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Parashas Shemini
The Ger, The Priest: Servicing God Above
Rabbi David Katz
Parashas Shemini is a Parsha that has perhaps the richest
wealth of Allegorical depth in the entire Torah. Whether one wishes to trek the
Pinchas - Elijah trail and the ultimate excursion that makes it possible,
otherwise known as Nadav and Avihu [as they were the spiritual juice that
flavored Pinchas’ fire, and later the passion of Elijah], or the comparisons to
the pig and its Edomite counterpart that looks Kosher on the outside yet whose
inside is fatally deceptive [interesting to note that the word for “chewing cud”
is a derivative of “Ger” in its letters, expressing that the Ger is wholly
holy], to which the Ohr Chaim states in the future the pig will return [from a suppressed
state] to chew its cud. Again, this has endless allegorical implications. The
connections in the Parsha are vast, but the one that may strike the hardest, is
Aaron who learns Torah from the Mind of God, as Moses finds himself struggling
to grasp the Torah’s intent. Both are Priests, and both could be said to be the
perfect mirror of the Jew and the Ger.
The Talmud Bava Kama 38a has one location [of several in the
Oral Torah] that explicitly says, “A Non-Jew [Nachri, idolater] who is occupied
[connotation of a high level of investigation in Torah] in [his] Torah is
compared to a High Priest, by the common Hebrew word used for this very
spectrum of Man, “אדם.”
There are several key issues here that are quite intriguing
and worth noting and elaborating. The Talmud calls him a Nachri, which is often
viewed as an idolater. The Prophet Isaiah speaks about a similar character
[also called Nachri by the prophet] who has the ability to begin to observe
Shabbat as a day to express that Hashem created the World as such. The Nachri
[who apparently is striving to shed the idolatry and enter under the wings of
the Shechinah at some point] is prophesied to stand erect in the Holy Temple
under the suspension of schism before the Lord. The Torah commands a distant
relationship with the Nachri – so is he that we should relate to him and that
he should learn Torah to its conclusion of being compared to the High Priest?!
The Ger Toshav [resident stranger] carries with it a
connotation of a two-fold definition. Whether we stress GER toshav or
conversely ger TOSHAV both will explain the two paths of the righteous gentile.
A ger TOSHAV is quite literally a stranger dwelling in the
Land [presumably not permanent or not from a point of complete interest] and
his sole responsibility is to reject idolatry while retaining the need to eat
non-kosher meat. He is Toshav to a more extent [by law] than his “ger” status,
i.e. he has most likely not offered an Offering [Olah / Bird Offering]
expressing a lack of desire to merge with Israel. In the Land [when there is Jubilee]
he is a ger TOSHAV.
The Rosh Commentary says that this stage of ger although he
has rejected idolatry his “world’ is still idolatrous in nature, simply because
he is either yet too raw to have rejected idols outright with knowledge, or he
lacks the ability to counteract those that orbit his world. The Rosh [and
ultimately the Torah] wants him to be occupied with Torah beyond his denial of
idolatry so that he should come to be a GER toshav, a follower of the Seven
Laws of Noach. The more he sheds the
idolatry [the ger TOSHAV] and learns Torah, he is becoming “Adam” / Man - likened to the High Priest, and when he is
the Land, he is privileged to be in the company of the Holy and dedicated [to
Tikkun Olam] to the GER toshav [Ger Toshav]. The Nachri / ger TOSHAV has a
hybrid title based on his circumstance of where he is, spiritually and
physically. The standard Ger Toshav [GER toshav] is completely different, he is
not a Nachri, he is considered as part of Israel, and for that we praise the
ger, the GER then how much the more so! [Temple, Priest, Torah, etc.]
The nature of this Talmudic revelation is nothing short of a
Chiddush – grandiose revelation that is given by God to man, in the way of
Wisdom as opposed to Prophecy. [Although there are those that say that even
this wisdom can contain prophetic measure should the Holy One Blessed Be He
grant it so, and the vessel has worked to an ability to purify the revelation
as such. This is one example of Rebbe Akiva’s greatness when compared to Moses]
It seems from our Parsha, the High Priest is not a stranger to the Chiddush –
Revelation, as witnessed this week by Aaron and his exercise with Moses.
The Torah does not share a lot about Aaron’s greatness in
learning to the extent of which we know about Moses’ prophecy. Yet Parashas Shemini
clearly demonstrates that Aaron pulled down such a revelation of wisdom [a
chiddush to the Torah, i.e. something that had not yet been revealed, even to
Moses] that even Moses was caught off guard, even sinned in opposition of such
a phenomenon.
Aaron had realized that of the special Offering he was able
to perform as a mourner, and the standard “eating of the Offering” was
suspended due to the fact that through his offering as a High Priest, he was
not to carry out the command as one would commonly think. This is the first “chiddush”
of this type we have seen through Aaron, Torah, etc. and Moses simply could not
get his head around it in time. Some argue the nature of Moses’ “sin” whether
it was from a mistake that led to anger, or “anger” that led to the mistake; for
whatever happened Moses was “doresh doresh!” – he looked everywhere in haste to
find out “what was going on!” In end Aaron explained and Moses hear, and
admitted he had not heard this law – due praise to Aaron.
There is a famous concept that explains the nature of a true
Chiddush / revelation in Torah, one that is clearly in motion between Moses and
Aaron. It is said that to the extent of the mass of newly expressed Torah, coupled
with the labor in harnessing the concept, the laborer [who is paid for his
efforts] opens the gateway for others to walk and gain insight as a “free
download” from Hashem; a type of Chesed – Kindness works from on High to Below.
Here in the Parsha, Aaron did the work, and Moses, even with all of his
Prophecy, was able to get the insight as a Kindness to the hard work of Aaron.
Moses simply could not hear it, until Aaron hit the mark allowing it to be
easily heard.
The same relationship can be said of the Jew and the Ger and
a type of Moses and Aaron. The Ger, who functions like a High priest when he is
in his element of learning Torah, has the ability to draw down revelation just
like the archetype High priest, Aaron. Moses, who fashions as the Jew in the
analogy, has the tools to grasp it, once it has been released to come down.
This type of partnership is also seen in the Moshiach – Elijah relationship in
teaching Torah in the End of Days.
From Moses and Aaron we can see the blemish and
rectification to this principle in clear terms. The Ger must believe he is
creating revelation, to not, is to deny his God given gift. The Jew must learn
to truly listen, as Moses did once he corrected his off-color “mistakes.” Moses’
anger and the negativity of the Ger is antithetical to Torah, whereas a listening
Moses and a thoughtful Ger, have the ability to garment both positions as the
High Priest in conjunction with the Nation of Priests, standing shoulder to
shoulder in not only the Temple of our World, but spiritually the Temple in
every World. [The Zohar says that within Shem, the Priest of this World, were
his angelic components “Michael etc.” who reached to under the throne of Glory
above.]
The Ger is the chiddush. Whether it be Aaron as a High
Priest, the Torah of the Ger, terminology of the Ger [Nachri, Ger, Goy, Toshav,
Ger Tzedek, etc.] laws of the Temple, etc. even today we are drawing
inspiration from the Ger. The Ger has been a part of Israel not since its
inception, but they were those that conceived! Imagine how much more Torah
could be expressed [even if for the first time] if there were Gerim who thought
like Aaron [on a pure level] and Jews who acted like Moses [on an honest
level]. Even simple folk today could embody Moses and Aaron on a certain level
to draw down revelation of Messiah and Elijah, as this has been the stage since
the days of Shem and Abraham.
The Torah will never be forgotten, that we are promised. But
what they don’t tell you in school is how that preservation happens in
realistic terms. The greatest simcha’s that may exist in Torah are those of
when one expands his mind like Nadav and Avihu represent in Kabbalistic terms,
and we are transformed from non-kosher beasts [of evil inclination] to
something that may come to God by the hands of Michael, when we meet at the
Gates of Righteousness, following a Holy Life’s expiration. All of the
allegories [in Shemini] work exquisitely well, but perhaps none resonate as
resounding as the Chiddush of the High Priest and the Zar [the non-Kohen; Moses
a Priest, but to the same extent as Aaron such that it perpetuated in seed,
etc.].
Tragedy is the sudden realization that Torah is lost and
redemption [although noble] is futile. Aaron stands to attest for all of time,
that the Torah [from high priesthood in particular] is always in sight and thus
attainable from the pre-requisite labor, as Moses embodies the Torah chemistry that
must always be in harmony, thus amenable to the truth, when it arrives to the
World through a voice. Whether ones seeks the allegorical view or the
observation point from the direction of Hashem, Shemini is destined for high
end intelligence…whenever you put ingredients like that together, as Aaron
demonstrates so clearly, expect to find the Ger, under any circumstance.
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