Shmini describes the wondrous events of that first day of Nissan, the eighth day of the investiture of the Mishkan.
Our Parasha describes the wondrous events of that first day of Nissan, the eighth day of the investiture of the Mishkan, on which the Mishkan - which had, on each of the preceding seven days, been erected and dismantled - was permanently erected.
The Torah relates: (9:1-6)’It was on the eighth day, Moshe summoned Aaron and his sons, and the elders..He said to Aaron:Take yourself a young bull for a sin-offering and a ram for a burnt- offering..and offer them before Hashem. And to Bnei Israel speak as follows:
Take a he-goat for a sin-offering, and a calf and a sheep..for a burnt-offering. And a bull and a ram for a peace-offering..and a meal offering; for today Hashem appears to you. They took what Moshe had commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and the entire assembly approached and stood before Hashem. Moshe said: This is the thing that Hashem has commanded you to do; then the glory of Hashem will appear to you.’
The Torah then relates that Aaron offered the korbanot, as commanded.
Rav Chaim Friedlander comments:’After Moshe commanded them to offer the korbanot ordained for that auspicious day, he said to them:’This is the thing that Hashem has commanded you to do; then the glory of Hashem will appear to you’, but there is no explanation as to what this required of them.
‘The Ibn Ezra expounds that the psukim are not recorded in their order, and that the pasuk ‘This is the thing..’ was said before the commandment as to the korbanot, and not after it, as written.
‘The Sforno expounds that the psukim are recorded in the order in which they are written, and that the additional words that Moshe said:’This is the thing..’ came to say: In addition to the revelation of the shechina in the Mishkan, by the people performing semicha: resting of their hands, on their korbanot, they would merit the revelation of the shechina עליכם: on them, in fulfillment of ‘I shall dwell in your midst’.’
The Malbim opens, by asking:’What is ‘the thing’ that Hashem has commanded’ them to do?: ‘They did not do anything, the Torah only relating the service that Aaron performed, as commanded previously in our psukim.
‘The Midrash Sifra expounds homiletically, that the thing they were commanded was to perform that which the Kohen Gadol performs in the Mikdash - that they should do likewise in the miniature Mikdash, which is their heart in which resides the sanctuary of the glory of Hashem, as it is written: ‘And i shall dwell in your midst’.
‘Just as they offered up their life forces on the altar of the Mishkan, so each person should offer up the desires arising from his yetser ha’ra on the miniature altar, to purify it by the fire of the love of Hashem on it, until all his forces and all his thoughts are solely to the One and Only Master’ ‘If he does this, then the ‘glory of Hashem will appear to you’: to dwell within you.’
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin comments:’Moshe seemingly changed that which Hashem had said to him.
‘The Torah relates that Hashem said to Moshe, that after the offerings mentioned are brought, then (9:4):’today Hashem appears to you’, without any precondition.
‘Moshe, in his words to the people, seemingly added:’’This is the thing..then the glory of Hashem will appear to you’.
‘We need to say, that Moshe was fearful, that perhaps their transgressions will result in the fire from Above not descending, as indeed was the case, when Aaron performed all that Hashem had commanded - offering his korbanot and those of the people - yet the fire from Above did not descend until Moshe and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting, and pleaded for mercy.
‘Only then, did the fire descend from Shamayim.
‘Therefore Moshe said to Bnei Israel, by way of a precondition:’This is the thing..’ and only then, will ‘the glory of Hashem..appear to you.’
‘His intention was not only as to the korbanot - as we read that the fire from Above did not descend even after Aaron made his offerings - but Moshe’s words also alluded to the performance of the Mitzvot by Bnei Israel: ‘This is the thing that Hashem has commanded you to do..’ - to vanquish the yetser ha’ra and all its wiles from their midst, and accept upon themselves to serve Hashem with all their hearts, as the Targum Yonatan ben Uziel expounds.’
The Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh proffers another understanding of ‘the thing that Hashem has commanded you to do’:’It appears to allude to that which is mentioned in the Parasha immediately before these words:’the entire assembly approached and stood before Hashem’.
‘The Torah chose to use the words: ‘before Hashem’, and not ‘before the Tent of Meeting’ - which we had already been told - to say that they prepared themselves aiming for completeness and awareness before Whom they were standing, as David Hamelech said:(Ps’ 16:8)’I have set the Lord always before me’, as thereby he will not leave the Torah, which is to His right, as being always in the presence of Hashem before the King is unlike being in the presence of man - how much more so, in the presence of the King of Kings.
‘When Moshe Rabbeinu contemplated this assembly, he said:’This is the thing that Hashem has commanded you to do’: meaning: Hashem commanded that you should always, in your minds see yourselves as standing before Hashem, as then ‘the glory of Hashem will appear to you.’
The Chatam Sofer sweetens our souls, by asking rhetorically:’What was the thing Bnei Israel did? Was it not only Aaron - and not they - who offered the korbanot?
‘True - but our Sages teach that שלוחו: the emissary of a person is as the sender.
‘Here, too, each person should have in mind that whatever Aaron does, he is doing as his shaliach - as our Sages expound that ‘the Kohanim can also act as our shlichim’ - as then the glory of Hashem will appear to all of then, as all of them will be deemed to have offered the korbanot.’
His venerable son, the Ktav Sofer, brings an intriguing Yalkut Shimoni, on our subject.
The Midrash says:’When the Mishkan was erected, Moshe Rabbeinu said to Israel: that yetser ha’ra, remove it from your hearts, and all of you be in one fear and one counsel to serve Hashem, and then the glory of Hashem will appear to you.’’
‘This requires us to understand, what was ‘that’ yetser ha’ra, and what need was there to warn them against it at this time; furthermore why would this lead to ‘the glory of Hashem appearing to them’?
‘The key to answering these questions, may be the teaching of the Chovot Ha’levavot, that the yetser ha’ra tries various ways, to prevent a person from performing Mitzvot; if he sees that he is unsuccessful, and that the person, despite the wiles of the yetser, performs a Mitzvah, the yetser tries to cause pride to enter the heart of the person: pride in what he has done: in the Mitzvah, as this leads to his losing the merit of the Mitzvah.
‘Assuredly the yetser ha’ra did his utmost to prevent Bnei Israel from erecting the Mishkan, but was unsuccessful.
‘This is why Moshe saw the need at this time to warn the people to be on their guard, and not allow any alien thoughts to enter their minds, of honor that they had erected the Mishkan; such thoughts which ‘that’ yetser ha’ra would surely seek to plant in them, as to their wondrous Mitzvah - he adjured them - at that moment, required them to have the single intent of fear of Hashem, and unity of purpose, lest these alien thoughts cause them to lose the merit of their wondrous Mitzvah.
‘Only if they did so, would the glory of Hashem appear to them, as a reward for their sole yearning being the dwelling of the shechina in their midst.’
Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch proffers a different understanding of ‘that yetser ha’ra’, in our Midrash:’It is that unbridled animalistic instinct in man, which is represented by the animal offerings brought; by slaughtering the animal - and all the other things that are done to it - we are vanquishing that part of ourselves, the source of our sins - then there will remain in our hearts only the one thing: to fulfil our obligations to serve Hashem.
‘Concludes the Midrash: If you do so, you will have fulfilled the underlying objective of the korbanot, and then the glory of Hashem will appear to you, and you will merit the fulfillment of the purpose of the erection of the Mishkan, of : ‘Erect for Me a Mishkan, and I will dwell in your midst.
‘It appears to us, that this Midrash encapsulates the foundation of all korbanot - with all their allusions.’
The zechut of a final exposition goes to Rav Friedlander, as his insight was our starting point.
Expound the Rav: ’’That yetser ha’ra which you are to cast out of your hearts, takes many forms, and dwells within each person, and includes the desires he may have, which subvert him from solely serving Hashem.
‘The Chafetz Chaim teaches: The required singularity of purpose is that all our activities should be to serve Hashem - including our mundane daily physical activities - and not for our personal enjoyment.
‘For example: when we eat, we should have in mind that we are doing so to fulfil the Mitzvah to guard our souls, to be able to best serve Hashem.
‘He concludes: When one truly seeks to do so, he can find in every activity that he is performing, a Mitzvah, and he should have this in mind - and as his objective.
‘The beginning of one’s way in his avodat Hashem is סור מרע: turn from evil, by removing ‘that’s yetser ha’ra from your heart, as only then can he - freed from the wiles of the yetser - truly proceed to ועשה טוב: to ‘do good’, to do only that which Hashem wants of you.’
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