Aharon’s legacy: Holding fast to Torah and love of every Jew

In the middle of this week’s Torah portion, the Torah does something unexpected.

After listing the Jewish people’s 42 journeys through the wilderness, it suddenly interrupts the narrative to record the passing of Aharon the High Priest:

“Aharon the Kohen ascended Mount Hor… and died there.” (Numbers 33:38)

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Why is Aharon’s passing inserted into what is otherwise a record of the nation’s travels?

This Shabbat also blesses and ushers in the month of Av, when we mourn the destruction of both Batei Mikdash. The Talmud teaches that the Second Temple was destroyed because of sinat chinam — baseless hatred. The Talmud shares the story that led to this.

A wealthy man planned a banquet and instructed his servant to invite his friend, Kamtza. By mistake, the servant invited his bitter enemy, Bar Kamtza. When the host saw him, he demanded that he leave. Bar Kamtza pleaded to stay. He offered to pay for his own meal, then for half the banquet, and finally for the entire feast. The host refused every offer and publicly threw him out. The many sages present did not intervene, and the humiliation ultimately set in motion the chain of events that led to the destruction of Jerusalem.

The obvious question is: How could this happen, especially in the presence of so many sages?

One explanation is that this was not simply a personal grudge. The host viewed Bar Kamtza as someone unworthy of sitting at his table. He believed him to be a wicked man who brought shame to Torah and Judaism. He believed that by throwing him out, he was acting out of principle.

The same may be said of those who remained silent. Their failure was not that they stopped caring about Torah values. Their failure was that they lost sight of the way Aharon lived Torah.

The Mishnah describes Aharon as one who “loved peace and pursued peace,” and then adds, “He loved people and brought them close to Torah.”

The wording is precise.

It does not say that Aharon brought the Torah closer to people.

It says that he brought people closer to Torah.

Aharon never diluted Torah in order to make it more acceptable. At the same time, he never gave up on another Jew because that person fell short of Torah’s ideals. He believed that every Jew possessed a soul worth reaching, and that love, not rejection, was the way to uncover it.

That balance is not always easy.

When someone disagrees with us, or lives differently than we think they should, it is tempting to create distance. On the other hand, there is a growing tendency to assume that if Torah appears to conflict with the values of the moment, then Torah itself must change.

Aharon accepted neither approach.

His love for every Jew was unconditional. His commitment to Torah was equally unwavering.

The challenge was never to make the Torah fit the person. It was to help the person discover how deeply the Torah already fit the soul.

Perhaps that is why the Torah pauses to mention Aharon’s passing here. The Jewish people were about to enter the Land of Israel and begin a new chapter of their history. They would encounter new cultures, new influences and new pressures. More than ever, they would need Aharon’s example.

Every generation faces its own pressures. Ideas that were once considered self-evident are questioned. Beliefs that shaped Jewish life for thousands of years are often measured against the standards of the moment. The temptation is either to abandon people or to abandon principles.

Aharon’s legacy offers another path. Love people without reservation and live Torah without apology.

As we enter the month of Av and reflect on the causes of our greatest national tragedy, perhaps that is the lesson we need most. The Temple was not destroyed because Jews cared too much about Torah. It was destroyed because they forgot that Torah and love of a fellow Jew were never meant to be separated.

The surest way to rebuild what was lost is to hold tightly to both. PJC

Rabbi Henoch Rosenfeld is the director of Chabad Young Professionals of Pittsburgh. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabonim of Greater Pittsburgh.