Jewish Speech Writer.com

Tzav 5763

"Aharon and his sons fulfilled all the edicts that HaShem commanded through Moshe.”

In Parshas Tzav, Aharon is the “guest-of-honor,” yet he doesn't seem to actively participate in it. He doesn't speak, he doesn't ask, he doesn't say anything. Finally, the last line of the parsha tells us that He and his children fulfilled their duties.

Rashi says that this highlights the praise of Aharon and family in that they did not veer to the right or the left. The meforshim say that although tzaddikim such as Aharon and his family would surely fulfill their commands, they were punctilious in performance of the Avoda and therefore deserved special mention.

This concept of praise is found in numerous other places as well. In Parshas Beha'aloscha the Torah says “Aharon did so,” and Rashi says it is to tell us the praise of Aharon that he did not change. Why the difference in the language between these two places? In one place the praise is that he didn't change [from the commandment] and in the other that they didn't veer to the right or the left? Since presumably, the attention to detail in the proper performance was the same, shouldn't the explanation be the same?

Perhaps there is another difference here. In Beha'aloscha, regarding the lighting of the Menorah, the directives of its performance were clear and direct and Aharon carried them out exactly right. Here, in Parshas Tzav, the laws of the Avoda, the order of the sacrifices, were numerous and complex. In addition, there were many things that had to be done to the Kohanim, not just by the Kohanim. Aharon could have had the opportunity to question the methods of performance of these laws, especially, as the Sifsei Chachomim points out, since these were heard through Moshe and not directly through HaShem.

But Aharon was not like that. He didn't have to have the last word; he didn't have to have any words. What mattered to him was action. Once he was given a job to do, he did it unquestioningly and with unwavering dedication. That's why the biggest praise we can give him is not that he enhanced the Avoda with new understandings, but that he just did it.

A young American serviceman based overseas met up with one of the men with whom he had traveled on the ship that brought him to the foreign land. He heard that this soldier had gotten his orders to return to the United States and he wanted to go home as well. But how could he do that?

After several inquiries, he found out that the only way to get orders to leave was by going to the field commander, a colonel based at another camp. Our friend found another soldier in his camp that had shipped in with him and together they appeared before the colonel.

When the colonel heard that they wanted to get leave orders he began bellowing at them, unleashing his venom with a fury. “How dare you?!” he shouted at them, “You think you're going to tell me what to do?!” He continued to rant for several minutes.

The young serviceman remained silent through the tirade and finally said, “No, Sir. We are not here to tell you what to do. We just want to state our case, and whatever you decide, is what we'll abide by.”

At that unexpected response, the colonel softened. He smiled, placed his arm around the serviceman's shoulder and called to his lieutenant. “Lieutenant! Cut orders for these men. They're going home!”

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