For seven days Aharon haKohen was preparing himself for the service of Hashem in the Mishkan. And now that great day in history, the Yom haShemini, when the Mishkan would be inaugurated, had arrived: The Presence of Hashem was going to rest now among the Bnei Yisroel.
And so the nation gathered together around Moshe Rabbeinu and he gave them the final instructions: "This is the thing that Hashem has commanded you to do, and then the Glory of Hashem will appear to you" (ibid. 6).
And that’s what happened, the inaugural avodah of the eighth day was completed and the Glory of Hashem appeared to the entire people, then a fire went forth from before Hashem and consumed the korbanos that were on the altar (ibid. 23-24). That was the kevod Hashem, the Glory of Hashem, that they saw – a fire from Hashem came down.
The Rambam’s Glory
Now the Rambam in his Moreh Nevuchim (1:64) takes note of that phrase 'כְבוֹד ה, the Glory of Hashem, and he wants to know, what does that mean? It should say maybe ‘the Fire of Hashem’ or ‘a Vision of Hashem’. Why is it called the ‘Glory’ or ‘Honor’ of Hashem?
It’s an important question because it’s a phrase, a description, that comes up again and again in the Torah. When the Mishkan was completed, it says the Glory of Hashem, the Honor of Hashem, filled the Mishkan (Shemos 40:34). What filled the Mishkan? A cloud. But it’s called ‘the honor of Hashem’.
And the Clouds of Glory that the Bnei Yisroel saw overhead for forty years in the Wilderness, what were they? Clouds. Why ‘Clouds of Glory’?
That’s what the Rambam wants to know. The fire that came down on Yom Hashmini, the cloud that filled the Mishkan, the clouds that covered the nation, in what way were they kevod Hashem, the Glory of Hashem?
