Parshat Pinchas 5785
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha the different karbanos brought in the Beis Hamikdash every day and on Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, and the Chagim. This section is preceded by Moshe Rabbeinu asking Hashem to appoint a leader to succeed him, hoping to pass on the leadership to his sons. As the pasuk says (Chapter 27, Pasuk 16), יפקוד ד' אלקי הרוחות לכל בשר איש על העדה. Hashem should appoint a leader over the nation. Hashem responds that He will indeed appoint a leader, but it will be Yehoshua, and not one of Moshe’s sons.
The section of the sacrifices begins with the words (Chapter 28, Pasuk 2), צו את בני ישראל ואמרת אליהם. Rashi comments that Hashem says to Moshe, עד שאתה מצוני על בני, צוה את בני עלי. Rather than you command Me what I should be doing for My children, i.e. יפקוד ד' אלקי הרוחות, command My children, צו את בני ישראל, what they should be doing for Me. Hence, the command for Bnei Yisrael to bring sacrifices.
The Sfas Emes suggests there is a deeper meaning behind this statement of עד שאתה מצוני על בני, צוה את בני עלי. Moshe Rabbeinu was the one who brought down the Torah from the heavens. He was also the one through whom the mahn was sent down. Moshe was the conduit through which Bnei Yisrael received blessing and bounty from up above. This was the life of Bnei Yisrael in the Midbar, and this is why Moshe continued and requested from Hashem that He should provide for Bnei Yisrael again, this time in the form of appointing a leader.
Hashem responds to Moshe, צוה את בני עלי; as Bnei Yisrael are about to enter Eretz Yisrael they need to become accustomed to a new reality. Instead of Hashem continuing to rain down shefa from above, it’s now time for Bnei Yisrael to take the bounty that they have below and raise it back up to Me. This is best expressed in the mitzvah of the Karbanos. We become close to Hashem by taking animals and offering them up to Hashem. While Hashem created the world יש מאין and continued to support us in a similar manner by miraculously providing for us, our job is to respond with אין מיש. We need to take the physical matter we have in our world and bring it back to its source, a place where physical matter doesn’t exist.
The pasuk says (Chapter 28, Pasuk 6), עלת תמיד העשיה בהר סיני. There is a disagreement in the Gemara as to what is the reference to an Olas Tamid being done at Har Sinai (see Chagigah 11B). The Sfas Emes learns that the term העשויה בהר סיני is referencing the fact that Bnei Yisrael said נעשה ונשמע at Har Sinai. נשמע, which means we will study and understand the Torah and the significance of the mitzvos, expresses the notion that Bnei Yisrael will take from above and bring it down below. This is, as we explained, the Avodah of Moshe Rabbeinu, bringing Kedushah down to our world.
But at Har Sinai, something unique happened. Bnei Yisrael said נעשה ונשמע. Bnei Yisrael indicated that their fundamental purpose was נעשה; to do mitzvos with the physical and bring the physical back to its source. And this is best illustrated in the עולת תמיד. Every day taking a sheep, a physical animal, and offering it up as a sacrifice to Hashem.
This dichotomy is expressed in the difference between Moshe and Aharon. Moshe, as we explained, had his purpose in bringing down Kedushah and bracha from the upper world down to our world. In parshat Yisro (Chapter 18, Pasuk 13), the pasuk says the nation stood by Moshe to be judged מן הבקר עד הערב; from the morning to the night. This is because Moshe’s purpose was to bring Torah down from the heavens; from the morning to the night. And this is why Moshe says to Hashem יפקוד ד' אלקי הרוחות. You, Hashem, need to provide a leader for Bnei Yisrael.
Aharon, the Kohen Gadol, was the conduit in the opposite direction. He enabled us to fulfill the mitzvah of the Karbanos. And Aharon is associated with the mitzvah of lighting the Menorah, as it says in parshat Tetzaveh. The pasuk says (Chapter 27, Pasuk 21), יערך אותו אהרן ובניו. And the Menorah is lit מערב עד בוקר. The Sfas Emes teaches that the Avodah of Aharon was from the evening to the morning. His task was to facilitate Bnei Yisrael taking from the evening, the darkness and matter of this world, and lifting it up to the morning; bringing it back to its source. And this, as we explained, is the fundamental point of Avodah. And this is why Hashem says to Moshe, צוה את בני עלי. The Avodah of Bnei Yisrael is in נעשה, the עולת תמיד העשויה בהר סיני. At Har Sinai Bnei Yisrael understood their fundamental purpose of performing mitzvos, which is expressed in the Avodah of the Karbanos, the daily sacrifices brought in the Beis Hamikdash.
Good Shabbos
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