The Torah tells us that upon reaching Hor HaHar, on the boundaries of the land of Edom, Hashem told Moshe to prepare Aharon for death, "al asher m'risen es pi l'mei meriva," (20: 24) because of their failure to obey Hashem at Mei Meriva.
Why does the Torah need to give us the geographical detail that Hor HaHar is on the border of Edom? Rashi explains that it was the fact that Bnei Yisrael came under the influence of Edom which diminished their merits and caused this great tzadik Aharon to be taken from them.
The obvious question: the Torah itself tells us why Aharon died -- "Al asher m'risen es pi l'mei meriva" -- because of episode of Mei Meriva, the hitting of the rock. Why do we need another explanation involving the influence of Edom to account for his death?
I think the simplest answer is that Aharon died for the sin of Mei Meriva, but why here and why now? Rashi comes to answer that second question.
Sefas Emes offers another answer that touches on a yesod I thought I wrote about before, but can't find where, so it's good to visit or revisit it. "HaTzur tamim pa'alo" -- G-d's judgment is perfect. If a person commits a crime and is thrown into jail, it's not only they who suffer, but it's also their wife, their children, etc. who suffer as well. There is "collateral damage," if you will, caused by the punishment meted out. Not so G-d's judgment. If a person is guilty of sin and needs to be punished, then Hashem does so in such a way that avoids causing pain to the person's wife, children, etc. who don't deserve it. Everything is precisely measured out and meted out.
Aharon had to die because of the sin committed at Mei Meriva, but what did Klal Yisrael do to deserve to suffer the loss of such a tzadik? Why should they have to deal with a tragedy like that? The Torah therefore tells us that Aharon died on the border of Edom, where we fell under foreign influence -- our merits did not measure up, so we deserved to suffer as well.
Maybe this yesod explains another Rashi as well. At the end of Ha'Azinu, (32:48) Hashem told Moshe to go "b'etzem ha'yom ha'zeh," this very day, up to Har Nevo to look out over the Eretz Yisrael and then to die. Rashi comments that the Torah uses the expression "b'etzem ha'yom ha'zeh," right in the middle of the day, when everyone can see what is happening, because Klal Yisrael thought that they would cling to Moshe and stop him from dying. G-d therefore said I'm going to do this in public, right in front of you, and go ahead and see if you can stop me.
What kind of crazy hava amina is it to think you can stop someone from dying?
Perhaps the answer is "ha'tzur tamim pa'alo," that if we did not deserve to lose Moshe, then irrespective of his sin of Mei Meriva, he would still be with us. It is only our failure to rally ourselves to a higher level of ruchniyus to deserve his still being with us that let him be taken. (See this post for a different answer that connects to our parsha as well.)
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"because of their failure"
ReplyDeletedid Moshe kill his own brother with the second strike of the rock? the two were to speak to the sela: Moshe failed at the first strike, and Aharon, once-upon-a-time his brother's designated speaker (Shemos 4:14-16), had his words cutoff by thwack #2
"Hashem does so in such a way that avoids causing pain to the person's wife, children, etc."
'gathered to his people' (yei'asef Aharon el-amav, 20:24): isn't 'people' normally understood to mean deceased ancestors? we see here that it can also mean [to be gathered Justly/'painlessly' to] survivors (baruch Dayan ha'Emes)
"what did Klal Yisrael do to deserve to suffer...?"
did they not incriminate themselves by testing Moshe one more time (20:2-5), provoking his [unforced] tantrum? at 20:4 they even betray their own complaint by use of the word 'sham'/there, rather than po/here-- at this their umpteenth 'crisis' replay, they don't really expect to die of thirst. if the klal is thus guilty*, secondary measurements for "why here and why now?" are less necessary
*Devarim 32:5
"stop him from dying...[if we] rally ourselves to a higher level of ruchniyus"
ReplyDeleteby singing a new song (shir chadash) to displace, as it were, "Ha'Azinu"-- to sing what Yehoshua sang at pasuk 10:12*, so that Moshe would remain fixedly with them, like the sun stopped in the midst of the sky (ba'chatzi ha'shamayim = "in the middle of the day");
but Hashem replies to them [to these thoughts of their heart], la'shemesh sam ohel ba'hem (T'lim 19:5)-- He has made for Moshe a tent of destination [if a man dies in a tent]; what Will be Will be...
*says Rashi in sefer Yehoshua