In the second of this week’s double parshios, Parshas Masei, the Torah records the event of the death of Aharon ha’Kohen. The pasukim tell us: אֱדוֹם אֶרֶץ בִּקְצֵה ,הָהָר בְּהֹר וַיַּחֲנוּ ;מִקָּדֵשׁ ,וַיִּסְעוּ, and they journeyed from Kadesh, and they camped at Hor Ha’Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom; מֵאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל-בְּנֵי לְצֵאת ,הָאַרְבָּעִים בִּשְׁנַת :שָׁם וַיָּמָת--’ה פִּי-עַל ,הָהָר הֹר-אֶל הַכֹּהֵן אַהֲרֹן וַיַּעַל לַחֹדֶשׁ בְּאֶחָד ,הַחֲמִישִׁי בַּחֹדֶשׁ ,מִצְרַיִם, and Aharon the Kohen ascended to Hor Ha’Hor, by the word of G-d, and he died there, in the fortieth year from when the Children of Israel left the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first of the month; בְּהֹר ,בְּמֹתוֹ ,שָׁנָה וּמְאַת וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁלֹשׁ-בֶּן ,וְאַהֲרֹן הָהָר, and Aharon was one hundred and twenty three years old when he died at Hor Ha’Hor (Bamidbar 33:37-39).
What is noteworthy and fascinating about these pasukim, which briefly record the death of Aharon, is that the Torah provides us with the date of Aharon’s death. “And Aharon died in the fifth month, on the first of the month.” As the Torah counts the months from Nissan, with Nissan being the first month, the fifth month is the month of Av. Hence, the yarzheit of Aharon ha’Kohen is on Rosh Chodesh Av. This date would not be so startling if not for the fact that this is the only yarzheit recorded in the entire Torah! We are not told the date of death of the Avos or Imahos, nor Moshe or Miriam, which means the Torah did not feel it significant for us to know those dates.
However, there is something most compelling about Aharon that he merits the only yarzheit date recorded in the Chumash.
At the time of his petirah, Rashi tells us that the entire nation - men and women - mourned for Aharon for thirty days לְאִשְׁתּוֹ אִישׁ וּבֵין מְרִיבָה בַּעֲלֵי בֵּין אַהֲבָה וּמַטִּיל שָׁלוֹם רוֹדֵף אַהֲרֹן שֶׁהָיָה לְפִי, because Aharon pursued peace and instilled love between quarreling parties and between man and wife (Rashi to Bamidbar 20:29).
Aharon’s death, on Rosh Chodesh Av - the month in which we mourn for the destruction of the Batei Mikdash - is meant to arouse, inspire, and shake us up in our avodas Hashem, and more specifically, our interaction bein adam la’chavairo (between man and fellow man). We mourn in Av for the Temple destroyed because of lack of ahava (love) between Jews. Chazal famously teach us that it was sinas chinam (baseless hatred) that destroyed the second BHM”K (Yoma 9b), and if it is not rebuilt in our time, then we are guilty of the same sins that destroyed it, and it is considered as if we destroyed it (Yerushalmi Yoma 1:1).
Every Rosh Chodesh Av, during this time of The Three Weeks, and as we begin The Nine Days, perhaps Hashem wants us to contemplate the death of Aharon and his peace-loving ways in life, which will cause us to repair our own ways, and be mesaken (rectify and repair) the lack of shalom in our nation.
