“May G-D’s Favor Rest Upon Us”

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

“To love your fellow Jews and think well of them as individuals and as a People, does not only involve emotional effort. It also constitutes a sizable section of the Torah, involving broad, profound wisdom.”
(Rav Kook, Orot p. 148)

There were two crises on the eighth day of dedication of the Tabernacle. The first was when the Divine Presence was not revealed, even though Aaron had raised his hands to the people and blessed them. It says a second time, “Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came out, they blessed the people” (Leviticus 9:23), and only then does it say, “The L-rd’s glory was revealed to all the people. Fire came forth….When the people saw this, they raised their voices in praise, and threw themselves on their faces” (23-24).

Rashi explains: “When Aaron perceived that all the sacrifices had been offered and all the rites performed, and yet the Divine Presence had not descended for Israel, since the heavenly fire had not fallen to consume the sacrifice, he was uneasy and he said, ‘I am certain G-d is angry with me and it is on my account that the Divine Presence has not descended for Israel.’ He therefore said to Moses, ‘Brother Moses! What have you done to me? You know that I entered into this matter at your bidding and yet I have been put to shame.’ Moses at once entered the tent with him and they prayed. The Divine Presence then descended for Israel.“‘And they came out and blessed the people’: They uttered the conclusion of Psalm 90: ‘May G-d’s favor rest upon us’ – i.e., May it be G-d’s will that the Divine Presence should rest upon the work of your hands.”

The second crisis was the death of Nadav and Avihu. Aaron’s reaction to this personal crisis was that he “remained silent” (Leviticus 10:3). For his silence, he was rewarded with G-d’s addressing him alone (Rashi). As for the more general crisis, when the Divine Presence did not reveal itself to the Jewish People, there Aaron did not remain silent. Quite the contrary, he came with a complaint to Moses: “What have you done to me…I have been put to shame.” Yet with his personal crisis, the death of his two sons, he remained silent, and he even viewed this as a sanctification of G-d’s name.
Today, we have to distinguish between personal crises and those affecting the Jewish People, and know how to react to each. With personal crises, however painful, we have to accept them the way Aaron accepted the death of his sons, remaining silent. We mustn’t castigate G-d. We must accept divine justice.

With more general crises, however, when the Divine Presence does not reveal itself to the Jewish People, as with the Tabernacle’s erection, we mustn’t resign ourselves and remain silent. We must rise up and act: We must pray and ask mercy, and we must bless the Jewish People the way Moses and Aaron did. We must carry on with renewed strength, and with faith that the crisis is not coincidental. Rather, it comes about in order for us to discover within ourselves enormous strengths stored away in the soul of the nation. By such means we will continue on the upward path towards complete redemption and salvation, and we will merit to “have G-d’s favor rest upon us, and may G-d consolidate for us the works of our hands” (Psalm 90:17).

Looking forward to redemption,
Shabbat Shalom.