Walking in the ways of Moshe Rabbenu
and Aharon HaKohen
leads straight to the Geula
By Rabbi Shimon Raichik
This week's Torah portion of Achrei begins with Hashem instructing Aharon not to enter into the Holy of Holies except for on Yom Kippur, the day he is required to enter accompanied with the special avodah and korbonos. The first verse also mentions what happened to the two sons of Aharon to serve as a warning that he should be careful not to allow to happen to him what happened to his two sons, Nadav and Avihu.The Ohr HaChayim HaKadosh explains that they expired while drawing so close to Hashem that their neshamos left their bodies. He describes that indescribable experience of drawing close to Hashem as drawing close to the attachment, the pleasantness, the attractiveness, the friendship, the preciousness, the desire and the sweetness until their souls expired. Hashem warned Aharon HaKohen lest the same desire overcome him as well. The message is to achieve a desire to go up (ratzo) but to accompany it with a return back (shuv) into the service of the day. Not just to fly but also to to land.
What is the lesson to each and every one of us today? The Torah is everlasting and applies to everyone in every generation. As the pasuk says; Zos Toras HaOlah, this is the Torah of the Olah. Chazal explain that anyone who is occupied with the study of the olah offering it is as if he had brought the olah offering on the mizbeach in the Beis HaMikdash. On one hand the advantage of the Torah is that it is beyond time and space and in that sense it is greater than mitzvos which relate two specific objects and times with in time and space. Therefore an individual can be outside the Beis HaMikdash and Israel in general. He doesn't have to be a Kohen and it can even the middle of the night when the service is not allowed. Nevertheless, his study of the olah is considered as if he had performed the service in the Beis HaMikdash as if he were a Kohen in the middle of the day!
The Torah is likened to blood which goes all over the body whereas the mitzvos are likened to limbs every one of which is separate from the other. Since the Torah is beyond time and space and the mitzvos are within time and space, how can Torah study replace a practical mitzvah? The answer is that the Torah, while beyond time and space has its effect within the boundaries of time and space. The story of Aharon HaKohen going into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur affects each and everyone of us not just on Yom Kippur but whenever we learn about it in the Torah. Aharon was being given a paradoxical message. On one hand he was being told to enter the Holy of Holies. This entry into the Holy of Holies is an act of unparalleled intimacy and closeness to Hashem. At the same time Aharon is being instructed keep it within a specific range. He was being told by Hashem through Moshe Rabbenu and through his Torah not to get lost in the attachment, the pleasantness, the attractiveness, the friendship, the preciousness, the desire and the sweetness until his soul expires but to also stay focused the specific tasks through his shlichus on behalf of the Jewish people and performing the services and offering the korbonos of Yom Kippur. This is the meaning of the words “Bzos yavo Aharon, with this did Aharon enter.” “This” refers to not entering the Holy of Holies for himself to be close, rather to enter because it is what Hashem wants, and he is fulfilling the will of Hashem.
Moshe Rabbenu on the other hand is on the level of the Torah, as it says “Zichru Toras Moshe Avdi, Remember the Torah of Moshe my servant”. Therefore Moshe Rabbenu just like the Torah itself which has no limits, and therefore was able to enter the Holy of Holies without restriction. Every Jew has this power when he learns the Torah and is connected Moshe Rabbenu. When a person davens deep love for Hashem until the point of “b’kol me with all of one’s might”. A love to this extent is to draw close (ratzo) on the level that is beyond time and space. At the same time we are required to touch our Tefillin at specific times making sure they are in their specific places (shuv). This is the paradox that we bridge with the help of the Torah and with the help of our connection to Moshe Rabbenu.
This reminds me of the story I've told many times about my father, HaRav HaChosid Menachem Shmuel Dovid HaLevi Raichik O.B.M., and about the letter from the Rebbe he carried with him wherever he went. As mentioned before he was told in this letter to be fully involved in his shlichus in Los Angeles. On the other hand he never stop asking to come to New York for Tishrei to be with the Rebbe for Yom Tov, and he never stopped reading that letter and drawing inspiration from it on a daily basis. He did not suffice to limit himself to Los Angeles rather he united it with the closeness and inspiration necessary from the Rebbe as a part of the shlichus. This is because our service is to integrate both aspects; to complete our purpose in this world while simultaneously drawing close. We see this clearly from the way he lived.
We accomplish this in all that we do throughout our daily lives as we focus on fulfilling the will of Hashem, simultaneously drawing as close as possible beyond time and space while fulfilling our purpose in all that we do within time and with in space. This is the most direct path to the ultimate destination, the geula, when the world will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem the waters cover the sea.
A Good Shabbos