perek yud zayen “story time”

פסוקים א-ה

אלעזר makes a sheet for the מזבח

Hashem said to Moshe to tell אלעזר, who was the son of אהרון to lift the fire pans from the fire and throw the ashes away and keep the fire pans because they’re holy. אלעזר was supposed to take the fire pans and flatten them for a sheet for the מזבח. Also something very interesting was said. Hashem said it was going to be a reminder for בנ”י. Then אלעזר took the fire pans, and did what Moshe said. Now you might have a few question about this. One might be: Why does Hashem specifically want אלעזר to do this? Another might be why are the מחתת (fire pans) holy? Also you might wonder what is the covering supposed to remind בנ”י? We’ll start by answering question number one. Hashem specifically wanted אלעזר to do this because 1) since אהרון was the כהן גדול, it wouldn’t be very appropriate for him to do it- this is what the אור החיים says. Another answer is that since אהרון was part of the cause of the rebellions death it wouldn’t look right if he cleaned it up. Rashi tells us the answer to the second question is that the fire pans אסורין בהנאה שהרי עשאום לכלי שרת- are not allowed to be used for pleasure because they were made into a utensil for serving Hashem. Once something is used for a mitzvah it can’t be used for something that isn’t a mitzvah. The answer to the third question is that a man that isn’t a כהן shouldn’t bring a קטרת and לא יהיה כקרח ועדתו- not be like קרח and his men.

פסוקים ו-י

בנ”י complain and Hashem wants to destroy בנ”י, Moshe and אהרון daven

בנ”י complained to Moshe and אהרון saying ‘אתם המתם את עם ה- you killed the nation of Hashem. Hashem then told Moshe הרמו מתוך העדה הזאת- separate yourselves from this nation, I will consume them in a minute. Moshe and אהרון then fell on their faces to daven.

פסוקים יא-טו

Moshe and אהרון come up with a plan to save בנ”י

Moshe came up with an idea. He told אהרון, that he should קח את המחתה- take the fire pan, and put on it fire from the מזבח and קטרת and go for forgiveness for בנ”י because Hashem is very angry. אהרון did this and ran to the center of the group, and he saw the plague, and he placed the קטרת for the nation’s forgiveness. He stood between the dead and the living and the plague stopped. Rashi asked the question, why does it say “he stood?” The answer is that אהרון had grabbed the מלאך המות and said “stop.” The מלאך המות said “I was sent by Hashem.” Then אהרון said “I was sent by Moshe.” He also said that the מלאך המות should come with him that way he would see Moshe and Hashem talking. Rashi says another question is, why the קטרת, since בנ”י were nervous about the קטרת and they were saying סס המות הוא- it’s a cause of death. Rashi answers by saying Hashem wanted to show them שעוצר מגפה הוא-it’s a plague stopper, and the reason for the deaths that involved the קטרת are because of their actions. 14,700 people ended up dying from the plague. אהרון returned to Moshe and the plague stopped.

פסוקים טז-כו

מבחן המתות- the stick challenge

Hashem told Moshe קח מאתם מטה מטה לבית אב מאת כל נשיאהם לבית אבתם- take from them (בנ”י) a staff from each leader of the שבט. There should be 12 in total. אהרון was going to write his name on שבט לוי’s staff. The man Hashem chose, their staff would blossom, and Hashem would calm down בנ”י’s complaints. The purpose was to get rid of the complaints and show that שבט לוי and the כהנים were chose by Hashem and they are special. Moshe told בנ”י this, and אהרון’s staff was placed in the middle. Rashi asked, why was אהרון’s staff placed in the middle? Rashi tells us שלא יאמרו מפני שהיניחו בצד שכינה פרח- so that people couldn’t say it blossomed because it’s closer to the שכינה of Hashem. Moshe let the מטות stay where they were (in front of the אהל מועד). He came back the next day and on אהרון’s stick a flower was coming out, a bud sprouted, and almonds grew from it. Now remember ALL THESE THINGS ARE HAPPENING ON A DEAD STICK! Also these three things were happening at the same time. The question here is sort of obvious. Rashi asks why did Hashem specifically want almonds to grow on אהרון’s stick? Rashi answers by saying הוא הפרי הממהר- it’s the fastest to grow from a tree, ,אף המעורר על הכהונה פורענותו ממהרת לבא- so too anyone who complains about the כהונה, their punishments will come fast. Moshe then took all the sticks out of the אהל מועד to בנ”י and they saw the miracle, and each man took back his stick. Hashem told Moshe to return אהרון’s stick in front of the אהל מועד for safekeeping as a sign for the rebellious ones, to stop their complains so they don’t need to get punished. Moshe listened to what Hashem commanded him to do, and that’s what he did.

פסוקים כז-כח

בנ”י are nervous they are going to continue making mistakes and getting punished

בנ”י said to Moshe “are we doomed forever, is it that whoever comes close to the ‘משכן ה will die?”

The end