Shmini - Moshe's Admission

You're listening to the weekly para podcast with Ari Goldwag recorded with never ending assistance in bish Israel 5785 2025. This week's part is parini and I'd like to share with you something that we wouldn't think is connected and the way the medish understands it is connected. The very end of chapter 10, the very beginning of chapter 11 of Vayikra, there's an interesting little vignette. We're talking it's parish. It's the eighth day of the of the miluim of the erection of the of the tabernacle of the basikdash of the of the temple. And on that day, so we know sadly there was a sad occasion and there was a happy occasion. The sad occasion was that the two sons of Aru died. It was a happy occasion. It was the dedication, the final standing up of the Mishkan in such a way that it would stay standing. The pre previous seven days it had gone up and gone down and in the process there was a death. The death of these two sons of Aron and Aaron and his two remaining sons sons Allah and they continue to do the service of that first day despite the fact that ordinarily a person who's not person who's an a person who someone has passed away for them not allowed to perform the the service in the in the bdush in the tabernacle but it was necessary of course and here they were permitted to it to do But but the the suk can tell us something very interesting and it's a little bit opaque. So listen carefully here because we're going to get something very very important for us to understand and know and and contemplate. Says there was a particular uh corban a sacrifice that was brought and it was burned. Instead of being eaten, it was burned. Sacrifice was supposed to be eaten or that's what Mosher thought. And and he saw that instead of it being eaten as it was in his mind supposed to be done, it was burned. and Mosher Rabenu got angry at his his nephews at who were the priests and they were the ones who he thought had actually done the burning. Why didn't you eat it in the place where it's supposed to be eaten? It's the holy of holies. It was given to you in order to carry the sins of everyone else in order to atone for them. You did something that will prevent atonement for Israel which is serious because the kohan have a certain they have a responsibility towards their brothers when they're bringing the carbonas they're serving on their behalf. when they stand up and they give blessings to AmI Israel. So they are serving as a conduit for Hashem's blessings to come upon the Jewish people. So he felt that they sherked their responsibility in not doing things properly allowing it to be burned instead of being eaten. He says to them, "Did you not bring the blood in? You're supposed to eat it as I was commanded. Now, they didn't answer anything. Interestingly, did not answer. Responds and says, Aaron took responsibility for what seemed to be the mistake. But he pointed out that it wasn't really a mistake. It was actually correct. Since they were inanim was the one who had done this, not the not the son, not his sons. He was the high priest. So he's the one who did it. Would it be correct for him to eat it? Aron said it in such a respectful way. Would it beem? Is this something that Hashem would want? Would it be good in God's eyes? Such a beautiful way of expressing, is this the will of Hashem? Is this correct for it to be done this way? And Moshe heard it. Moshe heard what Aaron said and he realized that Aaron was correct. They weren't supposed to eat it. It was supposed to be burned. And it was it it was correct in his eyes. He saw that what Aaron said in response was right. Okay. Okay. So, we're going to have to dissect a little bit what went on here. Try to understand it better. But for brevity sake, for the moment, Moshe thought his his nephews had done something wrong. Aaron was the one who did it. Aron said, "It was correct what I did." And Moshe agreed. Interestingly, it's worth pointing out. We'll see at the end of the what's the but hears it. And it was correct in his eyes. It says like a he hears it and is correct in his eyes. He likes it. Why does it have to say he hears it and is correct? Just say it's correct. He he he's like you're right. Why does he have to say that he heard it? We'll see what that what that extra the extra words in the Pik teach us. Now immediately after that it seems to be a completely unrelated topic. Hashem spoke to Moshe and to Aaron and said to them to be to be said to them. Rashi tells us and it's the medish we're going to see. It was specifically to his sons. They also merited this revelation. the revelation that's going to be that's going to continue here. And we'll see why. And that's to do with the previous story. That's why they're connected. There's a revelation here, a specific command from Hashem that has to do with which animals are kosher and which animals are uncosher, which is worth contemplating. What is the connection between the first story and the second story? I don't know if I'm going to get into that particular point so much. But there was a revelation that was specific for Moshe and Aaron and his sons. And it's also going to be given to the rest of the children of Israel. This is the the animals that you're allowed to eat. But we'll see in the majin story with that Mosher Raenu accused them of having done something wrong. They didn't respond. That's the hint. They didn't respond. Iron responded. What's how does that serve to give them this merit of having the revelation a direct communication from Hashem about which animals are permitted to be eaten and which are not. So let's study together the maj will hopefully be able to understand it well. our which we just read says in as an introduction to what's permitted to eat, what's not permitted to eat. Hashem speaks to motion to say to them to say as often does he brings a mish that's going to teach us something about what we're studying in the par says the the proper the ear that listens can hear the The muser, the rebuke, the direction of life. What's this? This ear that hears the the the direction, the spiritual direction of life. It's the sons of Aon. So the sons of Aaron, they didn't respond when Mosher Rabenu spoke and said that they had done something wrong. They didn't say anything. They just listened. In the midst that the continuation of this mish in proverbs is in the midst of the wise people it rests. They had just experienced right what's the resting here that we're speaking of? The resting of death. They had just experienced their brothers passed away. They had they were so to speak resting in their resting place. They merited that they who remained and their uncle and their father all had a revelation of Hashem directed at them. And we know this because the puss tells us that Mosher Rabenu dash he saw it. He wanted to understand what happened here. Why was this why was the meat not eaten? Why was it burned? Ma dash word for seeking. He sought to understand what happened. It says it doubly. It says that he saw it. He saw it means that he really sought after it. Why does it say it doubly? If you did the if you're bringing the bring the sacrifice, why didn't you eat it? If you were not planning on eating it, why did you slaughter it in the first place? So he was saying, he saying either way, if you're going to do it right, do it right. If you're not going to do it right, don't do it. So he got angry. Interesting. But of he got angry at them and they didn't speak back. They were quiet. Now the maj gives us a different a different we could call it a tangent but it's it's also essential leanwood something we can learn out from the story of when Mosherenu got angry over here. So something something interesting happened which maybe we wouldn't expect. He got angry and he forgot the Aron had to correct him. Aren had to say I'm sorry Adoni Misha my master you're mistaken. I know you're the one who taught me the and you're the one who knows the you heard it from Hashem directly but we're not supposed to eat this. We're supposed to burn it. And Moshe responds and says you're right. But why did he make the mistake in the first place? Mosh why did he need to be corrected by his brother Aon it's because he got angry when a person gets angry they can lose information that they know spiritual knowledge that they have the is the direction that Hashem has for us about how we should behave when a person gets angry they lose that connection say to It's if you break if the person is so angry that he breaks things. So it's like he served idolatry. It means that he's disconnected from God. He's making his own opinion. I want it to be my way, not Hashem's way. I want things to be different than they are. That that anger comes out of a person's ego, out of a person's gya. When a person's in ga, it causes anger. Things aren't the way they want it to be. They lose a connection from Hashem. Which means to say that the way things are is Hashem's will. And if we're fighting the way things are, we're disconnected from Hashem. And the result of that is that he forgets the cost. There are three places where got angry and he forgot the now I want to point out we're going to actually see this in all these three examples that Mosha got angry but he had forgotten the before he got angry. It's very interesting, right? Mish forgot the he says something to Aaron and his sons and he gets angry. He gets angry but he had forgotten before. It almost sounds like if I get angry then I'm going to forget the but really I forgot the first forgot first. It's worth contemplating. Let's see how it plays out in in the other circumstances. There are three places where he got angry and he forgot in regards to Shabas, in regards to the the the metal vessels, in regards to our story here where Aaron and his sons were inim they were they had just lost a close family member. Bashabis was the story with Shabas Shane. got angry because the Jewish people instead of listening he had he had told him that you're going to have double portions on Friday of the month and all of the days you're only going to have you're going to have a single portion. So Mosher Rabeno got angry that uh they they that they had it's not clear to me. I'm sorry I didn't check up this particular uh situation here in Shrimos, but I believe that it has to do with the fact that on Shamas they went out to collect even though they already had enough on Friday. They had double portion enough for Shamas. People went out. Mosher Rabenu hadn't warned them that they shouldn't go out. He told him that they have a double portion on Friday, but he didn't say that it's not going to fall on Shabas. He forgot to say it. And then on Shabas when they went out and they collected, he got angry at them. And only afterwards, as a result of them making the mistake was that then the revealed and he and he said it over to them that they're not allowed to go out on Shabas to collect the But how did that mistake happen? Why did he forget the hala to tell it to them in the first place? cuz he got angry again here. He gets angry later. We forgot before. Okay, we also find it in regards to the metal vessels. Says they came back from the war. He got angry at them. Got angry at them. They brought back spoils. They hadn't disposed of stuff properly that was supposed to be disposed of. He got angry at them. He forgot to tell them. As a result, he got angry and he forgot to tell them of metal vessels that they need to be need to be sent through the fire to purify them. Elazer was the one interestingly who in in our story it was Aaron who gave him the heads up on what's the tr the the correct but in that story it was the ended up coming through not through Moshe he forgot it because of his anger. Leivo. So I'm not sure what this means. He said, I'm not sure if this is a question or a statement. The theim here brings explains that he said it he didn't want to say it in his own name because of his humility. He didn't want to say that he was saying over the he made it sound like Mosher told him. But the truth is that Hashem gave him that revelation forgot it and it was given back the the was given back to Moshe by his nephew Allah. And of course ours he got angry in our story in during the meal where the the carbon was burned and it wasn't eaten. He forgot that an onion is not allowed to eat kachchun. Okay. So, so there's this foundational thing here, a deep idea. If a person gets angry, they lose the and and it seems to work retroactively. He got angry now, but he forgot it before. And to me, that would seem to indicate that when a person gets angry, this is important. And of course when we talk about we're talking about the the anomal who is the most humble person of all people in the world. Let's understand that even the most humble person in the whole world is a human being and can make a mistake and can get upset. It's important for us to understand that because we're all human and we make mistakes and we get upset. But we have to understand where it comes from. It comes from our ego. It comes from our belief that we need to control things, right? And it's a and I was thinking, you know, it's like a danger in in a person who's a person who's trying to do Hashem's will, trying to do it right. We can grab so hard on to trying to do it right that that we can make a mistake that we can enter into ga even there. And we have to be gentle with ourselves. We're trying to do what's right. We're trying to do what's right. Let's try to do what's right. to be gentle even on of course we have to do what's right but we have to be careful to to do it with love to to serve hashem out of love not out of fear and not out of anger and so when a person gets angry it's really a result of something that's deep inside of the person the controlling factor of the human being and that was there before right we're all human we make these mistakes I keep saying this thing I know put us in this world to make mistakes and to recognize the mistakes and to fix those mistakes and as we'll see in the continuation of the medish not only to make the mistakes and fix the mistakes but to admit our mistakes to others. Let's see the measures together. AR answered back with a with a certain with which which is a little bit tough. Aron answered back not with disrespect but with firmness. carbon. He said to him said his son's died today and is he supposed to bring a carbon today. So I bring the carbon but do I eat from the kim? Yes. He responded with firmness but also with respect developed or he dioned if he de developed it but he said to him which is more which is more lenient a person who's an a person who someone has died for him he's not allowed to eat it. So certainly the carbon which is which is more which is more stringent can't be eaten says heard which we pointed out earlier didn't need to say that he heard it but he agreed with it. He said this is correct. So why does it need to say he heard and he said it's correct? Let's just say it's correct. Put out a call. He sent out a message. He He put on the loudspeaker and he sent it to every single person. He wanted everyone to hear. But I made a mistake in regards to this law. My brother, my brother Aaron came and taught me the correct. So he got angry. He forgot the Aron corrects him of course with all humility. And Raben when he hears the humility we could say of Aon. He says I made a mistake. Not only does he say I made a mistake to his brother and to his nephews, he puts out a call to everyone to know I made a mistake. Yeah, I'm human. Yeah, we're here to make mistakes and to admit our mistakes and to admit them in front of others. You know sometimes we want to give direction to other people and there's a very humble way to give direction is to say I made this mistake too. One way is like Aaron does what is this really right? Is it really correct? As Aron says it, that's humble. But another humble way is to say, I made this mistake too and admitting it. And when I admit to my mistakes, it it takes the energy out of the mistake and I'm not likely to repeat that mistake again. It's much less likely. Now the message finishes off but he was quiet now the result of this beautiful story gets upset that part is not so pretty right gets upset he forgets the nephews don't respond it wasn't their problem they didn't make the mistake or the supposed mistake they didn't say anything back they were just quiet. They let it pass. They didn't get upset back. Aron is the one who responds with so much humility. And Raenu's eyes are opened. And as a result of this whole beautiful story, the humility of these incredible paragonss of greatness, the result of the humility of Aaron and and his sons and Mosher Rabenu's response and admitting the mistake publicly, the result was that Akadeshu says that's where I want to reveal myself. You want to know you want to know my will. You guys are are humble. That's where Hashem reveals. This is what you're allowed to eat and what you're not allowed to eat. It was to say to them to the ones we were just speaking about this revelation came a new revelation about what you're allowed to eat and what you're not allowed to eat which has to do perhaps I'm not going to get into it you know deeply because I didn't have the opportunity to contemplate this completely but the food that I eat the animals that weed has to do with our inner animal nature, right? An animal has only one nature. It's like crab, get what I need. It's instincts. The lion goes to to kill the deer. And that's the animal instinct within us. And the food that I eat means that that animal becomes part of me. But there's certain animals that I'm I need to limit what I eat. to limit the animal within me. That was a revelation to a because they had limited the egoic part of themselves, the animal within them. And and they had been exalted because of it. And Hashem says, "That's where I want to manifest. This is where I want to reveal more opportunities to limit the animal within you." And that's through the food that we eat which needs to be done in a way which is in conssonance with Hashem's will. So bottom line bottom line here and they're human too and they make mistakes. Can we admit our mistakes? Can we be humble in the face of someone else who makes a mistake as they talk to us? Can I be humble in the face of that mistake? Someone says to me, I did something wrong and they're mistaken. But can I be patient with them? Allah was so patient. Aaron was so patient with Misha and Moshe responds with recognition of his mistake. This is just incredible. It's so beautiful. I want to bless you. Ask you to bless me. Hashem should help us to remember that we're here for mistakes. We're going to make those mistakes because we're human. We have a animal side and we have a spiritual side, an angelic side. And the path in to Hashem should help us to see that the path in to bringing that angelic side to convert the animal side into angel is through making those mistakes. Yeah. Being human should help us to recognize our mistakes and not kill ourselves for our mistakes but admit our mistakes gently. And Hashem should help us to be able to be patient with other people's mistakes gently. Hashem should help us to have that humility. And Hashem should help us that if we get angry and we forget the we forget our connection, Hashem should help us to come back to that place of connection to him. Hashem should help us to be to merit that he should reveal himself through us through our lives so that we can have more and more connection to him. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful Shabas. This podcast was made possible through the gracious donations of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.argoldwag.com or search on iTunes Arig Goldwag. [Music]