Parsha Titzaveh is all about the
Kohanim - the details of their garments and the structure of their
sanctification ceremony. In Chapter 29 it is written: “And you shall cause his
[Aaron’s] sons to come near, and dress them in tunics” (29:8). It is
interesting that the verb used is in the causative form.
One would think by the flow of this
narrative that after describing the anointing of Aaron as the high priest, his
sons would be instructed to come forward in order to be anointed. Rather, they
were to be brought forward. Perhaps this was meant to signify to the Children
of Israel and the sons of Aaron themselves that becoming a kohain was neither a
privilege nor a choice but rather a duty and an obligation.
Many people think of the role of the
kohanim as a caste above the rest, but with that elevation came restrictions.
In fact, to this day, some of those restrictions (relating to marriage) have
led people to seek ways to de-kohen themselves.
In Sefer Bamidbar, Korach leads a rebellion on the premise that Aaron and his sons should not have taken the kahuna for themselves, but the fact that they were to be “brought forward” signals that this was not a taking, not even a receiving, but was rather a Divine appointment.
Perhaps from this one could draw the
lesson that one must always be careful about judging the life position of other
people, because everyone was placed into their situation by Divine Will and
therefore everyone is exactly where they are supposed to be.
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