(Dedicated to the life and mind of Keith Morrow)
Friends - it's interesting that Aharon and his sons are chosen to be the priestly class in this week's parasha. Amidst last week's series of very precise measurements pertaining to the Tabernacle's size, and the size of it's furniture, and then this week's parasha featuring mostly information and measurements as to the high priest's various garments, wedged in between is the section: "Bring close to you Aharon and his sons from among Israel, and they will be priests unto me." And then it says, "And make holy garments for Aharon your brother." They need to be made for someone in specific. Of course Aharon must be mentioned here, right in the middle, because the clothes need to be made with the wearer in mind. As R' Leibele Eiger writes, more important than the Tabernacle and it's furniture is the right people to do the service.
One can imagine that Hashem could have made the Tabernacle one large monument, one unmoving edifice to Himself that would serve its own purpose of arousing the people to awe. But Hashem wants a Tabernacle that, without the people, is useless. Without these mounds of flesh and bones, these people with independent minds, conflicting interests, specific tastes, and unique imperfections, to make it work. In a sense, the idea of a chosen people, and the idea of a chosen class within that people, and the sense of a chosen person within that class, is a drag. But on the other hand, the fact that Hashem wants people involved at all is incredible.
It's interesting that every piece of furniture in the Tabernacle is specified in its details and measurements- but then there are people. With some minor exceptions, they need not fit into a specific measurement. They are the x-factor. Hashem seems to want that. And, one may say, inasmuch as Hashem wants us to be like Him, He wants us to want that. We must build our worlds, and specifically in the service of Hashem, keeping in mind this x factor. There is no reason to expect people to fit into specific measurements. It is unfortunate for me to have learned this the hard way - when someone passes away, and you realize you may have spent too much time measuring and comparing and contrasting, trying to make people long enough, or wide enough, or mostly small enough, to fit into your little Tabernacle. Well, says G-d, make the clothes to fit the man, and not the other way around.
Rav Gavriel Goldfeder
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Rav Gavriel Goldfeder is one of the first semicha recipients of the yeshiva. A graduate of Drew University in Religious Studies, he came to Bat Ayin after stints in other yeshivot and found a spiritual and intellectual home. Here he met his wife, Ketriellah, who was a student in our short-lived Women's Yeshiva. Upon graduation, Gavriel took the position of rabbi of the Aish Kodesh Congregation in Boulder, Colorado and together with Ketriellah and their growing family, they are busy creating (in Gavriel's words), "a community infused with Torah values, passion for learning and prayer, consideration of one another, and action, as well as deep celebration of the joys of life." |