My ancestor, Rav Mordchele of Nadvorna zy”a (Sefer Maamar Mordechai) explains that when a person pursues honor, it is a sign of sin. The pasuk is saying that “yoseres min hakavod”, if a person desires an abundance of honor, “min hachatas”, it is because he has sinned and has not rectified his ways.
Do Not Rely on the Mishkan to Provide Atonement
The Medrash states (Vayikroh Rabbah 12”2): “Moshe told Aharon: My brother, at Sinai I was told that I would sanctify this house and that I would sanctify it with a great man. I thought that it might be through me or you that this house is sanctified but now I see that your two sons are greater than me and you.”
The Magid of Dubno zt”l (Sefer Mishlei Yaakov) explains why the Mishkan had to be inaugurated with the deaths of Aharon’s sons with the following moshol:
There was a prominent dignitary who built a city, appointed himself the ruler of the city, and provided residence there for numerous merchants and businessmen. He beautified the city with much splendor, building nice bridges and planting fragrant gardens and orchards. The residents lacked for nothing and were very happy. After the city was complete, the dignitary asked a wise man to inspect it and make sure nothing important was missing. After viewing the city, the wise man said, “There is no doctor here. How can people live in a city with no doctor?”
The ruler of the city immediately sent a letter to a medical school, asking them to send their best student to serve as his city’s doctor. He promised to provide a large salary. The school sent back a letter, promising to send an expert doctor who could heal all illnesses. They wrote that the doctor would arrive on the first day of the next month.
The ruler and all the residents of the city were very happy to hear this and they eagerly anticipated the doctor’s arrival. On the day he arrived, they all gathered to greet him, and they brought him into the city with much fanfare and honor. An announcement was made, asking if anyone needed to see the doctor, and one man came forward and said that he was suffering from headaches. Everyone thought this man as very fortunate, as the doctor would certainly do everything in his power to heal his very first patient in his new town in order to prove his efficiency. The doctor took the man into his office and spent a lot of time on him. He gave him several expensive medications and sent him on his way. However, a few days later, the patient died. This caused an uproar in the city. The ruler approached the doctor and angrily asked, “Can you explain why this man died? He did not seem to be so sick. And if he really was deathly ill, why did you waste so much time and money caring for him and giving him expensive medicines?”
The doctor cleverly answered, “Yes, it is true that I caused this man’s death. The reason I did this was because I heard everyone say that since an expert doctor had come to town who can heal all ailments. They were saying that even if someone was at death’s door, I could heal him. I was worried that the people would become so reliant on me that they would stop taking care of their health. They would eat unhealthy food and drink alcohol excessively, and do other things that are harmful to the body and would rely on him to save them if they became ill. “This would mean that my arrival would have a negative effect, rather than a positive one. Therefore, I allowed this man to die so that everyone would realize that they cannot rely solely on me and that they needed to take care of their own health as well.”
The nimshol is that after Hashem gave the Torah to Klal Yisroel, thus making them His Chosen Nation, He saw that it would be good to give them an “expert doctor”, who could heal them of all spiritual maladies. To serve this purpose, He made them a Mishkan, a Mizbeach and korbanos, and a kohen to perform the avodah and, thereby, heal their ruchnius ailments. After the Mishkan was completed, everyone came to joyfully greet the spiritual “doctor” that would atone for their sins. However, this led to the concern that they might think it was okay for them to sin and that they no longer needed to guard their spiritual health, as they could always find atonement in the Mishkan by bringing a korban. To banish this idea from their minds, Hashem caused the great men, Nadav and Avihu, to die for a small transgression. This taught the people that they may not rely on the Mishkan alone to protect them and that they needed to guard themselves from sin as well.
The Reward for Silence
Targum Yonason explains the words “and Aharon was silent” by saying: “And Aharon heard and he was silent and he received good reward for his silence.” It is said in the name of tzadikim that we learn from this that no one ever lost out by being silent. On the contrary, the reward for silence is very great. In this vein, the Divrei Yisroel zy”a explains the Gemara’s statement “kol d’alim g’ver” (whomever is strongest, wins) to mean that whomever is silent always wins, as the word “alim” can also mean silence (ileim).
The Ramban, however, understands the words “vayidom Aharon” to mean that he first cried loudly and then was silent. The greatness of Aharon was that even though he was overcome with emotion over the death of his sons, he overcame his natural urge to weep and stopped crying. He strengthened his emunah and accepted Hashem’s decree with love.
