Achare Mot
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This week’s Parasha insight is in honor of Mr. David Levy who will be receiving the community service award at the Nefesh Academy Dinner this Monday night May 3rd in Shaare Zion. To put in ad in our journal for David, call 718-339-9880 right away.
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In Parashat Achare Mot, we read about the clothes of the Kohen Gadol, and the Torah tells us about the service of the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur. Halacha says that on Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol wore white garments during his service inside the Kodesh Kodashim (Holy of Holies), and that he did not wear his gold garments. The gold garments were avoided in order not to remind G-d in the heavens of the sin of the Jewish people which was the sin of the Golden Calf, which was done with gold. On the day of Yom Kippur we don’t want any sin to be remembered in the heavens. So the Kohanim were supposed to be advocates for the Jewish people, rather than turn into prosecutors. The Gemara teaches us a famous rule that a prosecutor can not become the defender. And therefore the Kohen Gadol wears the white garments as to disassociate himself from the sin of the golden calf.
But the Rabbi called Oznayim LaTorah points out that he only wore the white garments when he was inside the Holy of Holies. But when he came out and stood in front of the people, the Kohen Gadol then put on his golden garments. So the Oznayim LaTorah asks that if the Kohen Gadol doesn’t want to remind G-d of the sin, then why would he adorn the golden clothes immediately after leaving the Holy of Holies? Shouldn’t he avoid wearing the gold clothes all day long whether he is inside the Holy of Holies or outside?
So the Oznayim LaTorah explains a very important lesson. When the Kohen Gadol is inside the Holy of Holies, he only talking to G-d. He talks of the good traits of the Jewish people, and praises the Jewish people in a good light. He is not expressing negative attributes nor prosecuting the Jewish people while inside the Holy of Holies. For example, the Kohen Gadol tries to justify the Jewish people’s actions by asking G-d to forgive them. The Kohen Gadol make excuses for them, and says they didn’t know what they were doing, or that there were so many tests around, and that their transgressions were not their fault. So we learn here that the job of a leader when in front of G-d. It should be like the Kohen Gadol when he is in the Holy of Holies. A leader should not prosecute the people while in front of G-d, but rather a leader must talk good about the people in front of G-d, just as the Kohen Gadol did in the Holy of Holies.
However when the Kohen Gadol comes out from the Holy of Holies and he is standing in front of the Jewish people, he can not pacify them and tell them they are Tzadikim and everything is fine. The Kohen Gadol can not white-wash the sins of the people. He can not close his eyes from the problems that the people are having. On the contrary, in front of the Jewish people he has an obligation to rebuke. In front of the Jewish people he has an obligation to point out their faults. Therefore when he came out of the Holy of Holies he put on the gold clothes to remind the people of the sin of the golden calf, in order they should be remorseful and repent.
Says the Oznayim LaTorah, this answers a very big misconception that many believe about a leader who gets up and rebukes the people. They ask why is the leader only looking at, and pointing only to the bad? They criticize the leader for not speaking good about the people. The lesson here is that the leader, the Rabbi, after a speech of fire and brim stone, when he gets off the pulpit, he turns to Bore Olam in private and asks G-d to forgive the people. The Rabbi in private says to G-d that the people didn’t know what they were doing, and it’s not their fault, etc. But to the people, he has to make them aware of their sins and what they did. Of course, the leader should orate his rebuke with a sweet tongue, with the right diplomacy, and in the right way. There is no concept of just closing one’s eyes and letting the people get away with transgressions on the Torah. In front of G-d, the leader speaks only of the good and with praise, and in front of the people the leader rebukes, teaches and enhances. Hence there’s a difference between the Kohen Gadol when wearing white garments in the Holy of Holies as he is confronting G-d, and when he is outside wearing golden garments while confronting the people.
