Shemos, 4:13: “He (Moshe) replied, ‘Please, my Lord, send through whomever you will send!’  The wrath of HaShem burned against Moshe and He said, ‘Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levi?  I know that he will surely speak; moreover, behold, he is going out to meet you and when he sees you he will rejoice in his heart.”

Shemos, 28:15, 30: “And you will make a Breastplate of Judgment (Choshen HaMishpat) of woven design…Into the Breastplate of Judgment you will place the Urim V’Tumim and they will be on Aaron’s heart when he comes before HaShem…”

Gemara, Shabbos, 139a: And Rebbe Milai says, ‘In the merit of, ‘and he (Aaron) will rejoice in his heart’ he merited to have the Choshen HaMishpat on his heart.

In Parshas Tetzaveh we find the Mitzva to make the priestly garments for Aaron and his sons. The regular Kohen’s uniform consisted of four garments and the uniform of the Kohen Gadol consisted of eight garments. One of these eight garments was a breast plate known as the Choshen HaMishpat which was worn on his heart.  The Gemara^[1] explains that Aaron merited to wear the Choshen HaMishpat on his heart, because of the fact that “he rejoiced in his heart” when he saw his younger brother, Moshe Rabbeinu,return to Mitzrayim as the newly-appointed leader, even though it meant that Moshe would be replacing Aaron himself as the leader.  The Choshen HaMishpat was not just an item of clothing, it also contained the Urim V’Tumim.

The commentaries offer various explanations as to why Aaron’s joy in his heart in particular was the source of the merit that he wore the Choshen HaMishpat.  The Maharsha explains that since Aaron was happy in his heart, measure for measure, he merited to wear the Choshen HaMishpat that covered the heart.  The Maharsha adds that this comes to stress that he was not just externally happy, rather he was totally glad in his heart about the success of Moshe Rabbeinu even though it meant that he would no longer be the leader.

The Drashas HaRan^[2] discusses the deeper symbolism of the connection between Aaron’s joy and the Choshen HaMishpat.  As mentioned above, the Choshen HaMishpat also contained the Urim V’Tumim.  What exactly was the Urim V’Tumim? If the Jewish people had some type of question of national import, they would go to the Kohen Gadol, he would pose the question to the Urim V’Tumim, and the lights of the letters on the Choshen haMishpat would illuminate in such a way as to spell out the miraculously communicated answer. Thus, the Urim V’Turim was basically just a drop below the level of Prophecy in terms of the Kohen Gadol receiving HaShem’s word.   The Ran notes that Prophecy is not something that we associate with the Kohen Gadol.  His role was in the realm of Avodah, while Prophets were in a totally separate category.   This begs the questions of why here is the Kohen Gadol in particular, the person who is chosen to communicate with HaShem via the Urim V’Tumim in a form of pseudo-prophecy?

The Ran answers that it is because of Aaron’s response to the news that Moshe Rabbeinu would be the leading Prophet of the Jewish people in place of Aaron.  Chazal teach that Aaron did have Prophecy in the eighty years that he led the Jewish people before Moshe Rabbeinu became leader.^[3]  Thus, it would have been understandable if Aaron would feel some small tinge of pain that he was losing his position as leading Prophet.  However, on the contrary, Aaron demonstrated true happiness when he greeted Moshe after Moshe’s assumption of leadership and Prophecy amongst the nation. As a measure for measure reward for this joy, Aaron merited the reward that he received prophecy as well through his control of the Urim V’Tumim.

Thus far we have seen how Aaron felt absolutely no jealousy towards Moshe, and was as happy at Moshe’s success as his own.  Do we see that Moshe reciprocated this attitude?  Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt”l^[4] brings a number of sources to prove that he did.  He cites the verse in Tehillim^[5], “A Song of Ascents to David: Behold how good and how pleasant is it when brothers dwell together in unity. Like the precious oil upon the head running down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down over his garments.” The Midrash^[6] states that David HaMelech is referring to the brothers, Moshe and Aaron.  The Midrash notes the double usage of the word ‘beard’ and it explains that this come to teach that when the oil ran down the beard of Aaron, it was as if it also ran down the beard of Moshe himself because Moshe was as one with his brother.  Thus, Moshe viewed Aaron’s joy as the same as his own.

Rav Shmuelevitz uses this idea to explain an interesting Gemara^[7].  At the Burning Bush, after Moshe’s persistent refusal to lead the Jewish people, the Torah relates that HaShem grew angry^[8], but the Torah does not seem to tell us of any consequence of this anger, or punishment to Moshe.  Accordingly, Rav Yehoshua Ben Korcha understands that this is the only place in the Torah where there is no punishment after HaShem’s anger.  However, Rebbe Yosi disagrees and says that the very next words show that there was a punishment: HaShem says, “Is there not Aaron your brother the Levi? I know that he will surely speak”.  Rebbe Yosi explains that by calling Aaron a Levi, HaShem was alluding the fact that up until then Aaron was supposed to be a mere Levi while Moshe would be the Kohen Gadol, but as a punishment for his refusal to listen to HaShem’s instructions, Moshe would no longer be the Kohen Gadol and Aaron would assume that role.   The simple understanding of this dispute is that they disagree as to whether the words describing Aaron as a Levi was an allusion to Moshe losing the Kehunah to his brother.  However, Rav Shmuelveitz suggests that everyone agrees that HaShem was alluding to this punishment, but Rebbe Yehoshua Ben Korcha understands that Moshe was on such a level of unity with his brother, that he felt absolutely no pain at the fact that Aaron would be the Kohen Gadol in his place.

Needless to say, Moshe and Aaron reached an incredibly high level of absence of jealousy and joy at each other’s success.  However, in truth, this is not considered a Middos Chassidus – the Ramban understands that this is a fundamental part of the obligation of the fundamental Mitzva of ‘V’ahavta lereyecha kemocha’.  He holds that the essence of the Mitzva is to want what’s best for one’s fellow, and to remove any vestiges of jealousy at his fellow’s success. Moshe and Aaron perfected this Mitzva – may we merit to emulate them.

^[1] Shabbos, 139a.

^[2] Drashas HaRan, 3, cited by Rav Yissachar Frand shlit’a.

^[3] Midrash Tanchuma, Shemos, 27, cited by Rashi, Shmuel Aleph, 2”27, Dh: Hanigleh:

^[4] Sichos Mussar, Maamar 51.

^[5] Tehillim, 133:1-2.

^[6] Vayikra Rabbah, 3:6.

^[7] Zevachim, 102a, also cited by Rashi, Shemos, 4:14, Dh:Vayichar Af:

^[8]Shemos, 4:13.

I remember the wedding of a good friend of mine, Rabbi Dovid Kaplan, who is now a major maggid shiur in Yerushalayim. During one of the lively dances, a bochur came in dribbling a basketball, passed it to Dovid and signaled him to continue the dribble, but Dovid modestly tossed the ball back. Then the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel, picked up the basketball and threw it to Dovid with a twinkle in his eye. This time, Dovid started to dribble the ball with the speed and precision of a superstar player! Few people there knew Dovid had been an accomplished player in high school. The Rosh Yeshiva knew…and sent him the message that he should be proud of all his talents and use them well. As a talmid, Dovid was a star in Gemara learning but he could be a star dribbler on the dance floor also, to enhance his great simcha.

One who has a distinct quality or predisposition can’t ignore it. Rather, he needs to properly channel the talent. In Parshas Bo, Pharaoh initially grants permission to the Jewish nation to leave Egypt to serve Hashem in the desert. Yet, he included a foreboding statement: “Hashem should be with you when I send you and your children—see that there is evil in front of you.”1.1KHas the travel ban harmed Israel’s relations with the diaspora? – Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldsteinhttps://player.adtelligent.com/prebid/iframe.html?adid=941ca08193f9e5fd&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fjewishlink.news

Rashi quotes the Midrash, which explains that Pharaoh was telling Moshe, “I am a master astrologist and I see a star called Ra’ah—evil—that is looming over the Jewish nation in the desert.” This is a sign of bloodshed—indicating that the Jews will all perish in the desert. Therefore, Pharaoh claimed that the Jewish nation was better off staying in Egypt. Rashi notes that this is exactly the scenario Moshe conveyed to Hashem after the Sin of the Golden Calf. Moshe entreated Hashem not to kill the Jews since people in Egypt would think Pharaoh’s astrological prediction was true: the Jews were doomed from the start of the redemption! So Hashem suspended the decree until klal Yisrael entered Eretz Yisrael and Yehoshua performed a bris milah (circumcision) on all the male Jews and the blood of the milah replaced the decree of blood on the Jews.

But why not just abolish the decree altogether? The Sefer Toras Chaim explains that Hashem never negates His decree; rather, when appropriate, He replaces it with something not harmful. We see this in the moving prayer Unesaneh Tokef on Rosh Hashanah. “Teshuvah, tefillah and tzedakah…ma’avirin es roah hagezeirah,” simply translated as “repentance, prayer and charity remove the evil of the decree.” While the word ma’avir is loosely translated as “remove,” it more precisely means to trade in or exchange. The harmfulness of a decree is exchanged for something more positive when the individual engages in repentance, prayer and charity.

Rav Yonasan Eibeshitz explains that the Gemara says a person who is born under the mazal (astrological influence) of ma’adim (Mars, the red planet) is predisposed to a measure of bloodshed. They will be either a mohel, butcher or murderer. When Pharaoh, with his astrological insight, foresaw the star of blood over the Jewish nation in the desert, he knew the Jews would not perform bris milah while they were in the desert and they would not be slaughtering animals for their own consumption, so the only other option for the sign of blood meant bloodshed for the Jewish nation. This was only prevented by Moshe’s prayers, which led the Almighty to exchange the bloodshed decree for the blood of bris milah when the Jews entered Eretz Yisrael.

Rav Shlomo Wolbe notes that when the Gemara lists the options for the person born under the mazal (star) of ma’adim, it lists only certain related options for a profession involving blood: a mohel or a butcher. Otherwise, a more evil option (murderer) may ensue. The Gemara is teaching us that we cannot dismiss our tendencies. What we need to do is channel them for good use. For example, many children are very active and find sitting still in school very difficult. They need to be given activities or learning approaches that channel their active natures. Denying who they are will only worsen their school experience.

Hashem gives each of us many talents, and programs our every inclination. Parents and teachers have the opportunity to help shape and nurture the unique attributes of their charges into ways to serve Hashem and to fulfill each person’s fullest potential.

Shemos, 12:21-23: “And Moshe called to all the Elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Draw forth (mishchu) and take yourselves one of the flock for your families, and slaughter the Pesach offering.  You shall take a bundle of hyssop and dip it into the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with some of the blood that is in the basin, and as for you, no man shall leave the entrance of his house until morning.  HaShem will pass through to smite Mitzrayim and He will see blood that is on the lintel and the two doorposts, and HaShem will pass over the entrance and He will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses to smite.

Rabbeinu Bechaye, Dh: Mishchu: “…Because the descent to Mitzrayim was through meshicha(drawing), as it says, “And they drew (veyimshechu) and brought out Yosef”…”

The Plague of the First-born was the last and most severe of all the Ten Plagues.  There is a notable difference between the build up to this Plague and all the others.  This is the only Plague where the Jewish people had to perform a Mitzva before the Plague took place.  They were commanded to slaughter a sheep, dip its blood on the doorposts, and to eat the sheep with one’s family as part of the Korban Pesach.  The ostensible reason for this was so that the Jewish people would have a merit to not be harmed by the Plague.  The obvious question is why did they not need to do any kind of Mitzvos before any of the other Plagues? A simple answer is that this final plague was the main plague that actually enabled the Jews to finally leave Mitzrayim, whereas the others were more to teach the world about the existence of G-d. In order to merit actually leaving Mitzrayim, the Jews needed a merit, and so they were given this Mitzva. 

However, questions remain – firstly, what was the significance of the details of this specific Mitzva that served as the key to enabling the Jews to finally leave Mitzrayim?  In addition, the Chikrei Lev^[1]asks that if the purpose of leaving was to have Mitzvos why wasn’t it enough to slaughter the sheep and dip the blood before the Plague, but to eat the Korban Pesach after the Plague – indeed, the reason for the Mitzva of eating the Korban Pesach is a remembrance that HaShem skipped over the houses of the Jews during the Plague – but that hadn’t even happened yet, so surely it would have made more sense to eat from the Korban after the Plague?

The Chikrei Lev makes a fascinating suggestion that answers all these questions.  He points out that Chazal emphasize that there was a specific sin committed by the ancestors of the Jewish people that resulted directly in the Galus Mitzrayim and needed to be rectified before the Jewish people could end this Galus.  That is the sin of Mechiras Yosef:  One source is a Gemara in Shabbos that notes that because of Yaakov’s favoritism to Yosef, which led to Mechiras Yosef, the Jewish people had to be slaves in Mitzrayim.^[2] Since the Galus Mitzrayim began as a result of this sin, the Jewish people had to rectify it before they could leave.  Hence, before the final Plague which would enable them to leave, they had to first do certain actions that would serve as a tikkun for the various aspects of the sin of selling Yosef.

The Chikrei Lev then goes through a number of details of the Korban Pesach where there is a clear parallel to details of Mechiras Yosef, but this time in reverse as the positive actions would serve as a rectification of the negative actions done back then. 

The first most striking example is cited by Rabbeinu Bechaye.  In the command to take a sheep for the Korban Pesach, the Torah uses the enigmatic word, mishchu.  The meaning of this word is unclear and the commentaries offer a number of interpretations for it’s meaning.  Rabbeinu Bechaye focuses on a different aspect of the word – he notes that it is the same word as used in Mechiras Yosef – ‘veyimshechu’ – for when the brothers pulled Yosef out of the pit.  He says that this positive meshicha of the Mitzva serves in contrast to the negative meshicha of hundreds of years earlier.

Another parallel is that the people had to dip the agudas azov (bundle of hyssop) into blood.  This corresponds to when the brothers dipped Yosef’s coat in blood to show that he had been killed.  The Chikrei Lev continues that there is a very strong emphasis on the fact that the Korban Pesach should be eaten as a family, united.  This serves to rectify the terrible split in the family of Yaakov Avinu.  And finally, we can now answer why it was necessary to eat from the Korban before, not after the Tenth Plague.  This served as a tikkun for the fact that the brothers calmly sat to eat after they had thrown Yosef into the pit.  Measure for measure, to fix this eating that was done in a state of disunity, each family had to eat together in unity, to show that each family can be united. 

The family nature of Pesach continues to this very day, with strong emphasis on the family getting together for the Seder and the fathers passing on the Mesora of Yetsias Mitzrayim to the children.  Moreover, the emphasis on unity is not limited to the family – there is a special Minhag to give Kimcha d’pischa for our struggling brethren, and right at the beginning of the Seder we invite the needy to come and eat with us.

Sadly, we do not have the Korban Pesach at this time, but Pesach still reminds us of the importance of unity in the nation in general and in the family in particular.  It is unfortunately all too common that family tensions can fester and ultimately lead to unpleasantness or worse.  This can develop for many reasons, such as jealousy, or arrogance, but very often, disagreements over money are the cause.  It is essential to consider that no matter how much money may be at stake, and how justified one may feel he is (normally both parties have the same level of self-justification), is it more important than keeping family unity?  Fractures between families have numerous negative ramifications and on reflection, most people realize that far outweigh any monetary losses.  The Mitzvos involved with the Korban Pesach remind us that we were only able to leave Mitzrayim when we could be unified as a nation and as families – may we all merit to internalize   this lesson in our own lives.

^[1] Chikrei Lev, Shemos, Parshas Bo, Maamar 9.  Much of the basis of this Dvar Torah is from this Maamar.

^[2] Shabbos, 10b.

https://aishhaolam.com/rav-genechovsky-zt%22l

https://aishhaolam.com/reb-chaim-shlita