LEVITICUS IX:1-XI:47

SEPARATION OF POWERS

At the conclusion of the seven days of preparation, Aharon(Aaron) and his sons proceeded with the sacrifices for the dedication of the Tabernacle, the Mishkan on the eighth day. Even in this episode, as a central figure in the Torah, Moshe(Moses) relays the instructions about the Korbanot to his brother Aharon, the Kohen Gadol (High Priest). Moreover, he exclaims, “Kerav el hamizbeach va’ase“: “Approach the altar and act,” in the face of Aharon’s immobility. 

Aharon probably did not feel sure of himself, perhaps because of the tragedy that befell his sons Nadav and Avihu on that day, as we will read in the ninth chapter of Sefer Vayikra. They passed away at the time of the offering, they were consumed by a heavenly flame. Aharon thought that God would also not be willing to accept his offering because he assumed that he did not possess the ethical attributes necessary to approach the Creator on behalf of the Hebrew people. Moshe’s words, “kerav el hamizbeach,” spurred him on to do so.

Humility was one of the characteristics of the Kohen,  who from youth received training for the service of God and the community. In addition to officiating at the Beit HaMikdash, the Kohen was the master who imparted the knowledge of tradition to the new generations. Since he did not own land, the Kohen subsisted on the shares of the Korbanot that he could consume and the Teruma, the contribution he received from the crops. 

The Kohen was the authentic religious leader, while the king was the secular and political leader of the society. And the separation of powers had to be maintained. This separation was violated in the time of the Chashmona’im, who, while being Kohanim, also assumed the mantle of the monarchy, in accordance with the events leading up to the celebration of Chanukkah.

According to Ramban, the period of the Chashmona’im ended in disgrace due to that lack of division between the administrative and secular power on the one hand and the religious power on the other. Some point out that the absence of a volume of the Talmud on Chanukkah, as opposed to Purim,which is explained in the tractate Megilla, is due to the fact that the Chachamim maintained reservations regarding the actions of the Chashmona’im.

In analyzing the role of leadership in Jewish tradition, we go back to the time of the patriarchs. There is no doubt that after the death of the third patriarch Yaakov (Jacob), the son who was best prepared to assume the mantle of leadership was Yosef(Joseph), who had distinguished himself as a great statesman in Pharaoh’s court. Had he not saved mankind from the time of certain death by the period of famine? Had it not been for their administrative skills, which consisted, in part, in storing up the excesses of the period of plenty for the seven years of “lean cows,” the Egyptians and neighboring peoples would have perished.

Why did Yaakov exclaim  on his deathbed, “Lo yasur shevet miYehuda,” “the scepter of command must not be taken away from Yehuda”? Why didn’t Yaakov choose Yosef, instead of appointing his fourth son, Yehuda, to be the progenitor of the kings of the Jewish people?

The great scholar Harav Aharon Soloveichik z’l, brother of my late teacher, explained that the reason Yosef was not chosen was because he was perfect in all his performances. Unlike Yehudawho had a dubious relationship with Shua’s daughter and then fathered twins with his daughter-in-law Tamar. Yosef, on the other hand, did not succumb to the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife. The leader of a people cannot be a person of such moral characteristics that society cannot identify with him or her, and then conclude that he or she will not be able to attain that degree of perfection. The leader must be perfectible, but not perfect.

It is possible that similar reasoning prevented the Kohen from exercising administrative leadership of the community. The strict training of the biblical Kohen prepared him for a life of detachment from material goods and an exclusive dedication to the spiritual well-being of the people, facts that made him an almost heavenly or angelic being. Both the spiritual leader and the political leader serve as role models for society, so their choice is critical to inculcate the spiritual and social values necessary for the moral health and material well-being of the new generations.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 6  POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 11 PROHIBITIONS

149. Leviticus 10:6 Kohanim should not enter the Temple with long hair.

150. Leviticus 10:6, 21:10 Kohanim should not enter the Temple with torn clothes.

151. Leviticus 10:7 Kohanim should not leave the Temple during the Holy Service

152. Leviticus 10:9 The Kohanim should not enter the Temple after drinking wine, nor should they pronounce judgment when drunk.

153. Leviticus 11:2,3 Obligation to examine the signs of domestic and wild animals (to determine whether they are kosher).

154. Leviticus 11:4-7 Do not eat domestic or wild animals that are non-kosher.

155. Leviticus 11:9 Obligation to examine the signs of fish (to determine if they are kosher).

156. Leviticus 11:11 Do not eat fish that are non-kosher.

157. Leviticus 11:13 Do not eat non-kosher birds.

158. Leviticus 11:21 Obligation to examine insect signs (to determine if they are kosher).

159. Leviticus 11:29,30 Laws governing the ritual impurity of the 8 animals that walk on land.

160. Leviticus 11:34 Laws concerning ritual impurity of food.

161. Leviticus 11:39 Laws concerning the ritual impurity of animal carcasses.

162. Leviticus 11:41 Do not eat animals that crawl on the ground.

163. Leviticus 11:42 Do not eat diminutive insects that accompany grains and fruits.

164. Leviticus 11:43 Do not eat small creatures that inhabit the waters.

165. Leviticus 11:44 Do not ingest insects that form from decaying matter.