Parshat Chukat 5778-‘How to play the silences’

Rabbi Isaac Bernstein zal once commented, in the name of Pablo Cassals, the famous cellist, who was asked as to the secret of great cello playing. His response was: ‘It is not how you play the notes but how you play the silences’.

In many places the Torah has remained amazingly silent and it always begs the question as to why a certain incident has not been included in the Torah narrative. This question is raised by the Panim Yafot(Rabbi E.Horowitz 18th century-Europe) regarding the silence regarding the prayers of Moshe Rabenu(if any were made) on behalf of Aharon, when he was told he would not go into Eretz Yisrael as a result of the sin of Mei Merivah. We know from parshat Vaetchanan that Moshe prayed 515 tefillot to be allowed to go into Israel, and yet he does not seem to offer even one prayer on behalf of Aharon, who received the same fate. Surely Moshe would pray for Aharon as he prayed for himself? Why no protestation from Moshe?

The Panim Yafot offers a number of answers. Firstly he suggests that we can answer this question based on Rashi’s comment in Parshat Vaetchanan.

כג  וָאֶתְחַנַּן, אֶל-יְהוָה, בָּעֵת הַהִוא, לֵאמֹר.

23 And I besought the LORD at that time, saying:

Rashi asks as to the meaning of ‘at that time’ in the verse. What time is being referred to?

בעת ההוא. לְאַחַר שֶׁכָּבַשְׁתִּי אֶרֶץ סִיחוֹן וְעוֹג דִּמִּיתִי שֶׁמָּא הוּתַּר הַנֶּדֶר:

בעת ההוא [I IMPLORED GRACE OF GOD] AT THAT TIME — After I had subdued the land of Sihon and Og I thought that perhaps the vow that I should not enter the land was annulled, since this was part of the land of Canaan (cf. Sifrei Devarim 26:8 and Rashi on Numbers 27:12).

Rashi explains that Moshe thought that since he was there when Sichon and Og were conquered and their land was on the eastern part of the Jordan, (and this area has many similar laws to the land of Israel over the Jordan River), then maybe the decree against him may be able to be canceled completely. This is a sign that (maybe) God has changed his mind and this is why he davens so intensely at this time to get into Israel. Without this assumption it is clear that Moshe would not have prayed even for himself. The death of Aharon was before all the conquests took place and therefore it is clear why Moshe didn’t pray for his brother ‘at that time’.

Another answer is given which refers to the decree made by God immediately after the sin of Mei Merivah. It says :

יב  וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל-אַהֲרֹן, יַעַן לֹא-הֶאֱמַנְתֶּם בִּי, לְהַקְדִּישֵׁנִי לְעֵינֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל--לָכֵן, לֹא תָבִיאוּ אֶת-הַקָּהָל הַזֶּה, אֶל-הָאָרֶץ, אֲשֶׁר-נָתַתִּי לָהֶם.

12 And the LORD said unto Moses and Aaron: 'Because ye believed not in Me, to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.'

The wording here does not say that they will die but that they will not bring the people into Israel. Moshe may have thought that this means that they will not enter the land as leaders but only as ‘regular’ members of the Jewish people. At this point there may have been no reason to pray for Aharon to go in, as this may still be undecided. Furthermore even when Aharon goes up the mountain with his son, the death of Aharon would become a benefit for his son Elazar, who would become the High Priest. The rule is that when a decree is made which involves benefit to someone as a result of the decree, the decree is never changed (this is proven from the story when Shaul loses his kingship and Shmuel does not pray for him, as the decree led to David becoming King of Israel).So again praying for Aharon would not have been effective.

Another suggestion is that Moshe became angry at the Mei Merivah and this caused him to ‘sin’ (as explained by the Rambam in the Shmoneh Perakim).When one does something in anger it is not done deliberately but inadvertently, due to the effect of the anger. Moshe thought that as Aharon was also involved with Mei Merivah, but he did not exhibit anger, therefore his involvement was on the level of ‘maizid-deliberate action. Moshe himself did it out of anger and this put him on the level of ‘shogeg’ which may very well be forgiven due to the extenuating circumstances. So he prayed for himself, at least hoping that his lower level of sin may be forgiven, whereas for Aharon there was no hope. Moshe was obviously wrong in this analysis, and this is why it is called by God ‘a Chillul Hashem’ to explain that such a sin is never forgiven whether it is ‘bemaizid or beshogeg’. Another consideration was that Aharon was told he was going to die in the month of Av. This means that no Yom Kippur had taken place since the sin and Moshe felt that Yom Kippur was needed for forgiveness of the sin committed by Aharon. However his own death was on 7th Adar, after Yom Kippur, and maybe forgiveness may have been possible due to Yom Kippur and therefore he prayed for himself accordingly. However as we know, the only atonement for Chillul Hashem is death and this is why his tefillot did not succeed.

I am dedicating this dvar torah in memory of my wife’s uncle, Rabbi Joe Lehmann zal who passed away this week. I had known him for nearly 50 years, both when I was a student in  Gateshead Yeshiva and later, as a relative of my wife. In all interactions his charm was always wonderful and his sense of humor was legendary. I believe that even though he never lived in Israel, his connection to Israel and to supporting Torah in Israel was remarkable. He came from a home of true love for Israel and the majority of his family went to live there, including his mother, (’Savta’Lehman) who moved to Kibbutz Lavi in 1952.His life was a constant Kiddush Hashem and may his family, many of whom who are distinguished Talmidei Chachamim and Roshei Yeshiva, continue his legacy of increasing Torah in the world , as Uncle Joe did, through his sefarim business, which became famous around the world.

May his memory be for a blessing.

Rabbi Ian Shaffer        Cherry Hill NJ              June 2018