח אב, “that an intelligent son provides pleasure for his father.” This pleasure or joy is not limited to one domain in the universe but spreads throughout the universe. A call goes out in all parts of the universe to honour the person who, through his devoted service to his Creator, has provided so much pleasure in the whole universe. There is no greater pleasure than this.
However, seeing that we are aware of this, this reduces our service to the Lord to one that is tied to the expectation of reward. Maimonides in his hilchot teshuvah chapter 10 goes so far as calling such service of G’d as being שלא לשמה, “keeping Torah commandments for ulterior motives.” The principal purpose of pure service of the Lord is that it is performed in recognition of the greatness of the Creator Who provides all forms of life in this universe and Who has endowed us with souls that contain Divine qualities.
We may well ask why no mention is made in the Torah of any reward for performance of the Torah’s commandments that accrues to the doer in the world beyond death of the body. Reward in the עולם הבא, the world to come, while discussed at length by our sages, is not dealt with in the written Torah at all. [The conclusion of the author’s paragraph is missing.]
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Kedushat Levi
Let us now explore what caused the scholars who claimed that these two sons of Aaron were drunk on the occasion mentioned in Leviticus 10,1-3, to arrive at that conclusion.. At first glance one shudders how these scholars could accuse these אצילי בני ישראל, “these noble souls” amongst the Israelites of having been guilty of such conduct when the Torah had not spelled it out! ? Had not the Torah in Leviticus 10,8-11 spelled out that entry into the Tabernacle in a state of inebriety is a capital sin? How could these sons of Aaron have ignored this?
I believe we can find the answer to this question by examining the text in Leviticus 10 more closely.
The words: זה הדבר אשר צוה ה' לעשות וירא אליכם כבוד ה', “this is the thing that you must do in order that the glory of Hashem will appear to you,” in that paragraph appear to be superfluous, or at least not connected to the subject under discussion. (Leviticus 9,6)
Rashi, in commenting on Leviticus 9,23 near the end of this paragraph where the Torah writes: ויצאו ויברכו את העם, “they came out (Moses and Aaron from the Tabernacle) and blessed the people,” writes that during the seven preceding days of the consecration rites for the Tabernacle the Shechinah had not manifested itself so that the people had complained why they had gone to such lengths to build the Tabernacle if after all this G’d had not seen fit to take up residence among them. Moses told them what they must do in order to merit that the Shechinah would manifest itself amongst them again as proof that the sin of the golden calf had been forgiven. He explained that seeing that his brother Aaron, who was the High Priest was more worthy than he, until Aaron had presented sacrifices in the Tabernacle, G’d’s glory would not become manifest. This is why in verse 24 we are told that Aaron performed his duties as a result of which the Shechinah manifested itself in that heavenly fire consumed the portions of the sacrifices on the altar. There does not appear to be an allusion to all this in the text of the Torah, so where did Rashi take his exegesis from?
When man serves his Creator he experiences a feeling of great pleasure as he is aware that he thereby provides pleasure for his Creator. This is the allegorical meaning of Proverbs 10,1 בן חכם ישמח אב, “that an intelligent son provides pleasure for his father.” This pleasure or joy is not limited to one domain in the universe but spreads throughout the universe. A call goes out in all parts of the universe to honour the person who, through his devoted service to his Creator, has provided so much pleasure in the whole universe. There is no greater pleasure than this.
However, seeing that we are aware of this, this reduces our service to the Lord to one that is tied to the expectation of reward. Maimonides in his hilchot teshuvah chapter 10 goes so far as calling such service of G’d as being שלא לשמה, “keeping Torah commandments for ulterior motives.” The principal purpose of pure service of the Lord is that it is performed in recognition of the greatness of the Creator Who provides all forms of life in this universe and Who has endowed us with souls that contain Divine qualities.
We may well ask why no mention is made in the Torah of any reward for performance of the Torah’s commandments that accrues to the doer in the world beyond death of the body. Reward in the עולם הבא, the world to come, while discussed at length by our sages, is not dealt with in the written Torah at all. [The conclusion of the author’s paragraph is missing.]
I believe we can find the answer to this question by examining the text in Leviticus 10 more closely.
The words: זה הדבר אשר צוה ה' לעשות וירא אליכם כבוד ה', “this is the thing that you must do in order that the glory of Hashem will appear to you,” in that paragraph appear to be superfluous, or at least not connected to the subject under discussion. (Leviticus 9,6)
Rashi, in commenting on Leviticus 9,23 near the end of this paragraph where the Torah writes: ויצאו ויברכו את העם, “they came out (Moses and Aaron from the Tabernacle) and blessed the people,” writes that during the seven preceding days of the consecration rites for the Tabernacle the Shechinah had not manifested itself so that the people had complained why they had gone to such lengths to build the Tabernacle if after all this G’d had not seen fit to take up residence among them. Moses told them what they must do in order to merit that the Shechinah would manifest itself amongst them again as proof that the sin of the golden calf had been forgiven. He explained that seeing that his brother Aaron, who was the High Priest was more worthy than he, until Aaron had presented sacrifices in the Tabernacle, G’d’s glory would not become manifest. This is why in verse 24 we are told that Aaron performed his duties as a result of which the Shechinah manifested itself in that heavenly fire consumed the portions of the sacrifices on the altar. There does not appear to be an allusion to all this in the text of the Torah, so where did Rashi take his exegesis from?
When man serves his Creator he experiences a feeling of great pleasure as he is aware that he thereby provides pleasure for his Creator. This is the allegorical meaning of Proverbs 10,1 בן חכם ישמח אב, “that an intelligent son provides pleasure for his father.” This pleasure or joy is not limited to one domain in the universe but spreads throughout the universe. A call goes out in all parts of the universe to honour the person who, through his devoted service to his Creator, has provided so much pleasure in the whole universe. There is no greater pleasure than this.
However, seeing that we are aware of this, this reduces our service to the Lord to one that is tied to the expectation of reward. Maimonides in his hilchot teshuvah chapter 10 goes so far as calling such service of G’d as being שלא לשמה, “keeping Torah commandments for ulterior motives.” The principal purpose of pure service of the Lord is that it is performed in recognition of the greatness of the Creator Who provides all forms of life in this universe and Who has endowed us with souls that contain Divine qualities.
We may well ask why no mention is made in the Torah of any reward for performance of the Torah’s commandments that accrues to the doer in the world beyond death of the body. Reward in the עולם הבא, the world to come, while discussed at length by our sages, is not dealt with in the written Torah at all. [The conclusion of the author’s paragraph is missing.]
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Kedushat Levi
In that book this matter is illustrated by means of a parable. When a very wise man asks someone a question about something that is beyond his field of expertise, and he ignores the advice given by proceeding to follow his own intuition, and it turns out that he was wrong, this “wise man,” will no doubt feel deeply ashamed for not having followed the sage counsel he had received.
At the time when G’d was occupied with creating the universe and all that it contains, He had consulted with the angels about the advisability of creating the human species, i.e. a species who was granted free will in determining if to obey the Creator’s directives. (Compare Bereshit Rabbah 8,5). At that time, G’d following His preponderant attribute of mercy, had decided to ignore the advice given to Him by the angels who had foreseen all of the imperfections of the human species and the “heartache” this would cause the Creator so that they had advised against this species being created. Now that unfortunately the advice of the angels had proven far sighted, the Creator felt עלוב. [King Achav, though a nationalist, and repeatedly willing to give up his own life in order to protect his people, had nonetheless committed a foul judicial murder by framing the owner of an ancestral vineyard as being guilty of a crime that Navot, the owner of that vineyard had not committed. His only “crime” had been his refusal to sell to the King. The verse cited from Kings I 22,19 is the prelude to G’d sitting in judgment of Achav for his crime. Ed.]
Incidentally, the parable from the sefer Rezie’l also accounts for an anomaly in psalms 81,5 כי חק לישראל הוא ומשפט לאלוקי יעקב, “for it is a statute (immutable) for Israel and a ruling (depending on circumstances) by the G’d of Yaakov” (compare Rosh Hashanah 8) in that verse. The psalmist could have been expected to write: כי משפט לאלוקי יעקב הוא וחק לישראל. The Talmud there explains the wording in that verse as meaning that the first day of Tishrey serves as a date on which all mankind is judged in heaven provided that Israel will be the first nation to be so judged. For the Israelites who are basically observing G’d’s laws and are therefore a holy nation, the meaning of the word חוק is that their livelihood for the following year is determined on that day as the sages taught in Beytzah 16 (Compare Proverbs 30, 8 הטריפני לחם חוקי, “feed me with the bread allotted to me.” Or: Leviticus 10,13 חוקך וחוק בניך היא מאשי ה', “it is your portion from the Lord’s fire-offerings and that of your children.”) [The verse just quoted, addressing the priests, begins with the words: ואכלתם אותה במקום קדוש, “you are to consume it in a sacred location.”] This leaves open the possibility that in our verse in psalms the word might mean “statute,” or something similar. How do we know that in psalms too it means the same as in the verses we quote from Leviticus and Proverbs, i.e. that it refers to parnassah, livelihood? The unusual sequence of חוק לישראל משפט לאלוקי יעקב provides us with the answer to this question.
The subject concerning which Israel is to be judged on New Year’s day is their livelihood. The psalmist rejoices in the fact that these decisions are not made by Israel’s detractors but are the exclusive domain of אלוקי יעקב. According to the Zohar, as soon as our enemies understand this, they cease to demonize us.
The appropriate translation of the verse in psalms 81,5 therefore is: “if our enemies, (be they celestial beings who opposed the creation of mankind altogether, or just our perennial opponents the forces of Amalek (in whatever guise they appear) want to sit in judgment of Israel, משפט לישראל, they are advised by the psalmist Assaph that our חוק, livelihood, is decided by the G’d of Yaakov, לאלוקי יעקב, no one else. As a result of this, our detractors are seized with חיל ורעדה יאחזון they (our adversaries) are seized with fright and trembling for (Deut. 29,19) G’d’s anger would be aroused against them etc.; this is also what Job spoke about in Job 15,15 when he stated that even His heavenly entourage did not find favour in His eyes.
At the time when G’d was occupied with creating the universe and all that it contains, He had consulted with the angels about the advisability of creating the human species, i.e. a species who was granted free will in determining if to obey the Creator’s directives. (Compare Bereshit Rabbah 8,5). At that time, G’d following His preponderant attribute of mercy, had decided to ignore the advice given to Him by the angels who had foreseen all of the imperfections of the human species and the “heartache” this would cause the Creator so that they had advised against this species being created. Now that unfortunately the advice of the angels had proven far sighted, the Creator felt עלוב. [King Achav, though a nationalist, and repeatedly willing to give up his own life in order to protect his people, had nonetheless committed a foul judicial murder by framing the owner of an ancestral vineyard as being guilty of a crime that Navot, the owner of that vineyard had not committed. His only “crime” had been his refusal to sell to the King. The verse cited from Kings I 22,19 is the prelude to G’d sitting in judgment of Achav for his crime. Ed.]
Incidentally, the parable from the sefer Rezie’l also accounts for an anomaly in psalms 81,5 כי חק לישראל הוא ומשפט לאלוקי יעקב, “for it is a statute (immutable) for Israel and a ruling (depending on circumstances) by the G’d of Yaakov” (compare Rosh Hashanah 8) in that verse. The psalmist could have been expected to write: כי משפט לאלוקי יעקב הוא וחק לישראל. The Talmud there explains the wording in that verse as meaning that the first day of Tishrey serves as a date on which all mankind is judged in heaven provided that Israel will be the first nation to be so judged. For the Israelites who are basically observing G’d’s laws and are therefore a holy nation, the meaning of the word חוק is that their livelihood for the following year is determined on that day as the sages taught in Beytzah 16 (Compare Proverbs 30, 8 הטריפני לחם חוקי, “feed me with the bread allotted to me.” Or: Leviticus 10,13 חוקך וחוק בניך היא מאשי ה', “it is your portion from the Lord’s fire-offerings and that of your children.”) [The verse just quoted, addressing the priests, begins with the words: ואכלתם אותה במקום קדוש, “you are to consume it in a sacred location.”] This leaves open the possibility that in our verse in psalms the word might mean “statute,” or something similar. How do we know that in psalms too it means the same as in the verses we quote from Leviticus and Proverbs, i.e. that it refers to parnassah, livelihood? The unusual sequence of חוק לישראל משפט לאלוקי יעקב provides us with the answer to this question.
The subject concerning which Israel is to be judged on New Year’s day is their livelihood. The psalmist rejoices in the fact that these decisions are not made by Israel’s detractors but are the exclusive domain of אלוקי יעקב. According to the Zohar, as soon as our enemies understand this, they cease to demonize us.
The appropriate translation of the verse in psalms 81,5 therefore is: “if our enemies, (be they celestial beings who opposed the creation of mankind altogether, or just our perennial opponents the forces of Amalek (in whatever guise they appear) want to sit in judgment of Israel, משפט לישראל, they are advised by the psalmist Assaph that our חוק, livelihood, is decided by the G’d of Yaakov, לאלוקי יעקב, no one else. As a result of this, our detractors are seized with חיל ורעדה יאחזון they (our adversaries) are seized with fright and trembling for (Deut. 29,19) G’d’s anger would be aroused against them etc.; this is also what Job spoke about in Job 15,15 when he stated that even His heavenly entourage did not find favour in His eyes.
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Kedushat Levi
An alternative explanation of the line: ויעבור ה' על פניו ויקרא וגו', “Hashem passed before him and proclaimed, etc.;” also based on the statement in Rosh Hashanah 17 that G’d wrapped Himself in a prayer shawl similar to the one worn by the reader leading the congregation in prayer.
G’d is advising Moses that if, when praying for forgiveness, the Jewish people will emulate the example set for them by Hashem, He will forgive their sins and they will have atonement. We need to understand this statement of the Talmud on a less simplistic level, of course. The Talmud Avodah Zarah 3 provides the key to a more mature understanding of this statement in the Talmud. The Talmud there explains that G’d does not deal with the Jewish people in the manner that a despot deals with his subjects when they have been guilty of violating his decrees. The reason for this is that after all, the Jewish people were the principal reason why G’d created the universe in the first place as stated explicitly in Yalkut Shimoni 1,2 that the world was created on account of Israel which is called ראשית (Jeremiah 2,3). If G’d were to apply the yardstick to Israel that befits its lofty standing in the celestial regions, it would not have a chance to survive for a single hour as the burden imposed upon them of having to serve as a model for other creatures would have been too overwhelming.
[Compare when Moses said to Aaron that his sons died not because they were so undeserving to live, objectively, but on account of the principle of בקרובי אקדש , that G’d is especially strict with people who have become intimates of His, so that He would not be accused of favoritism. (Leviticus 10,3) Ed.]
G’d is aware that not withstanding the fact that since man’s source of life is rooted in the holy and Divine root of the Creator Himself, and he could therefore be expected to emulate his Creator and be almost equally pure and holy, the fact remains, as our sages have stated: אין צדיק ולא יחטא, “there has not yet been a righteous human being who has not committed a sin on at least one occasion.” While it is true that a king’s son is expected to lead a life that reflects his aristocratic background, nonetheless the king will not disown his son if now and again he stepped out of line. The Jewish people too, are called G’d’s Children, so G’d will not turn His back on them because they have sometimes sinned, inadvertently, in most cases. G’d promises Moses in our verse that He will adopt the less stringent yardsticks for judging man, a yardstick that is compatible with conditions on earth, an environment that is fraught with a multitude of temptations. When a rich man, comes face to face with a poor man, he is aware that only by the grace of G’d does he enjoy so much more material wealth than his less fortunate peer, and reflecting on this fact he will supply the poor man with what he needs to augment his livelihood.
G’d is advising Moses that if, when praying for forgiveness, the Jewish people will emulate the example set for them by Hashem, He will forgive their sins and they will have atonement. We need to understand this statement of the Talmud on a less simplistic level, of course. The Talmud Avodah Zarah 3 provides the key to a more mature understanding of this statement in the Talmud. The Talmud there explains that G’d does not deal with the Jewish people in the manner that a despot deals with his subjects when they have been guilty of violating his decrees. The reason for this is that after all, the Jewish people were the principal reason why G’d created the universe in the first place as stated explicitly in Yalkut Shimoni 1,2 that the world was created on account of Israel which is called ראשית (Jeremiah 2,3). If G’d were to apply the yardstick to Israel that befits its lofty standing in the celestial regions, it would not have a chance to survive for a single hour as the burden imposed upon them of having to serve as a model for other creatures would have been too overwhelming.
[Compare when Moses said to Aaron that his sons died not because they were so undeserving to live, objectively, but on account of the principle of בקרובי אקדש , that G’d is especially strict with people who have become intimates of His, so that He would not be accused of favoritism. (Leviticus 10,3) Ed.]
G’d is aware that not withstanding the fact that since man’s source of life is rooted in the holy and Divine root of the Creator Himself, and he could therefore be expected to emulate his Creator and be almost equally pure and holy, the fact remains, as our sages have stated: אין צדיק ולא יחטא, “there has not yet been a righteous human being who has not committed a sin on at least one occasion.” While it is true that a king’s son is expected to lead a life that reflects his aristocratic background, nonetheless the king will not disown his son if now and again he stepped out of line. The Jewish people too, are called G’d’s Children, so G’d will not turn His back on them because they have sometimes sinned, inadvertently, in most cases. G’d promises Moses in our verse that He will adopt the less stringent yardsticks for judging man, a yardstick that is compatible with conditions on earth, an environment that is fraught with a multitude of temptations. When a rich man, comes face to face with a poor man, he is aware that only by the grace of G’d does he enjoy so much more material wealth than his less fortunate peer, and reflecting on this fact he will supply the poor man with what he needs to augment his livelihood.
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