Divrei Mav

This week is particularly special –this is the Shabbos before Pesach (Passover) known as Shabbos Hagadol. Shabbos Hagadol was the day in Mitzrayim ( Egypt ) that the B’nai Yisroel offered the Korban Pesach. This was their first commandment and the B’nai Yisroel did it without any hesitation, and with the most love imaginable. וַיַּעַשׂ אַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו אֵת כָּל הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְ־הֹוָ־ה בְּיַד מֹשֶׁה And Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord commanded through Moses. (Leviticus 8:36) This week w e continue to learn about the Korbanos (offerings) and more of their details, we learn specifically, where the Korbanos were brought in the Mishkan (tabernacle). As we know Ahron and his sons, the Kohanim were instructed to serve Hashem in the Mishkan. At the very end of this week’s Parsha, (the last passuk in fact) we find that the Torah tells us Ahron and his sons did as Hashem commanded. But interestingly, the lashon (carefully selected language) is

“When He had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai , He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with the finger of God.” (Sh’mos 31:18) What a sight to see! The revelation at Har Sinai! When Moshe Rabbeinu ascended Har Sinai Hashem presented him with the luchos (tablets). Upon his decent Moshe Rabbeinu discovered that the B’nai Yisroel had committed a grave sin. So grave that for all future generations everyday tzar (distress) will be connected to this sin. This avairah was the sin of the golden calf. Moshe Rabbeinu disappointed and astonished smashed the luchos. He eventually ascended back up the mountain to daven and received another set of luchos. So powerful was this experience that it created a whole new level of kedusha (holiness) in Moshe. We learn from the passuk that when Moshe Rabbeinu returned to the B’nai Yisroel his holy face was radiating. This radiation was unique and was so powerful no one from the B’nai Yisroel would

Parshas Tetzaveh .וְנָשָׂא אַהֲרֹן אֶת מִשְׁפַּט בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל לִבּוֹ לִפְנֵי יְ־הֹוָ־ה תָּמִיד …And Aaron will carry the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord at all times. (Sh’mos 28:30) The Kohain Gadol was given the opportunity to wear an exclusive wardrobe of beautifully hand made sacred garments. In this wardrobe we find the Choshen Mishpat (breastplate). The Choshen Mishpat was a square shaped golden plate with twelve different stones placed in rows of three. Each stone had inscribed on it the name of a shevet (tribe). This breastplate was secured on the Kohain Gadol with “braided craftsmanship, of pure gold” as the passuk says. This Choshen Mishpat was a bridge between the B’nai Yisroel and Hashem. Meaning, if there were to be a dilemma amongst the B’nai Yisroel, the Kohain Gadol would ask the Choshen Mishpat what the solution might be. Hashem would display the solution by lighting up the letters of the words on the stones of the Cho