민수기 20:26의 주석

את בגדיו [AND STRIP AARON OF] HIS GARMENTS — i.e., the garments of the high priesthood. — He clothed him in these and stripped them off him to place them on his son in his presence. He (Moses) said to him (Aaron), “Enter the cave”, and he entered. — He saw a bed already made (more lit., outspread, i.e., with its sheets, etc.) and a light burning. He said to him, “Ascend the bed”, and he ascended. — “Stretch out your hands”, and he stretched them out. — “Close your mouth”, and he closed it. — “Close your eyes”, and he closed them. At that moment Moses longed for that self-same death, and this is what was said to him (Deuteronomy 32:50), “[And die] … as Aaron thy brother died” — the death, for which you longed (Siphre on that verse).

AND STRIP AARON OF HIS GARMENTS. These are the garments [reserved only] for the High Priest, with which Eleazar his son was now appointed [High Priest in his stead]. It is likely that when Aaron came down from offering the Daily Whole-offering, and burnt the incense and kindled the lamps, Moses took him up to Mount Hor whilst he was still dressed in the garments of the [High] Priest, and [then] he stripped him of them. And according to the plain meaning of Scripture [the verse is to be interpreted: And strip Aaron of his garments in order to] put on him the shrouds of a dead man which he had prepared for him, and then he stripped Eleazar of his ordinary clothes and put the sacred garments upon him, as he did to him on the day of initiation. And according to the Midrashic interpretation of our Rabbis,²¹¹Sifra, Tzav Milu’im 1:6. various miracles occurred in connection with these garments.²¹²The miraculous nature of the event which occurred here has been explained in various ways, but from Ramban’s quotation of it the explanation is as follows: Since it is obvious that Aaron would not be left naked for even one moment, we must say that as soon as the uppermost garment was removed from him, the Divine Glory wrapped him with a corresponding celestial garment. But if so, how could Moses proceed to remove the lower garments “in their proper order,” since there was now a [celestial] upper garment upon them? The answer is given in the following text of the Torath Kohanim [Sifra]. See the following note. Thus they said: “How could Moses strip Aaron of his garments in their proper order? Are not the upper ones always on top, and the lower ones always underneath? But G-d did miraculous deeds for Aaron at the time of his death, even more so than during his lifetime. Thus Moses put Aaron upon the rock and stripped him of the priestly garments, and [alternative] celestial garments clothed themselves [upon him] underneath them.²¹³“Underneath them.” Thus as Aaron was stripped of his upper robe, he was covered with a corresponding celestial garment underneath his tunic [which was the lower garment directly on his body]. Moses could then proceed to remove the tunic [which was now above the celestial “upper” robe, thereby fulfilling the Divine command of stripping Aaron of his garments “in their proper order.” As he removed the tunic, a corresponding celestial tunic likewise clothed itself underneath the celestial robe. This interpretation of the Torath Kohanim is based upon Malbim’s commentary. And he put them upon Eleazar his son.²¹⁴Verse 28. But how could Moses put the garments upon Eleazar in their proper order?²¹⁵For as soon as he stripped Aaron of the upper robe, Moses had to put it upon Eleazar, so that he would be clothed in the order in which the clothes are worn. If so, how could he later on put the lower garments [such as the tunic] underneath? In answer to this question the Torath Kohanim presents a second miracle, namely, that Aaron found himself arrayed in eight celestial garments and then he put on the eight garments of the high priesthood in opposite order, first the robe and finally the tunic. [Ordinarily this is not permitted, but since he was now attired already in the celestial garments underneath it was permissible for him to do it.] When Moses removed the tunic from upon Aaron and put it upon Eleazar it was thus done in proper order. See my Hebrew commentary pp. 380-381. [We must say that this was not natural], but that G-d bestowed a great honor upon Aaron at the time of his death, even more so than during his lifetime, in that celestial garments first [miraculously] clothed themselves underneath [the other garments], and then Moses stripped Aaron of the priestly garments in their proper order,²¹⁶I.e., in the order he had put them on after he found himself arrayed in the eight celestial garments, which as explained above (Note 215), was in the opposite order: first the robe and finally the tunic as the uppermost garment. and [also] put them on Eleazar in their proper order.” So it is taught in the Torath Kohanim.²¹¹Sifra, Tzav Milu’im 1:6.

והפשט אהרן את בגדיו, the garments that were exclusively those of a High Priest, i.e. those in addition to the garments worn by the ordinary priest.

והפשט את אהרן את בגדיו, "and strip Aaron of his garments." The fact that the Torah wrote the word את twice, both in connection with Aaron and in connection with his garments suggests that there were two separate "strippings." We might have thought that the garments that Aaron was to be stripped of were the priestly garments, not his personal clothing. This is why the Torah also had to write: "strip Aaron" to indicate that he was to be stripped also of his personal garments. It was only concerning the priestly garments that the Torah continued: והלבשתם את אלעזר בנו, "and put them on his son Eleazar. Had the Torah merely written והפשט אהרן את בגדיו, I would not have had the extra word את from which I could have deduced the proper meaning of the verse. On the other hand, if the Torah had only written והפשט אהרן בגדיו (without either word את), I would have simply understood that Aaron was to be stripped naked, and the words את בגדיו would have become meaningless.

והפשט את אהרן, “and disrobe Aaron;” the reference is to the removal of his priestly garments, the ones that were worn in addition to the four garments worn by ordinary priests. These garments were to be worn henceforth by Eleazar. According to the plain meaning of the text, Aaron was to exchange the normal garments for a shroud, a garment he already had at the ready. Eleazar stripped off his ordinary garments and exchanged them for the garments befitting a priest as he had done on the day he had been anointed as a priest.

In the vestments of the Kehunah Gedolah. Rashi wishes to answer the question: If it was his regular clothes, why did Hashem command Moshe to dress Elozor in [Aharon's] clothes in his presence. Re’m answers that one must say that this refers to the vestments of the Kehunah [Gedolah]. If not so, how would this be a sign that [Elozor] merited the Kehunah Gedolah? It is possible that [he meant] my answer within his.

V. 26. והפשט וגו׳ והלבשתם וגו׳. Damit war Elasar an Aharons Stelle zum hohen Priester eingesetzt (siehe Schmot 29, 29), und hatte Aharon die Genugtuung, vor seinem Tode sich in seinem Sohne fortlebend zu erblicken.

ואהרן יאסף, “and Aaron will die (be gathered in to his forefathers). In verse 24 it stated this specifically. At that point we had not been told where Aaron would die. This information is being supplied in our verse.

והלבשתם את אלעזר, who was already wearing the standard four garments which every priest wore. As a result, Aaron would remain wearing the basic four garments worn by every priest. It is precisely these four garments which he would wear any time he had occasion to enter the Holy of Holies, so that he in no way was deprived of status by not wearing the garments which were meant only for his image among his peers, not for his image when facing G’d. In fact, basically, what he remained with were the kind of garments angels appear in when they appear to human beings.

He dressed him and then removed them from him. Even though it does not write here that Hashem commanded this, for it is only written, “Remove Aharon’s [vestments].” Otherwise, if Moshe had not dressed him first, how could Aharon have worn the vestments of the kehunah during a time when he was not performing any service? Surely one who leaves the Temple Mount wearing the vestments of kehunah receives forty lashes [for transgressing a Torah prohibition]. Rather one must say that Moshe dressed him per Hashem’s instruction in order that he could remove them and place them on Elozor in Aharon’s presence. This was to demonstrate that his son Elozor had merited the Kehunah Gedolah in Aharon’s place.

We may also interpret these words slightly differently. The words הפשט את אהרן refer only to his personal clothing. The Torah added the words את בגדיו to teach us that he would immediately be robed in different garments. This is what the Yalkut Shimoni on our verse had in mind when the author wrote: "While Aaron was being undressed he was immediately enveloped by the clouds of glory." As a result, Aaron was never in a state of undress even while Moses undressed him as parts of the clouds of glory enveloped any part of his body from which Moses removed his clothing.

He said to him “Enter the cave.” Rashi is answering the question: Why did Aharon himself not remove his clothes and place them on Elozor? It seems insulting for Moshe to have to serve them. He answers that, “He said to him…” Would it not have been sufficient without mentioning Moshe’s words? Rather, it was to demonstrate the commandment of doing kindness to the dead, and that Moshe himself dealt with all matters pertaining to the death of Aharon.