פרשת שמיני תשכ"ה - היום השמיני

And it came to pass on the eighth day, that Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel;

ולזקני ישראל AND TO THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL, to inform them that it was by the express command of God that Aaron was entering the Sanctuary and ministering in the high-priesthood, so that they might not say: “He is entering on his own authority, unbidden.”

And Moses said: ‘This is the thing which the LORD commanded that ye should do; that the glory of the LORD may appear unto you.’

Moshe had said I have already explained regarding “I asked her” [Genesis 24:47] that the verb is in the past perfect tense, as it is here. Moshe had already told them what God commanded — that they must offer a goat, and a bullock, and a lamb, and an ox, and a ram — prior to the appearance of the Glory of God (i.e., the fire on the altar).

And the meaning of "And speak to the Israelites, saying..." is that Aaron should say thus to them. Because God's will was that Aaron be commanded in the name of God, and that he offer sacrifices to magnify God in the eyes of the people. And the correct meaning of "And speak to the Israelites" is - you, and the elders who were mentioned. That thus should they say to Israel, just like "Moses then summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go, pick out..." (Exodus 12:21) Or [another explanation is], he said to each one of the elders: "Speak to the Israelites." And the meaning of the section, "He said to Aaron: 'Take...'" [is that] He said to the elders, "Speak to the Israelites, saying..." Because one who speaks to many addresses each one with his command, as with "At that time I charged you, saying...You must go as shock-troops..." (Deuteronomy 3:18) And there are many examples in Deuteronomy. But R. Ibn Ezra said (in verse 6) that the meaning of, "Moses said: 'This is what the LORD has commanded that you do,'" is that Moses already said to them, "This is what...". But if so, it is possible that the meaning of these verses is thus: "Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel"..."Moses said: 'This is what the LORD has commanded' me'that you do, that the Presence of the LORD may appear to you.'"..."He said to Aaron: 'Take a calf"..."And speak to the Israelites, saying: Take a he-goat." And [he spoke] briefly at the outset, and he explained later. But this is not correct. Rather, after he mentioned the sacrifices to them, and they took what was commanded, Moses returned and said to them, "This is was the LORD has commanded that you do." That they should offer the sacrifices in the order they were commanded. And afterward, the Presence would appear to them. And once he said, "For today the LORD will appear to you," he returned and said that God will appear to them in God's glory. And these sacrifices are not mentioned in the section "This is what you shall do to them in consecrating them to serve Me as priests." (Exodus 29)

And Moses said: ‘This is the thing which the LORD commanded that ye should do; that the glory of the LORD may appear unto you.’

זה הדבר אשר צוה ה׳ תעשו, "This is the thing G'd commanded you should do." What precisely does the Torah refer to by the word הדבר? Rashi explains that the reference is to Aaron's offering. [our editions of Rashi on the Torah do not have a commentary by Rashi on this verse. Ed.] This is not the plain meaning of the verse seeing that it addresses the Israelites, i.e. תעשו, (pl) and not Aaron. Perhaps Rashi referred to words in the previous verse: ויקרבו כל העדה ויעמדו לפני השם, that "the whole congregation drew near and stood in the presence of G'd." The Torah was careful there to write in the "presence of G'd," instead of "in front of the Tent of Meeting." The words were altogether superfluous seeing the Torah mentions that all this occured in front of the Tent of Meeting. We may therefore assume that in verse 5 the Torah describes the spiritual preparations made by the people to appear in the presence of the Lord. They achieved a spiritual niveau which made them fit to be in the presence of G'd. When Moses observed this, he added of his own accord in verse 6: "this is the thing which G'd commanded you should do;" Moses told the people that they should always remain on such a spiritual plane that they would be fit to be in G'd's presence. David spoke about this in Psalms 16,8: שויתי ה׳ לנגדי תמיד, "I am ever mindful of the Lord's presence." When doing this he could be assured of what is written in the second half of that verse: כי מימיני בל־אמוט, "so that He (i.e. Torah) is at my right hand and I (David) will never be shaken." The reward for such a spiritual preparation is "the glory of the Lord may appear to you." Another general meaning of the term לפני השם is that there should not be a curtain or barrier between Israel and G'd; Isaiah perceives of the sins of the Jewish people as constituting such a barrier (compare Isaiah 59,2). Accordingly, our verse reports that the Israelites were at peace with their G'd at that time enabling them to appear in the presence of the Lord.

And Moses said unto Aaron: ‘Draw near unto the altar, and offer thy sin-offering, and thy burnt-offering, and make atonement for thyself, and for the people; and present the offering of the people, and make atonement for them; as the LORD commanded.’

Approach the altar. Aharon saw the altar as the shape of an ox and was afraid of it. Moshe approached him and said, “Aharon, my brother, fear not from what you are afraid. Firm your resolve and draw near to it.” That is why it says, “Approach the altar” and then (v. 8) “Aharon approached” — it was done with swiftness. The reason for this is because Aharon was holy to Hashem and he had no sin besides the Sin of the Golden Calf, consequently, the Sin of the Golden Calf was foremost in his thoughts, as it says, “My sin is before me always” (Tehillim 51:5). Therefore, it seemed to him as though the form of a calf was preventing his atonement. Moshe told him, “Firm your resolve” and do not be so humble, for Hashem has already accepted your deeds.