Musar sobre Números 17:12

We learned (Arachin 15a) that for the sin of lashon hara one is afflicted with plague-spots. And the Gemara asks: "But did R. Anani bar Sasson not say that the robe atones for lashon hara? …Let that which produces a sound [(the bells on the robe)] atone for the sound of the voice [i.e., lashon hara]?" And it answers: "There is no contradiction: In one instance, his deeds avail; in the other, his deeds do not avail. If his deeds avail, plague-spots come upon him; if his deeds do not avail, the robe atones." And the Gemara asks: "But did not R. Shimon say in the name of R. Yehoshua ben Levi that lashon hara is atoned for by the incense? For R. Chanina taught: We learned that the incense atones, it being written (Bamidbar 17:12): 'And he [Aaron] put on the incense and he atoned for the people.' And the school of R. Yishmael taught: 'For what does the incense atone? For lashon hara. Let what is done in secrecy [(the offering of the incense on the silver altar)] come and atone for an act [lashon hara] committed in secrecy.'" And the Gemara answers: "There is no contradiction: Here [(the incense atones)] when it [the lashon hara] is spoken secretly; there, [(the robe atones)] when it is spoken in public." What emerges from this is that when his deeds avail, he is afflicted with leprosy, even if it were spoken secretly, and when they do not avail, a distinction must be made, viz.: If it were spoken secretly, the incense, (which was also offered secretly, all men having to remove themselves) atoned; and if it were spoken in public, the robe atones [(the sound of its bells being heard when he left the sanctuary)].

I have already given a reason for the importance and nature of the incense offering earlier. Rekanati comments on this as follows: "Incense is an allusion to the attribute of Justice, as we know from Deut. 33,10: ישימו קטורה באפיך וכליל על מזבחך, 'They place incense (on the Golden Altar) when You are angry, and total offferings on Your (copper) Altar.' Aaron did this and succeeded in arresting the plague that was consuming the lives of the Israelites (Numbers 17,12-14). We know from Psalms 45,14 that Aaron offered that incense on the Golden Altar: ממשבצות זהב לבושה. To assure the effectiveness of such an offering of incense he had to concentrate on the Ineffable Name while doing so, wishing the incense to become ריח ניחוח, a fragrance pleasing to G–d. We also have a tradition based on Proverbs 27,9: "Oil and incense gladdens the heart." This is because the incense offering as a rule, does not represent an effort to achieve forgiveness for some sin committed, but is an expression of man trying to place a crown on the head of its rightful owner, G–d in this instance. It is an attempt to insure that G–d relates to us in a constantly happy frame of mind. The emanation מלכות is regarded as the heart, לב, of heaven. The Torah writes in Exodus 30,8: "When Aaron lights up the lamps he shall burn it, an incense offering before the Lord." It is interesting that the offering up of the incense offering is made dependent on the performance of the lighting-up ceremony of the candlestick. This is in order to achieve the mystical union with the emanations representing the בנין. We have pointed out in our commentary on פרשת תרומה that the candlestick with its seven lamps symbolised the process of creation, or בנין. At the same time it symbolised the original light which illuminated the universe during the first seven days of its existence, as I demonstrated when I described how everything in connection with the construction of the Tabernacle was a re-enactment of the work of creation. Aaron was the rehabilitation of Adam. All existence is bound up with this תקון, rehabilitation. The incense offering is the clearest indication that the rehabilitation has indeed been completed. The lighting of the candlestick symbolises that the rehabilitation will endure, i.e. that the universe will endure, that the seven days of creation have been found justified.