Комментарий к Вайикра 8:5

זה הדבר THIS IS THE THING [WHICH THE LORD COMMANDED ME TO DO] — The things you will see me doing in your presence has the Holy One, blessed be He, bidden me do, and do not think I am doing them for my own glory and for my brother’s glory. — The whole of this matter treated in the present chapter I have already explained in the Scriptural Reading beginning with the words, ‎‏ ואתה תצוה ‏‎(Exodus ch. XXIX.).

ויאמר משה …זה הדבר, Moses said:…"this is the word, etc." Moses informed the people of what G'd had said so that they would not register a protest at a later date claiming he had made all these appointments of his own accord. Seeing that the Torah reported here that everything was done at the command of G'd, Korach had no basis for the claim that he had acted inadvertently when he challenged Aaron's position seeing he had been present at this time and had not challenged Moses when the latter presented these appointments as having been made at the direct command of G'd.

The things which you will see. [Rashi is answering the question:] Nothing was mentioned earlier that Moshe could be referring to when he said, “This is the edict”! Therefore, Rashi explains: “The things which you will see.”

God commanded me. [Rashi adds this] because in the verse it does not mention Who commanded. [Therefore,] it was necessary to explain: “[Hashem] commanded me...” Although Moshe knew that in the end the honor would come and the Shechinah would dwell in his sacrifices, then, everyone would know as a matter of course that everything was a command of Hashem, nevertheless, he wanted to remove himself from even momentary suspicion (Nachalas Yaakov).

It is also possible to explain this verse along the lines of Shemot Rabbah 2,6 and Zevachim 102 that Moses' position was equivalent to that of a king seeing the Torah wrote in Deut. 33,5: "He was king in Yeshurun." We have learned in Ketuvot 17 that even if a king is willing to waive the honour due him he is not allowed to do so. We observe that Moses did things (waived his claim to honour) which even a Jewish servant is not allowed to perform for his master, such as bathing him, etc. In our paragraph Moses is bidden to wash the entire body of Aaron and his sons. There is no more demeaning task that anyone can be asked to perform. This is why the Torah had to introduce this paragraph with the words: "G'd said to Moses to say." Moses explained to the people that if he was seen to perform such a demeaning task it was because G'd had told him to; it did not mean that by doing so he relinquished his claim to the position of king. This was the only demeaning task ever performed by Moses as all others were forbidden to him by his very status. Only G'd who was the One who had appointed Moses as king was in a position to ask him to perform a service not in keeping with a king's dignity.

Furthermore, we may understand what happened in terms of a comment by Torat Kohanim on verse 6: "he washed them in water." They say that the High Priest (and the ordinary priests when required) acquired the merit accompanied by ritual immersion and his washing his hands and feet before each act of service in the Temple on the Day of Atonement. The words זה הדבר אשר צוה ה׳ לעשות, "this is the thing which G'd has commanded to be done," means that these rites were to be performed also in the future, seeing performance of this command granted them the privilege of ritual immersion in the future. [According to ראב׳ד quoted by Malbim the ritual immersion referred to is the the ritual baths the High Priest underwent during the seven days he prepared himself for the Day of Atonement. Ed.]