Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
Last week’s parashah ended with gifts being brought to the mishkan in an event known as חֲנֻכַּת הַנְּשִׂיאִים (hanukkat ha-nesi’im, the dedication of the chiefs).
This week’s parashah opens with a mitzvah for Aharon: to light the menorah. But it doesn’t seem to fit in the flow of the story! Our פַּרְשָׁנִים (parshanim, commentators) wonder:
Why does the menorah appear here?
Rashi explains with a midrash.
לְפִי שֶׁכְּשֶׁרָאָה אַהֲרֹן חֲנֻכַּת הַנְּשִׂיאִים חָלְשָׁה אָז דַּעְתּוֹ, שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה עִמָּהֶם בַּחֲנֻכָּה לֹא הוּא וְלֹא שִׁבְטוֹ.
אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא: חַיֶּיךָ שֶׁלְּךָ גְדוֹלָה מִשֶּׁלָּהֶם, שֶׁאַתָּה מַדְלִיק וּמֵטִיב אֶת הַנֵּרוֹת.
When Aharon saw hanukkat ha-nesi’im, he got upset that he and his tribe were not included.
The Holy Blessed One said to Aharon, “Don’t worry! You have an even more important role than them: lighting and setting up the candles.”
- Everyone feels left out sometimes. What message does this midrash have for someone who is feeling excluded?
Ramban asks some questions about this interpretation. Why would God make Aharon feel better specifically with the menorah? Why not mention some of Aharon’s other jobs, like offering קְטֹרֶת (ketoret, incense) or other קָרְבָּנוֹת (korbanot, sacrifices), or the service of Yom Kippur when he went into the קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים (kodesh kodashim, the holiest part of the mishkan), which only he could do?
- What do you think Rashi would say to answer these questions? What does it say about the daily lighting of the menorah in the mishkan if God thinks it is similar to the special gifts and sacrifices offered by the nesi’im when the mishkan was first dedicated?
Ramban suggests that the menorah in our parashah was actually a hint about something else.
אֲבָל עִנְיַן הַהַגָּדָה הַזּוֹ, לִדְרֹשׁ רֶמֶז מִן הַפָּרָשָׁה עַל חֲנֻכָּה שֶׁל נֵרוֹת שֶׁהָיְתָה בְּבַיִת שֵׁנִי עַל יְדֵי אַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו…
וּבְלָשׁוֹן הַזֶּה מְצָאתִיהָ בִּמְגִלַּת סְתָרִים לְרַבֵּינוּ נִסִּים... אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמֹשֶׁה דַּבֵּר אֶל אַהֲרֹן וְאָמַרְתָּ אֵלָיו, יֵשׁ חֲנֻכָּה אַחֶרֶת שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהּ הַדְלָקַת הַנֵּרוֹת וַאֲנִי עוֹשֶׂה בָּהּ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל עַל יְדֵי בָּנֶיךָ נִסִּים וּתְשׁוּעָה וַחֲנֻכָּה שֶׁקְּרוּיָה עַל שְׁמָם, וְהִיא חֲנֻכַּת בְּנֵי חַשְׁמוֹנַאי...
וְהִנֵּה, דָּבָר יָדוּעַ שֶׁכְּשֶׁאֵין בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ קַיָּם וְהַקָּרְבָּנוֹת בְּטֵלִין מִפְּנֵי חֻרְבָּנוֹ אַף הַנֵּרוֹת בְּטֵלוֹת, אֲבָל לֹא רָמְזוּ אֶלָּא לְנֵרוֹת חֲנֻכַּת חַשְׁמוֹנַאי, שֶׁהִיא נוֹהֶגֶת אַף לְאַחַר הַחֻרְבָּן בְּגָלוּתֵנוּ...
The purpose of this story (the midrash that Rashi quotes) is to provide a hint from our parashah for the holiday of Hanukkah, when lights would be lit in the second Beit Ha-Mikdash by Aharon’s descendents...
I found this language in Megillat Setarim from Rabbeinu Nissim… The Holy Blessed One was telling Moshe to tell Aharon: There will be a different hanukkah (dedication) in the future and it will involve candle lighting. I (God) will make these miracles and salvation happen for Israel through your descendants. This Hanukkah will be known by their name, the Hashmonaim…
We know that without a Beit Ha-Mikdash there are no more korbanot and also no daily menorah lighting. But God was hinting to Aharon about lighting Hanukkah candles, which would continue even after the destruction in our exile…
According to Ramban, the thing that made Aharon feel better was not lighting the menorah in the mishkan, but that his descendants would start a different kind of Hanukkah—the holiday!!—and that this would last forever even when the Beit Ha-Mikdash was destroyed.
- Why would the future lighting of Hanukkah candles make Aharon feel better than all the other special things he got to do in the mishkan?
- What does this mean about the importance of lighting Hanukkah candles every year? How does this change the way we think about and celebrate the holiday?
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