Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

169
Beha’alotecha
Mitzvos or Meat?
Mendy Weisbrod
I t’s interesting how we usually associate certain verbs as having positive or
negative connotations. For example, we usually think of the word “create” as being a
positive thing, which it usually it is. However one can also create havoc, create distress,
or create mayhem. One can also: love…. to hate, or destroy…. evil, etc.
Parshas Beha’aloscha is a parsha about lust, plain and simple. However, as we now
know, lust can be a positive thing or a negative thing, a kiddush Hashem, or a chilul
Hashem (chas ve-shalom), depending on what one lusts towards.
We learn from Rashi at the beginning of our parsha, that following the chanukas habayis
of the mishkan in last week’s parsha, Aharon had felt bad about the proceedings,
because he (as the nasi of Levi) and his tribe did not donate anything or participate
in the inauguration. In response to this, Hashem tells Aharon that he will have the
beloved job of preparing and kindling the lamps of the Menorah.
The Ramban raises a question in his commentary to Sefer Bamidbar: why was Aharon
satisfied with the simple task of lighting the Menorah but not by any of the other
essential services such as the daily korbanot, the Yom Kippur services (including
entering the kodesh ha-kodashim), and the blessing of Bnei Yisrael, among many
others?
The Shem Mishmuel (Rabbi Shmuel Bornstein) explains in the name of his father
(the first Sochatchover Rebbe, Rabbi Avrohom Bornstein) that we can gain insight