The Kohein Within by Rav Moshe Weinberger

Parshas Emor The Kohein Within

by rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf

the Torah teaches the mitzvah that kohanim may not come into contact with a corpse (Vayikra 21:1) with the words, “Speak to the kohanim, the children of Aharon and you shall say to them, ‘Let none of you defile himself to a dead body among his people.’” The commentaries all explain why the pasuk has to say “speak” and “say,” which seems duplicative. The Zohar (88b) explains that the intent of the pasuk is: “Tell the kohanim in a whisper...” Why is the command that a kohein not defile himself conveyed in a whisper?

In the Sefer Eitz Hadaas Tov, Rav Chaim Vital, the greatest student of the Arizal, explains why the Torah permits and even commands a kohein to defile himself by coming into contact with a deceased close relative. He explains that close relatives are branches of one tree which draw from the same root. When one member of the family dies, all close relatives are affected and touched by death. Therefore, because the kohein has already been touched and affected by death, he loses nothing by coming into contact with the person’s body and fulfilling the mitzvah of escorting the person into the Next World. But if this is true, why should a kohein gadol be different? Why is he forbidden to come into contact with even the seven categories of close relatives unlike other kohanim?

Rav Moshe Wolfson offers an explanation. He points out that there are three general dimensions: olam, space; shana, time; and nefesh, soul. And every soul has its own place and time. The place that corresponds to the soul of the Jewish people as a whole is Eretz Yisroel. And each individual Jew has his or her own place in Eretz Yisroel. In fact, the Rambam quotes an opinion that a Jew can acquire property using the particular four amos in Eretz Yisroel with which he or she is associated. A kohein gadol’s place in Eretz Yisroel is the Holy of Holies. And the character of the Holy of Holies, which is the resting place of Hashem’s presence, is (Divrei Hayamim 1:16:27) such that “might and joy are in His place.” Mourning and death have no place in Hashem’s home, which is a place of pure joy. The Holy of Holies is a place of life. Death cannot touch it.

The living, joyous nature of the Holy of Holies spreads out to all of Yerushalyim as well. According to the Midrash (Shmos Raba Pikudei 52), “There was a house of calculation outside of Yerushalyim, and anyone who needed to work on his books for business would go there. Why [was it necessary to leave Yerushalayim to work on one’s books]? So that one should not make calculations and experience distress [in Yerushalayim], which is called (Tehillim 48:3), ‘The joy of all the land.’”

There is no place for sadness, darkness, depression, or mourning in the city of joy, Yerushalayim. This place of joy is rooted in the Holy of Holies, the place of the kohein gadol, as the pasuk (Divrei Hayamim 1:23:13) says, “And Aharon was separated to be sanctified, the Holy of Holies.” The kohein gadol himself is called the Holy of Holies!

Death may touch other kohanim but the kohein gadol, who is connected to the heart of Yerushalyim, the Holy of Holies, is above the concept of impurity and defilement. That is why he does not defile himself even to his close relatives. Mourning and sadness have no place in the person identified with the clearest manifestation of Hashem’s presence, the Holy of Holies.

The kohein gadol is anointed with the shemen ha’mishcha, the anointing oil. The word for oil, shemen, is connected to the word “eight” because the kohein gadol is above nature, above the seven days of creation. He connects to that which is above nature. And the word for anointing, ha’mishcha, has the same letters as simcha, joy. The kohein gadol is also the only person to wear eight garments, rather than four, further identifying him with a level of joy that is beyond this world.

Every Jew has a little kohein gadol inside of him – a place where sadness and destruction cannot reach. No matter what has happened to him or what he has done, there is a Holy of Holies deep inside of him which is still filled with a spark of Hashem’s light and joy.

This Shabbos comes out before Lag Ba’Omer, the hilula of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai. Rabi Shimon shared this attribute of being like the kohein gadol, although he was not a kohein or even from the tribe of Levi. And as we are about to say about the tzaddik, “Bar Yochai you are anointed, rejoice, with the oil of joy from your friends” and “Bar Yochai from the Holy of Holies.”

Rabi Shimon was anointed with the number eight, with the holiness of the Holy of Holies. Therefore, destruction, sadness and mourning have no place in his world. Indeed, it once happened that Rebbi Avraham Halevi, one of the students of the Arizal, said “Nachem,” while he was bentching – although we normally say that prayer on Tisha B’Av – in Meiron on Lag Ba’Omer (as he was accustomed to doing all year), and the Arizal saw a vision of Rabi Shimon warning that because he brought the prayer of mourning which literally means “comfort,” into Rabi Shimon’s place, which is

a place of joy, that this Jew would ultimately need to be comforted. Indeed, Rebbi Avraham’s son passed away a short time later.

According to the Ramchal, the soul of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai is the soul of the ultimate redemption. “Shimon ben Yochai” has the numerical value of “Who brings the dead to life.” Rabi Shimon’s essence is life and the numerical value of “on Lag Ba’Omer” is simcha. Indeed, according to the Zohar (296b), Rabi Shimon’s last words on earth as a fire descended from Heaven to bring his holy body to Meiron were the words of the pasuk in Tehillim (133:3), “Ki sham tzivah Hashem es ha’bracha chaim, For there, Hashem commanded the blessing, life...” He died just as he was about to utter the word “life.” That is why the joy of Lag Ba’Omer overcomes the sadness of Sefira, when we mourn the death of Rebbi Akiva’s 24,000 students. Death has no mastery on Rabi Shimon’s day, Lag Ba’Omer.

Rabi Shimon’s mission was to reveal the secrets of Torah. Every Jew also has his or her letter in the Sefer Torah (Tiferes Shlomo, Shavuos 141a), so Rabi Shimon reveals the secret, hidden good that exists within every Jew regardless of what he or she has done in life.

A secret is something which can only be given over quietly, in a whisper (see, e.g., Tikunei Zohar 3b). That is why the Zohar says that Hashem’s message to the kohanim that they may not be defiled by death is given over in a whisper. Indeed, the whole Jewish people are called (Shmos 19:6) a “a kingdom of kohanim” because every Jew has an unsullied core, a Holy of Holies within himself. Every Jew holds this secret. Hashem whispers to each one of us through this parsha: “No matter what happened, I still love you. I still see the good in you which is absolutely pure.”

There is a place within a Jew about which the pasuk says, “L’nefesh lo yitamah b’amav.” There is an aspect of the Jewish soul which cannot become defiled, which is a Holy of Holies within him.

In the place within a Jew which is connected to the kohein gadol, he is always filled with joy, where he can say, “Ki sham tzivah Hashem es ha’bracha chaim ad olam, There, Hashem commanded the blessing of life, eternal.” Recognizing this leads to joy for another reason as well. When a person recognizes that Hashem loves him, is not out to get him, G-d forbid, and wants only the best for him, then even when things are very difficult, when Hashem’s attribute of strict justice seems to be revealed, he still rejoices in the knowledge that it is all for his benefit even if he does not understand how or why.

We see from a particular incident recounted in the Yerushalmi (Sanhedrin 1:2) how Rabi Shimon bar Yochai’s rebbe, Rebbi Akiva taught him this secret of quietly knowing one’s inner holiness.

No matter what has happened to him or what he has done, there is a Holy of Holies deep inside of him which is still filled with a spark of Hashem’s light and joy.

The Gemara tells us that after the death of Rebbi Akiva’s 24,000 students, when he was ordaining the next generation of students, “[Rebbi Akiva] said, ‘Rebbi Meir should sit at the front.’ Rebbi Shimon’s face turned white [from embarrassment]. Rebbi Akiva [whispered to Rebbi Shimon], ‘It is enough that I and your Creator recognize your strength.’” We too must remember that Hashem and Rebbi Shimon know that we have strength, goodness, and holiness within us. We have an aspect of the kohein gadol, an untainted core inside.

There is a story of Rav Gershon Henoch of Radzin, the son of the Beis Yaakov, when Rav Gershon Henoch was still a little boy of five years old. In his town, there was a lake that the men and boys used to swim in during the summer. In order to reach the lake, everyone had to pass over a rope bridge that only had enough room for one person to pass at a time. As a child, Rav Gershon Henoch was known as being a brilliant but sharp-mouthed boy who was more than a little bit brazen in his behavior.

One day, he wanted to go swimming, but an old man was crossing the rope bridge very, very slowly. He tried waiting but could not contain himself anymore and pushed passed the elderly man by pushing one of his hands off of the rope handle as he squeezed past him. The man called out, “Mechutzaf! Insolent child!”

Little Gershon Henoch answered back, “Don’t you know who my father is?!”

The older man answered, “I don’t care if your father is Rabi Shimon bar Yochai! You’re a mechutzaf!”

Shaken up by the incident, the old man turned around and went to go see the Beis Yaakov, little Gershon Henoch’s father, and told him everything that had happened. Very upset at his son’s behavior, the Rebbe sent for his son to come home immediately. When he returned, the Beis Yaakov asked his son what had happened at the lake. The boy admit-

ted what happened and told his father that the man had said, “I don’t care if your father is Rabi Shimon bar Yochai! You’re a mechutzaf!” The Beis Yaakov asked what he had answered to this. He said that he didn’t answer back but that he was upset because he knew that the Rebbe was bigger than Rabi Shimon bar Yochai! Taken aback, the Beis Yaakov spent several minutes in deep contemplation. When he returned to himself, he said that the man was right that he was a mechutzaf, but that he, little Gershon Henoch, was also correct that he, the Beis Yaakov, could perhaps, one day become even greater than Rabi Shimon bar Yochai because as long as a man lives, he must continue striving for greatness.

With G-d’s help, may we all merit to reveal the aspect of Rabi Shimon bar Yochai within us. When we connect to that point within ourselves which is still a Holy of Holies, we can connect to a place of pure joy and trust in Hashem and realize that we have purity and goodness within us and that we are never too far gone. It is enough that Hashem and Rabi Shimon recognize our inner greatness.

Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.