TETZAVEH
FROM TALMUD AND MIDRASH
Tanchuma Tetzaveh 10
Aaron’s Fear
“This is what you shall do for them
to sanctify them to serve as My Priests…”
(Exodus 29:1a)
What did He see to advance Aaron and his sons
to be so sanctified?
When Moses ascended the Mountain of God to receive the stone Tablets with the Torah and the Mitzvot, he left Aaron and Hur in charge (cf. Exodus 24:12-14). Said Rabbi Mani of Sha’av and Rabbi Joshua of Sichnin in the name of Rabbi Levi: When Israel sought to commit idolatry, they demanded of Aaron, “Get up and make for us a god…!” (Exodus 32:1b). But it was Hur son of Caleb who got up and rebuked them, whereupon they immediately killed him. Evidence: When Moses returned, he made no mention of Hur, except to ask Aaron, “What did this people do to you to make you bring such transgression upon them!”
“Aaron saw [vayar] and built an altar…”
(Exodus 32:5a)
When he saw what the people did to Hur,
Aaron feared [vayeerah] for his own life!
So he built an altar, took their gold and threw it into the fire,
and the calf emerged (ibid. 24)!
Moreover Aaron was in fear of what the Holy One, blessed be He, might think of him. Therefore He instructed Moses, “This is what you shall do for them to sanctify them to serve as My Priests…” (Exodus 29:1a), in order to qualify Aaron and his sons for the High Priesthood, as it was clear to Him that Aaron had acted out of fear, “…take one bull…” (ibid. 1b) to atone for the golden calf, which was a bull, “…and two rams” (ibid. 1c) for the two sons of Aaron who would be killed (cf. Leviticus 10:1-2).
Later, when Moses reviewed these events, he said, “I was terrified of the wrath which the Eternal displayed over you…” (Deuteronomy 9:19a) and in particular that “the Eternal was very angry with Aaron and wanted to destroy him…” (Deuteronomy 9:20a). “Destroy” applies to both root and branch, father and children, as the Prophet made clear when he related God’s words against Israel’s adversaries: “I destroyed their fruit above as well as their roots beneath” (Amos 2:9b)! It follows, then, that all of Aaron’s sons deserved to be killed. But since, as Moses continued, “…I prayed for Aaron at that time” (Deuteronomy 9:20b), only two of his sons (Nadav and Avihu) were killed while the other two (Elazar and Ithamar) survived (cf. Leviticus 10:12a).
Exodus Rabbah 33:2; 37:2
Aaron’s Moment
“Bring near to you, from the Children of Israel,
Aaron your brother…to make Aaron My Priest.”
(Exodus 28:1)
“Aaron accepted the gold from them,
and he formed it with a graving tool,
making of it a molten calf…”
(Exodus 32:4a)
When Moses came down from Sinai and saw Israel worshipping the golden calf (cf. Exodus 32:19ff.), he glanced at Aaron, who appeared to be sculpting it with his hammer. But Aaron was going through the motions, only to hold the people back until Moses returned. Yet Moses believed, from what he observed, that Aaron was cooperating with the people and that he shared their motive in worshipping the calf!
So the Holy One, blessed be He, said, “Moses, I know that Aaron’s intention is for good.” Aaron was acting like the preceptor of a prince, teaching him and protecting him. One day the prince gets it into his head to invade his father’s exclusive domain and take it over for himself. But his preceptor stops him and says to him: Don’t wear yourself out, allow me to break in for you! The prince’s father, the king, observes the preceptor breaking in and says to him: I understand your intention, I know what you are doing, and you can be sure that I shall trust no one to oversee my palace from now on, but you!
So it was, at the moment when Israel said to Aaron, “Get up and make for us a god…!” (Exodus 32:1b) that he replied, “Alright, remove the gold rings that are in the ears of your wives, your sons and your daughters, and bring them to me” (ibid. 2): I am a priest, I shall make it and sacrifice before it! All of this Aaron did for the sole purpose of keeping the people at bay until Moses should return. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Aaron: I understand your intention, I know what you are doing, and you can be sure that I shall trust no one to oversee the offerings of My children, but you! Thus did God command Moses, “Bring near to you, from the Children of Israel, Aaron your brother…to make Aaron My Priest” (Exodus 28:1), and it was in the Tabernacle following the incident of the golden calf:
“You, O Eternal God,
who have triumphed over all [aleetah lamarom]
and taken Your captives [shaveetah shehvee],
You have accepted the gifts of men ,
even the idolatrous nations [v’af sorereem],
to settle in Your Temple [lishkon]!”
(Psalms 68:19)
You who went up to the Heights [aleetah lamarom]
and returned to captivity [shaveetah shehvee],
taking the Gift for man—
it was specifically for your idolatrous [v’af sorereem]
that the Eternal God
would settle in the Tabernacle [lishkon]!
Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses: When the other nations premonish you that I will not return with you because “your people have rebelled [saru]” (Exodus 32:7-8), I assure you that even when they are rebellious, I shall not abandon them, “but even with the rebellious [v’af sorereem] shall the Eternal God dwell [lishkon]!”
Leviticus Rabbah 10:1,3
Aaron’s Righteous Love
“The Eternal speaks to Moses, saying:
Take Aaron and his sons…”
(Leviticus 8:1-2)
Out of all the tribe of Levi,
why Aaron for the High Priesthood?
“Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever;
your royal sceptre is the emblem of truth.
You have loved righteousness,
and you have hated wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness above your fellows.”
(Psalms 45:7-8)
Rabbi Berechia in the name of Rabbi Abba bar Kahana interpreted the Davidic verses in reference to Aaron. When Moses ascended the Mountain of God to receive the stone Tablets with the Torah and the Mitzvot, he left Aaron and Hur in charge (cf. Exodus 24:12-14). Then, when Israel sought to build the golden calf, they went first to Hur (cf. Exodus 24:14) and demanded, “Get up, make for us a god” (Exodus 32:1)! When he refused, they killed him. Then they turned to Aaron with the same demand. When Aaron heard their demand of him, he was afraid:
“Aaron saw [vayar] and built [vayiven] an altar [mizbeach] before it [lefanav]…”
(Exodus 32:5a)
What did Aaron “see” that would cause him to build an altar “before it?”
He had already taken their gold and knowingly formed it into a molten calf (ibid. 4a)!
Rather, interpret the verse:
Aaron feared [vayeerah] from discerning [vayaven]
a slaughtered man [mizavuach] before him [lefanav]!
Now what shall I do? thought Aaron. They have already killed Hur, who was a Prophet; now, if they kill me, a Kohen, they would have committed the unthinkable, “Shall both Kohen and Prophet be slain in the Sanctuary of the Lord” (Lamentations 2:20)? If that were the case, they would be culpable for exile centuries before the verse originally applied!
Alternatively, what did Aaron “see?”
He “saw” alternative outcomes. He realized that if they built it, they would work together to complete it quickly. But if he built it, he could delay its completion until Moses came down from the mountain and rejected the work in progress as idolatry.
Also he thought: If I build the altar, I can build it in the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, as was said: “…Aaron built the altar and announced, ‘Tomorrow is a Festival to the Eternal’” (Exodus 32:5b)!
He also realized that if they built it, then the offense would be attributed to them: Better that the offense be attributed to me, he thought, and not to Israel!
“I address my verses to the king…
You love righteousness and you hate wickedness;
rightly has God, your God, chosen to anoint you
with oil of gladness over all of your peers!”
(Psalms 45:2,8)
Rabbi Berechia in the name of Rabbi Abba bar Kahana
interpreted these verses as associated with Aaron:
“You love righteousness” in that you love to defend and justify My children, “and you hate wickedness” in that you hate to see them condemned. “Rightly has God, your God, chosen to anoint you with oil of gladness over all of your peers”: therefore has God chosen to anoint you as Kohen Gadol over all of Israel out of all of the tribe of Levi!
Sedra Summary 