Results tagged ‘ Acharei Mos ’

Acharei Mos

         Acharei Mos
 
“Hashem spoke to Moshe after the death of Aharon’s two sons, when they approached before Hashem, and hey died. And Hashem said to Moshe: Speak to Aharon, your brother-he may not come at all times into the Sanctuary, within the Curtain, in front of the Cover that is upon the Ark, and he will not die; for with a cloud I appear upon the Ark Cover” (16;1-2).
 
Rashi (16;1) relates a parable: There was a sick person to whom a doctor entered to treat. The doctor said to him, “Do not eat cold food, and do not lie in a damp, chilly place.” Another doctor came and said to him, “Do not eat cold food, and do not lie in a damp chilly place, so that you will not die the way so-and-so died.” Similarly, Rashi explains that Hashem told Moshe to speak to his brother Aharon and tell him not to enter the Sanctuary so that he should not die. In the parable Hashem is compared to a doctor-how is He like a doctor? He’s the king of the world!?!
 
Additionally, Rashi (16;2) explains the words “and he will not die” to mean “for if he comes he will die.” What is Rashi teaching us? All he seems to be doing is repeating the words of the pasuk!?!
 
Furthermore, why does the Hashem tell Moshe to speak to Aharon “your brother”? We already knew that Aharon was his brother-there’s no need to repeat the fact! In the Torah Hashem told Moshe to speak to Aharon many times and yet it is only over here in which it is mentioned that Aharon was his brother. What’s the reasoning for this?
 
Lastly, we find that on Yom Kippur we read this Torah portion. What’s the reasoning for this?
 
Rabbi Yochanan Zweig explains that Rashi (16;2) is teaching us that Hashem  was simply informing Aharon that if he enters the Sanctuary at an improper time then he will die due to natural consequence. This is why Rashi tells us “for if he comes he will die”-meaning, Hashem was saying that death
will simply be the natural result of his actions if he enters the Sanctuary at an improper time.
 
We could now understand why Rashi (16;1) compares Hashem to a doctor and not a king. When a king gives out a command to his people and a person disobeys the command they get punished by the king due to their lack of loyalty. In contrast, when a doctor gives a patient his advice and the patient doesn’t listen the patient then gets punished due to natural consequence of not listening. Meaning, the patient doesn’t get punished for not listening to the doctor (like a person gets punished for not listening to the king); rather, the patient gets punished simply because the world was created in a manner where when people do or don’t do certain things they become vulnerable to certain sicknesses from which they could then potentially suffer death. Therefore, Rashi compares Hashem to a doctor over here because like a doctor Hashem was telling Aharon that it is in his own best interest not to enter the Sanctuary at all times-and should he enter the Sanctuary at an improper time he will get punished as a result of natural consequence-not because he disobeyed Hashem’s command as king.
 
Furthermore, we could now understand why Hashem told Moshe to speak to Aharon “your brother.” Hashem was telling Moshe that he should speak to Aharon as a brother-meaning, explain to him with love that it is for his own good and in his own best interest that he is being told not to enter the Sanctuary at all times. All the other times in the Torah in which Hashem told Moshe to speak to Aharon Hashem was giving Aharon a command-for which if he disobeyed the command Hashem would punish him for not listening to the master of the universe. In this case however Hashem was simply giving Aharon advice like a doctor gives to his patient for whom punishment due to disobedience isn’t given by the commander (i.e. doctor) but it simply occurs due to the way the world naturally runs. Thus, Hashem told Moshe to speak to Aharon “your brother” as when a person commands their brother to do something they are supposed to do it in a manner where the person feels as though they are being told out of love and for their own good.
 
Lastly, we could now understand why we specifically read this Torah portion on Yom Kippur. By reading that Hashem gave Aharon a commandment that was purely for his own sake (for which punishment for not listening would only be received due to natural consequence-and not for disobeying Hashem’s command) we are able to feel a sense of comfort on Yom Kippur as we know that everything Hashem commands us is really for our own good. We are able to see that Hashem is only concerned for our best interests, similar to how a doctor is only concerned for the betterment of his patient (as any suffering the patient incurs comes upon him solely due to natural consequence and has no connection to the doctor). Thus, we specifically read this Torah portion on Yom Kippur in order to remind ourselves that Hashem is purely concerned for our own good and we should therefore feel a complete sense of comfort when standing before Him.
 

Acharei Mos

                    Acharei Mos

 
“Hashem spoke to Moshe after the death of Aharon’s two sons, when they approached before Hashem, and they died” (16;1). 
 
Rashi (16;1) relates a parable: There was a sick person to whom a doctor entered to treat. The doctor said to him, “Do not eat cold food, and do not lie in a damp, chilly place.” Another doctor came and said to him, “Do not eat cold food, and do not lie in a damp chilly place, so that you will not die the way so-and-so died.” 
 
The question is: Why is Rashi comparing the deaths of Nadav and Avihu to the deaths of a sick person? They died because they entered the sanctuary while intoxicated by wine (see: 10;2), not because they were sick!?! 
 
Additionally, in the analogy, the reason why the person died was due to a combination of 2 factors: He was sick and he didn’t follow the doctor’s directions. Nadav and Avihu, however, were put to death simply because they entered the sanctuary intoxicated by wine. Therefore, how is the analogy comparable to Nadav and Avihu?
 
The torah (Shemos, 24; 9-10) relates that at Mount Sinai Nadav and Avihu sinned by irreverently indulging in food and drink while gazing at Hashem. Rashi (24;10) states that they deserved death for this sin but Hashem pushed it off until later so as to not mar the joy of the giving of the torah. 
 
Rabbi Yochanan Zweig explains that the reason why Rashi (16;1) refers to Nadav and Avihu as sick people is because they were supposed to be dead. They were on the brink of death and were therefore considered half way there. However, interestingly, they only died because of their second sin (entering the sanctuary while intoxicated by wine). If not for that sin then they would have been spared. 
 
Additionally, we could now understand that Nadav and Avihu didn’t simply die because they entered the sanctuary while intoxicated by wine–rather, it was a combination of their 2 sins (the first one being drinking and eating at Mount Sinai). Therefore, Rashi (16;1) used an analogy where a person died due to a combination of 2 factors, for that perfectly fits the case of Nadav and Avihu who died to the the combination of 2 sins.
 
Summary: Rabbi Yochanan Zweig explains that Rashi (16;1) compares Nadav and Avihu to sick people because they were on the brink of death. At Mount Sinai they irreverently indulged in food and drinks while gazing at Hashem and therefore deserved death (Rashi: Shemos, 24;10). However, Rashi relates that Hashem pushed it off so as to not mar the joy of the giving of the torah. In the end, it was only due to a combination of their 2 sins that they were put to death. Similarly, in Rashi’s analogy (see: 16;1), it was only due to the combination of the man being sick and his failure to follow his doctor’s directions that he passed away.
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