Matos: 5786 - "When you light the lamps... and Aharon did so." Rashi: "To tell the praise of Aharon, that he did not change [anything]." Why would he have changed, and why specifically here did he receive special praise? Rabbi Shimon…

00:00 Speaker 1 Please.

00:01 Speaker 2 The weekly parsha, Parshas Behaaloscha. “When you raise up the lamps, the seven lamps shall shine toward the front of the menorah.” It says, “And Aharon did so.” What does “And Aharon did so” mean? Rashi says: “To tell Aharon’s praise, that he did not change anything.” What is so praiseworthy about Aharon not changing anything? Why would he? Moshe Rabbeinu had instructed him exactly as Hakadosh Boruch Hu had said to make the menorah and light it. Aharon’s praise is that he did not change anything. And why do we say this specifically about the menorah? With the other mitzvos, it doesn’t say that Aharon’s praise was that he did not change anything. Why specifically here? Many people ask this question, and there are many explanations, many answers. One interesting answer given by the Maggid is this: When Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world, the words “and it was so” are written about all the things He created. But with the first utterance, “Let there be light,” it doesn’t say “and it was so.” Instead, it says, “And G-d said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light,” but it doesn’t say “and it was so.” Why? Because it says that Hakadosh Boruch Hu concealed the light created during the Six Days of Creation. He saw that the world was not fit to use that light, so He concealed it. So the light that remained was not that same light, right? It was a different light, of a lower level. When Aharon lit the menorah, the light created during the Six Days of Creation was revealed—the hidden light. So he restored the “so” of “and it was so.” That is why it says here, “And Aharon did so.” He revealed that hidden light, so it says specifically here that Aharon “did so,” that he did not change anything. At Creation, the light had changed; it was not the same light. But here Aharon did not change anything.

02:12 Speaker 2 That is one answer. There is another answer. It says, “When you raise up the lamps”—raise up its lamps. Why? It says there was a step in front of the menorah, and Aharon would stand on it when he lit the menorah. Now, in one place Aharon is mentioned before Moshe, and in another Moshe is mentioned before Aharon. They were equal, Aharon and Moshe. The Midrash says that Moshe Rabbeinu was ten cubits tall when he killed Og, king of Bashan. If they were equal, that means Aharon was also ten cubits tall. So why did he need the step? He didn’t need it; he was ten cubits tall. But because Hakadosh Boruch Hu said, “When you raise up the lamps,” Aharon did not change anything. He stood on the step even though he could have lit the menorah without it. Aharon did not change anything. There is another explanation in the name of the Kedushas Levi, the Berditchever. When a person does something very lofty, he can become so enthusiastic and so absorbed in it that he doesn’t pay close attention and do exactly what needs to be done. Right? Lighting the lamps was one of the loftiest things, wasn’t it? Light went out from there to the entire world. So you might think that when Aharon lit the lamps, he would be so full of enthusiasm that he wouldn’t take care to do every detail exactly as required. The verse therefore tells us that although Aharon was doing something so lofty—lighting the menorah—he did not change anything. Even in his great absorption and excitement, he did everything exactly as he should. On the other hand, we see something else. In Shir Hashirim we say, “And His banner over me is love.” What does “And His banner over me is love” mean? It is explained as “And his skipping over me is love.”

04:20 Speaker 2 Even a child who skips the mentions of Hashem’s name because he doesn’t yet know how to read properly—Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “That is love to Me.” In other words, even when someone doesn’t do things exactly right and changes various things, Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “I love it.” For example, in Tachanun on Mondays and Thursdays, we say, “If our sins testify against us, Hashem, act for the sake of Your name.” There was a simple Jew who read it as he understood it. He said to Hakadosh Boruch Hu: “If we have sins against us, we are Your children, so You have to forgive us.” Or there was a simple Jew who needed rain when there wasn’t any. He prayed and said Shema, where it says, “And He will restrain the heavens, and there will be no rain.” But he understood it differently. He said, “And He will squeeze the heavens”—he took “restrain” to mean “squeeze.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu would squeeze the heavens, and then he would have rain. And he brought about rain. In other words, sometimes Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants the heart. What matters is that a person does something wholeheartedly.

05:33 Speaker 3 When he does it from the heart.

05:34 Speaker 2 He does it with simple sincerity. Right? “Fortunate are those whose way is wholehearted.” So even if he doesn’t do it exactly right, if he does it with simple sincerity, Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “I love it.” It also depends on whom we’re talking about. Aharon did not change anything. But when a simple Jew, a sincere Jew, does something, even if he doesn’t do it exactly as he should, he does it with simple sincerity. Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “That is love to Me.” For example, there is a story about a Jew who heard a sermon from the Maggid about the greatness of the showbread. What miracles took place with it? It remained warm and fresh until the following Shabbos. So he decided that he would bring showbread too. On Friday, he prepared two delicious challahs, brought them to the shul, and placed them in the aron kodesh. He was bringing showbread. The gabbai came to the shul and smelled fresh bread. He searched and searched until he reached the aron kodesh, where he saw two loaves. He took them for himself. That Jew was certain Hakadosh Boruch Hu had accepted his offering and taken the showbread. Every Friday he would prepare two challahs and place them in the aron kodesh, and the gabbai would come and take them for himself. Then, one day, this simple Jew told the rabbi what he was doing. The rabbi said to him, “Do you think Hakadosh Boruch Hu takes the loaves? The gabbai is taking them.” That night—this was in the time of the Arizal—they came to the rabbi and told him, “Prepare yourself, for you are about to die. Put your house in order.” The showbread that Jew brought with simple sincerity had given such pleasure in Heaven, and now, because of you, he has stopped. Put your house in order.

07:25 Speaker 2 From this we learn, “Fortunate are those whose way is wholehearted,” and “Walk before Me and be wholehearted.” That is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. Have a good Shabbos.

07:35 Speaker 4 Good Shabbos. Good Shabbos.