The results of arguing with G-d can
be quite disastrous, as Moshe Rabbeinu was to find out at the
beginning of this week’s parshah. The dedication of the Mishkan
forms the opening event of Shemini, and we are told that on the
eighth day Moshe summons his brother Aharon together with his
sons to prepare the latter for induction as Cohen Gadol. We are
left ignorant as to when this eighth day was on the calendar –
in fact, this is the subject of an argument that involves
Tennaim and Rishonim, and the dates being argued are the 1st of
Nissan and the 8th of Nissan. Be that as it may, it is still on
the eighth day that the ceremony climaxes with Aharon’s official
induction.
Why on the eighth day, and not on
the first? And shouldn’t, if anyone become the Cohen Gadol, the
appointment of Moshe Rabbeinu be the more fitting candidate?
This brings us to where we began. For many chapters ago, in
Parshat Shemot, G-d wishes to appoint Moshe to go to Pharoah and
argue for the release of the Jewish people from Egypt. Moshe
avers, and wishes to turn down the Divine offer. G-d insists in
His opinion, and Moshe insists on his. For seven days there is
an argument between the Divine and the one to become the
greatest leader of the Jewish people as to whether that title
would ever evolve based on Moshe’s stubborn refusals. Finally
G-d relents and informs Moshe that Aharon will speak for
him…..but that as a consequence, Moshe would lose the position
of becoming the Kohen Gadol of the Jewish people.
Have you ever read in the newspapers
the recipients of the latest draws of the Powerball and
MegaMillions sweepstakes? One can only feel happy for them, and
hope they will not allow the money to destroy their lives. But
if someone were to say to you that you would have won the
lottery ticket, but for the fact that……Well, never having ever
had that money or the experience of being a winner does not make
much of an impression to being told what you have lost, for
never having had it, I don’t know what I lost. But had I been
the recipient of the MegaMillion lottery, received the
stratospheric check, dreamt of all the things I was now going to
do with my prize, only to be told 8 days later that there was a
terrible mistake, and I would have to return all the
winnings………now I know what I am going to lose, for it was in my
hand, I felt it, I experienced it, I dreamt, and I planned, and
now it’s all going to go!!
That is the meaning of “Va-ye-hi
ba-yom hash-mini”: The eighth day of the inauguration of Aharon
into his position is a reflection of the eight days Moshe argued
with G-d. But in order for Moshe to realize what he would be
losing from not having been appointed with the position was to
actually experience the position of Cohen Gadol, and this he did
for the first 7 days…and then on the 8th, he divested himself of
the honor and transferred it now to his brother. For you only
know what you have truly lost when you’ve had it in the first
place to experience, and embrace it as part of your life.
And this is the meaning of the
Midrash Shemuel, when we are told in Pirkei Avot that certain
sins, “motai-in et ha-adam min ha-aolam.” The world from which
one is being extracted here is the world to come. But what’s the
person doing in olam ha-boh in the first place if he has
committed these terrible sins? Answers the Midrash that the
sinner can only realize what he has lost when he goes into olam
ha-boh and experiences it. Now that he knows what it is all
about, he is then taken out of it and will remember for an
eternity what could have been his, if only…..
And that is the meaning of “Va-ye-hi
bayom hash-mini”….for, if only Moshe Rabbeinu hadn’t argued so
much and so long with G-d and had accepted the role as offered,
then the position of Kohen Gadol would have been his for life.
For the punishment of refusing, he gets to taste the role, feel
what it’s like, and just as you are about to fall in love with
it, then divest yourself from it and give it to the next chosen.
For the greatest punishment is not what you never experience in
life – but what you have experienced, enjoyed…only to have it
taken away from you.
Shabbat Shalom!
