Miller's Musings Parshas Shemini: The Present of His Presence

בס''ד

Recognition for one’s achievements is a basic need that we all have.  No matter how much we may say we do not crave any acknowledgement, the truth is that we all need praise and appreciation from time to time. Aharon’s silence in response to his sons’ deaths is something that is recounted again and again as the epitome of what it means to have faith in G-d.  His total belief in Hashem’s goodness meant there was not even the slightest negative reaction towards their tragic ends and this surely deserved a reward from G-d.  And a reward he did in fact receive which Rashi tells us was an unaccompanied audience with Hashem where he, and he alone, was told of the prohibition against imbibing wine before serving in the Mishkon.  This is a worthy and significant honour indeed, but why was this particular prize chosen for this particular act of Aharon?

Reward and punishment is an integral and essential part of Jewish dogma.  But we do not believe in either arbitrary punishments or rewards.  Both are direct and rational consequences of one’s positive or negative deeds, which can be understood to be the logical outcomes of those actions.  The kind of faith that Aharon manifested was one that resulted from the constant internalisation of absolute trust in G-d’s total governance of the world and His unlimited goodness.  Aharon’s complete acceptance of G-d’s judgement on this occasion, says the Darchei Mussar, once more strengthened this conviction, consequently making G-d an even more ever present and palpable part of Aharon’s life.  The corollary of this being that Aharon raised himself up in his spiritual level in terms of his unstinting connection and awareness of Hashem and was therefore able to experience G-d on his own.    

Developing true faith in G-d and in the axiom that everything He does is for the good, is of benefit to us in so many ways. The greater the certitude of this principle, the greater the peace of mind one will feel no matter what occurs, knowing that it all comes from Hashem.  But according to what we have discussed there is an additional benefit, in that developing this mind-set means that Hashem is an ever present part of our existence and our relationship with him is that much more genuine and tangible.  It means that all we do is with the presence of Hashem there guiding us and influencing that which occurs.  This in itself makes it worthwhile to acquire deeper faith and mindfulness of Hashem’s all-encompassing involvement in every moment of our lives.

*May we feel Hashem’s presence in every moment this Shabbos*

לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם 

לעילוי נשמת שרה יעל בת גרשון

לרפואת אלימלך יהושע אהרון בן דבורה רבקה