Shabbat Parashat Tetzaveh - 5784

Shabbat Parashat Tetzaveh - 5784

Rabbi Hal Miller

  And you, bring near to yourself Aharon  your brother, and his sons with him, from

  among the children of Israel to minister to Me, Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, Elazar

  and Itamar, the sons of Aharon. [Shemot 28:1]

Why does the Torah list "Aharon your brother and his sons with him" and then say

"Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, Elazar and Itamar the sons of Aharon"? And in the next

verse it mentions "Aharon your brother" again. Numerous times already we have been

told that Nadav, Avihu, Elazar and Itamar are the sons of Aharon. Do we not know that

God was talking about these specific men?

Our verse is the first mention to Moshe that he is no longer going to be the Kohen for

the nation. Given that, God wanted to make clear exactly who would fill that role, with

an all-inclusive list. Moshe had been the Kohen up until now both because of his own

merit and because he had been the only one capable of handling the job during its

initiation.

Now God is appointing his replacements "from among the children of Israel". This is

not merely a punishment for Moshe, who himself was on such a high level that other

people could not really relate to him. This succession is to bring non-Moshe people in

to the performance of the most holy commandments, directly from the heart and soul

of the nation. It is the beginning of turning a one-generation Mosaic religion into an

eternal Jewish religion.

But until the golden calf incident, the firstborn in each family were already doing this,

so why is it only now and in this way that such a change is made? Rashi tells us that

Moshe in fact remains the Kohen for a bit longer, during the completion of the building

of the Mishkan and all its implements, after which he will anoint the new kohanim, and

our verse is merely telling him what will be done, not actually implementing yet. This

fits with the rest of the chapter, which is a list of what Moshe shall do in the near future.

At this point, according to Abarbanel, God is instructing Moshe to tell the people so

they will accept it as being directly from him. This role will later fall to the Sanhedrin,

who are Moshe's replacement.

At the golden calf, the tribe of Levi was elevated to replace all the firstborn in service to

God. Now Aharon and his sons are elevated from among Levi for the highest role in

that service. As a firstborn, Nadav would have been the choice before the calf, and as

a Levi, he would have still been the choice. The Torah is telling us that even Nadav must

be explicitly appointed. But this could have been accomplished by merely saying Aharon

will be the Kohen, and that it will be inherited. Why are the sons named again here? And

why the repetition of "your brother"?

When speaking to Moshe of "Aharon", God knew that Moshe's thoughts would be to his

brother. But here, God is telling him, not just any old brother, but this specific one, who is

a brother who is like you. Not only that, but the four sons are named explicity because

they too deserve it on their own, not just as an inheritance the way their sons will receive it.

In the near future, Pinchas will also be named explicitly as having earned it on his own.

But at this point, only the four are named, to exclude the then-existing grandsons, who

would otherwise also be considered "sons of Aharon". After the Korach incident, there was

no room for unclear appointments for leadership roles.