Shemini: "Taste and See"

·      For all the hoopla surrounding the inauguration of the Temple, the man who was to serve as its CEO doesn’t seem to get his due. Our parsha begins by telling us that Aaron, who would serve as high priest—the highest ranking position within the Temple hierarchy—didn’t begin to serve until “Yom ha’shemini,” “the eighth day.” For the first seven days, it was Moses, not Aaron, who served as the high priest of the Tabernacle. Why the delay in allowing Aaron to begin his service? Is the Torah making the point that he was unworthy to serve from the outset? If, rather Moses’ week-long service was meant to honor Aaron—serving as an elongated inauguration ceremony, why does the Torah emphasize that Aaron’s first day in office was not day one, but day eight?

·      Rabbi Isaac Bernstein explains by referring to a midrash on the episode of the burning bush. In this first conversation with Moses, G-d informs him that he has been chosen to lead the Jews out of Egypt. Far from accepting this role willingly, Moses proceeds to argue with G-d, insisting that he is the wrong man for the job and that his older brother, Aaron, would be far more suitable. The midrash teaches that this debate lasted a full week, as Moses proclaimed his own unsuitability for the position for a full seven days. As a result, the midrash explains, Moses was punished. Whereas initially G-d had intended that Moses would serve as Kohen Gadol, as high priest of the tabernacle, he would now be passed over for the brother of whom he spoke so highly. Aaron, not Moses, would be appointed as high priest.

·      Tell a man that he was being considered for a position of royalty but was then passed over and his life will go on as before. He will easily go back to his humdrum routine, having never known anything else. The news alone serves as no distraction. But place a man in a position of royalty—allow him to be king for a day—and he his ability to return to his previous lifestyle will become quite difficult. Once he has tasted the kingly lifestyle, once he becomes aware of the power and luxury that such a lifestyle affords, he will truly appreciate what he is missing when things return to normal.

·      That Aaron’s service begins only on the eighth day is not a critique of his ability to adequately fill the role of high priest. Moses serves for the first seven days not to dismiss Aaron, but to fully appreciate the consequence of being passed over for the position. The Torah emphasizes that Aaron begins on the eighth day not to teach us about Aaron, but about Moses; that to properly understand what it meant to be passed over as high priest, he had to first fill that position for a brief period, only to be removed from it.

·      One can only fully appreciate something by experiencing it first hand. Words invariably fall short of adequately describing the full magnitude and scope of so many situations. In Psalm 34, recited every Shabbos morning, we say, “Ta’amu u’reu ki tov Hashem,” “Taste and see that G-d is good.” In authoring these words, King David was making the point that to fully appreciate G-d’s goodness—the beauty of His Torah, the satisfaction of observing his mitzvot—it must be tasted and experienced firsthand.

·      That becomes a critical concept for us to keep in mind, both for our conversations with others, and with ourselves. We often find ourselves in conversations with colleagues or friends in which we have the need to explain a Jewish practice or ritual. And as we do, as we begin to explain concepts as seemingly bizarre as Sukkot, Shabbat, tefillin, or Passover, it’s only natural that we begin to view these practices through the eyes of those we’re explaining them to and wonder, “Maybe this really is crazy!” But it’s important to remember that “Ta’amu u’reu,” that only after tasting any of these mitzvot can their beauty truly be appreciated. If these practices come across as sounding bizarre or even archaic, it is only so because words alone cannot do justice to the meaning experienced when they are actually performed.

·      And it is equally critical to keep this in mind when we have conversations with ourselves—conversations about our own spiritual growth and taking the next step in our observance. When we consider that step, we may slide into feelings of complacency with where we already are, concerned and apprehensive over the difficulty of taking on yet more. But as we look at the steps we’ve already taken, and how those steps have provided us with a dose of “Ta’amu u’reu,” of tasting the significance and fulfillment of those mitzvot and laws firsthand, we can be encouraged that the next step will provide us with the same.