פרשת צו

קח את אהרן TAKE AARON — This section was spoken seven days before the final erection of the Tabernacle and so should have been placed before Exodus XL., but a transposition of this kind is quite customary in the Bible, because there is no “earlier” or “later” (no chronological order) in the Torah.

TAKE AARON. “This section [concerning the seven days of consecration of the priests] was said seven days before the [final] erection of the Tabernacle [which took place on the first day of Nisan], for there is no strict chronological order in the narrative of the Torah.” Thus the language of Rashi. But why should we invert the words of the living G-d! Moreover, in the section of On the first day of the first month, He commanded concerning the erection of the whole Tabernacle, the clothing of Aaron and his sons and the anointing of all of them, and there He narrated Moses’ deeds in the matter of the erection of the Tabernacle, but did not mention anything concerning Aaron and his sons till here. And how could it be that He separated one subject into two sections, [as follows from Rashi], placing the later one [i.e., the final erection of the Tabernacle which took place on the first of Nisan, as recorded in the Book of Exodus], before the earlier one [i.e., the seven days of consecration that began on the twenty-third of Adar which He placed here in the Book of Leviticus]!
Rather, the correct interpretation is that we say that Moses was commanded about the erection of the Tabernacle on the twenty-third day of Adar, and he erected it [on that day]. As soon as the Tabernacle stood in its position G-d, blessed be He, Who sitteth upon the cherubim called Moses and commanded him about the actions involved in the bringing of the offerings — all those sections from the beginning of the Book of Vayikra until here. [This was because] He wanted to teach him the actions and statutes of all the offerings before he offered up any of them, since among the initiation-offerings were the sin-offering, burnt-offering and peace-offering, and they could only know all their laws from these sections with which He preceded [to command him]. Afterwards He said to him, Take Aaron and his sons with him etc., to urge him on when the time came for performing what He had told him at first — And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto Me etc., adding here, And assemble thou all the congregation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, so that it should be done in the presence of all of them, that they should know that G-d, blessed be He, chose Aaron and his sons [to minister unto Him].
By way of the proper interpretation of Scripture, Moses was commanded about the building of the Tabernacle prior to the incident of the golden calf [as is the order of these chapters in the Book of Exodus], and when the Holy One, blessed be He, became reconciled to him and promised him that He would cause His Divine Glory to dwell among them, Moses understood of his own accord that the command concerning the Tabernacle remained valid as before, and he then commanded Israel regarding it, as I have explained in the section of Vayakheil. After they had completed the work, he was then told the section of On the first day of the first month shalt thou set up the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting, and he was then told, And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons unto the door of the Tent of Meeting etc. Thus Moses knew that Aaron and his sons also remained in their esteemed and beloved position before G-d. Here He urged them again on the first day of the consecration, at the time of performing the command [And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons etc.] Thus all the sections of the Torah are in chronological order, except that He placed before its sequence the verse, And the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, which in the opinion of our Rabbis was on the eighth day of the initiation, in order to arrange in order the whole matter of the erection of the Tabernacle, it being the customary way of Scripture in all places to finish a subject that it has started to explain.

“Speak to the children of Israel and say, he that offers the sacrifice of his peace offering unto God shall bring his sacrifice to God out of the sacrifice of his peace offerings. His hands shall bring the fire offerings of God, he will bring the fat with the breast, the breast to wave as a wave offering before God.” (Vayikra, 7:29–30)
All of the sacrifices are set according to prayers, which is the service of the heart. Indeed, with all of the (other) sacrifices, “he shall bring his sacrifice … his hands shall bring” is not said, since those who bring the sacrifices do not have a portion in them. With an olah, or ascent offering, even the Cohanim cannot partake of them (as they are burned on the altar in their entirety). With all of the sacrifices and the prayers brought close before God, before they are offered the one bringing them must first remove all negiot (personal motive, partiality), from his side, and concerning this it is said that he shall bring “the fire offerings of God,” meaning to no other than God alone. That is why in this Parsha, which teaches of the eating of sacrifices, the verses mention “fire” several times, for fire teaches of the great fear of God, as it consumes everything. This Parsha is the garment in this world for the River Dinor in the world of Atsulut (emanation).
Therefore before each prayer for any kind of good one could ask from God, one must precede it with the complete acceptance of the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven. This is precisely why we recite the Shema before praying the Amida. The recitation of the Shema hints at the removal of negiot (personal motive, partiality), from the side of man, for the Shema hints that man exists only by God’s will alone. This is as Shlomo haMelech said (Melachim 1, 8:39), “[Man] whose heart You know,” meaning that if this good that you ask for is really for the glory of God, in order to do the will of your Owner, then He will hear you. However, if the good you request contains within it something that would prevent you from serving God, then He will not listen to you.
This is from God’s point of view, but man may go ahead and pray, as long as he first accepts upon himself the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, as mentioned, for truly God desires to improve and not to cast away any prayer of Israel to irrecoverable exile. This notion refers to the rest of the forms of sacrifice, but the Shlamim peace-offering sacrifice teaches that man prays to God that He may allow him to taste of the good that is hidden for him in the world to come. This is because he wants to see his place, to see to whom he is greater in comparison, for he desires a state of spiritual elevation. On this it is said, “he shall bring his offering … his hands shall bring [the fire offerings of God].” This means to deliver over all his requests and prayers to God, and not plead with brazenness, for from this it could happen that he could become indebted to his fellow man. At present he seems to be on a similar level as his fellow, and afterwards he is elevated above him. Yet truly, in the future all of Israel will set in a place as one, and each one will show how he is in some way elevated above the rest of Israel. Nonetheless, each one is “burned by the canopy of his fellow.”
This is as it is in this world, where there are many forms of wisdom, and one shows superiority in this kind, and another in that kind. Each one’s elevation is not equal, but rather according to the value of that in which he shows superiority. And in the future, even though it will all be in the realm of the Torah, still, great matters will be found where one’s kind of elevation is not at all similar to his fellow’s. This is taught through how it is formulated, “his hands shall bring,” meaning with two hands. If a man wants to taste from the good that is reserved for him in the world to come, and asks God to show him his place, then he must be clean. Then if God shows him that he is smaller in stature than someone whom it seemed to him that he was greater than in this world (if he is clean), it will not distress him. But if he does not pray over this matter in this world, it could be that he is greater than his fellow all the while in this world, and in the future he will not be at all distressed that he is now greater than his fellow. This too is a favor of God, who arranged that in this world he should become greater than his fellow. But, if he should want to make certain of this, it could be that he makes certain that he is smaller than his fellow, and it could be that he sinks lower than his fellow.
Thus if he wants to make certain, he may still ask (for elevation) and it will not distress him, since he wanted to know it clearly, as we find with Mordechai (Megillah, 16b), “For at first Mordechai was counted next after four, but afterwards next after five.” (At first it is written [Ezra, 2:2], Who came with Zerubabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordechai, Bilshan, and later it is written [Nechemya, 7:7], Who came with Zerubabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordechai, Bilshan.) This is “and his hands shall bring,” for it is with two hands, right and left. Right, for it could be that he is elevated. Left, for it could be that he is brought low by means of this prayer. And if a man agrees that he wants to make certain, even if he makes certain that he is smaller in stature, it will not trouble him, and he will subdue himself before his fellow who is greater than him. He will be put at ease by knowing clearly where his place is. Then he can bring the slaughter of his Shlamim peace offerings. This is “his hands shall bring”—towards this end. Understand this.