Shabbos Shemini/Tazria - 5775
Shabbos Shemini/Tazria - 5775
Rabbi Hal Miller
And it was on the eighth day, Moshe summoned Aharon and his sons and the elders
of Yisrael. [Vayikra 9:1]
And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. [Vayikra 12:3]
This year Pesach ended on a Friday in Israel, so the following day was Shabbos
Shemini. Outside of Israel, Pesach is extended one day, and the Shabbos was part of
the holiday, thus next week is Shabbos Shemini. It will then be Shabbos Tazria in Israel,
but all will be caught up the following week when Israel reads Metzora, and the rest of
the world reads the combined Tazria-Metzora.
In an attempt to keep all of us together this week, we will look at something that appears
in both Shemini and Tazria.
We see throughout the Torah references to a given number of days between events, as
if to say that the number is somehow related to, or even responsible for, some tie between
those events. What tie does the "eighth day" phrase here tell us about as between the
sanctification of the Kohanim and the covenant of circumcision?
Some see these verses as instances of 'preparation'. Rav Moshe Feinstein, for example,
asks why the word 'kara', summoned, is used. Aharon and his sons were working with
Moshe all week on the Mishkan and various operational matters, so they were already
at hand. Rav Moshe explains that those other matters were mitzvos on their own, and
that before beginning the next mitzva here, the participants needed to clear their minds
and prepare to begin again. We can see a similarity to the new life of one being entered
into the covenant of circumcision, that it is a new beginning.
Vayikra Rabbah tells us that the eight-day period before a circumcision is to ensure
that the baby experiences a Shabbos first, so he has a view into what his covenant is
about. We can see a similarity to the Kohanim watching Moshe perform all the service
before they take over the job.
Rav Hirsch gives a clear explanation and expansion on this. He says, "By counting the
seven days, the condition of a previous period is entirely closed, and with the eighth
day a new beginning is made...With the eighth day they step in to the new elevated
character of a life dedicated to belong to G-d."
The Kohanim are no longer 'just ordinary Jews'. Once they took up the mantle of service
to G-d, they closed out their earlier lives and committed themselves and their future
generations to His service.
A Jew who enters the covenant is no longer 'just an ordinary person'. His obligations
are many, his responsibility great, and there is no going back. We are dedicated,
including our future generations, to His service.