Shemini (Shabbat HaChodesh)
Lev. 9:1 – 11:47 

Rabbi Gary Pokras (based on the Torah commentary of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks for Shemini, 2018) 

Come near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people; sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded. (Lev. 9:7) 

Since every word of Torah matters, and is written with intent and purpose, the rabbis wondered why God had to command Aaron to approach the altar. As the High Priest, wouldn’t he already have been there? Rashi answers: 

Aaron was ashamed and fearful of approaching the altar. Moses said to him: “Why are you ashamed? It was for this that you were chosen.” 

With Purim just behind us, we might be reminded of the story of Esther. When Esther hesitated to approach the king to plead for the salvation of our people, Mordechai responded: “… perhaps you have attained royal position for just such a crisis.” (Esther 4:14) However, Esther’s fear was quite different from Aaron’s shame. Esther had to approach a king, a powerful man, but still just a man. Aaron had to approach God. Esther had not failed in her role so far or made any significant mistakes. Under Aaron’s leadership the Golden Calf was made and worshipped. How could Aaron approach God’s altar knowing what he had done? As many people in our weekly Torah study group have asked, if God punished everyone who was involved in creating the Golden Calf, why was Aaron spared? 

Perhaps it was for this reason. Let’s look again at our opening quote from Shemini:  

“Come near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people; sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.” (Lev. 9:7) 

One of the most important responsibilities of the High Priest was, on Yom Kippur, to confess his wrongs and failings, then those of his household, then those as the people as a whole (Lev. 16:11-17), so that he could make atonement and plead for God’s forgiveness on behalf of all Israelites.  

Commenting on the Rashi, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks wrote:  

“That,” implied Moses, “is why you were chosen. You know what sin is like. You know what it is to feel guilt. You more than anyone else understand the need for repentance and atonement. You have felt the cry of your soul to be cleansed, purified and wiped free of the stain of transgression. What you think of as your greatest weakness will become, in this role you are about to assume, your greatest strength.” 

How could someone who has never sinned understand how to make atonement? It is precisely the depth of Aaron’s mistake and the suffering and struggles which ensued that made him perfectly suited to his role as High Priest, yet he couldn’t see past his own regrets. Moses had faith in Aaron even when Aaron lacked faith in himself – just as God had faith in Moses when Moses lacked faith in himself. Both Moses and Aaron struggled with their weaknesses, and both prevailed.  

The same can hold true for us. Even when the world around us darkens, and we shift from individual doubts to communal fears, we can take a page from this parasha. We can refuse to give in to despair. We can keep going. We can leverage our weaknesses as well as our strengths, so that ultimately, we can prevail.