English translation — פקודי ג

1.

Already spoken many times¹,

that Rashi in his commentary on the Torah positions himself

(and explains)

every matter in which there lacks explanation according to the plain meaning of Scripture

he writes "I do not know"²

and the like].

And therefore,

when there is a matter that appears difficult according to the plain meaning of the verses and Rashi does not address it,

one must say one of the two — either that according to the plain meaning of Scripture this is from the outset not a difficulty,

or that this is explained according to a previous commentary of Rashi³?

Based on this, we need an explanation in our parshah,

where the Torah⁴

relates in detail the

(time and)

order of the erection of the Mishkan,

and afterwards it says⁵

— "And you shall bring Aharon and his sons etc. and you shall wash them with water.

And you shall clothe Aharon with the holy garments etc. and you shall bring his sons and clothe them with tunics."

Immediately the question arises: Aharon's sons indeed had four priestly garments — tunic, sash, headdresses, and trousers⁶

; why does it say here that Moshe should clothe them only with tunics?

Further: earlier in parshas Tetzaveh,

where the Torah⁷

relates the order of the consecration of the priests during the seven days of the inauguration,

it states explicitly⁸

"And you shall bring his sons near and clothe them with tunics, and gird them with sashes etc., and bind headdresses on them etc."; and likewise further in parshas Tzav⁹,

where it is told how Moshe Rabbeinu fulfilled the command in practice,

it states: "And he clothed them with tunics, and girded them with sashes, and bound headdresses on them" — why in our parshah,

when the Almighty commanded the order

(and time)

of the erection of the Mishkan and the consecration of Aharon and his sons — does it state only "And you shall clothe them with tunics"?

This is a question in the plain sense of Scripture and one does not find apparently that Rashi addresses this question.

B.

The Ramban¹⁰

answers the question,

that "He was brief regarding the matter of the clothing of Aharon and his sons¹¹

that he said 'And you shall clothe Aharon with the holy garments' and regarding his sons he said 'And you shall clothe them with tunics,'

because already He commanded¹²

Hashem him in detail the order of their clothing,

and now He only came to arrange for him the time of the clothing that it should be after the erection of the entire Mishkan,

and He mentioned the tunics with which the clothing would begin."

But one cannot say this explanation according to Rashi,

because:

A)

Just as the Ramban says explicitly this answer — so did Rashi

(who explains in more detail)

surely need to say it explicitly,

and not rely that one will figure out the answer on one's own.

B)

And especially that this is not a simple answer according to the plain meaning of Scripture: just as regarding Aharon the verse says "And you shall clothe Aharon the holy garments",

meaning thereby all his eight garments — the verse could have said likewise regarding the sons of Aharon "And his sons etc. and you shall clothe them their garments"

(and the like)

— which will be the same¹³

"abbreviation" as when saying "tunics" — and will however include all their four garments.

3.

Further: the very explanation of the Ramban,

that "he mentioned the tunics with which the dressing begins",

one cannot say according to Rashi's method,

And with an introduction:

That which the Ramban says that "with them

(with the tunics)

the dressing begins"

— although one of the four priestly garments is the breeches,

and simply the tunic is from above and covers the breeches,

the priests first of all put on the breeches¹⁴

"upon his flesh"¹⁵,

and only afterwards put on

the tunic

(above the breeches)

— this is according to his system specifically:

Here they speak about the command to Moshe — "And you shall clothe etc."

(that Moshe must dress Aharon and his sons in their priestly garments),

and regarding the trousers the Ramban holds

(as he says explicitly in Parshat Tetzaveh¹⁶)

that Moshe did not dress Aharon and his sons the trousers,

rather Aharon and his sons themselves dressed them "in modesty".

(seemingly)

from the plain meaning of Scripture: in Parshat Tetzaveh¹⁷,

the command "And make for them linen trousers etc." stands only after the verse¹⁸

"And you shall clothe them, Aharon your brother and his sons with him",

and from this it is implied that these "linen trousers" are not included in the command "And you shall clothe".

Further: both in Parshat Tetzaveh

(regarding the command to Moshe, how

(and with which order)

to dress Aharon and his sons in their garments)

and both in Parshat Tetzaveh

(where the Torah relates how Moshe actually fulfilled the command of Hashem)

it says

(as above section 1)

that Moshe dressed the sons of Aharon in tunics,

sash and turbans — but the trousers are not mentioned.

From this it follows,

that the trousers the sons of Aharon put on themselves and it has no connection to "and he dressed them" by Moshe].

— Rashi, however, in his commentary on the Torah,

on the verse

(in Parshat Tetzaveh¹⁸)

"And you shall clothe them, Aaron your brother,"

says in the commentary:

them mentioned regarding Aaron: the breastplate ..

and the breeches written below for all of them.

Rashi learns, then, that also the donning of the breeches

(of Aaron)

was specifically through Moses

(and as understood¹⁹,

that in this manner it is regarding the breeches of the sons of Aaron)²⁰.

can one consequently not answer the explanation of the Ramban

(that "he mentioned the shirts with which the dressing begins")

according to Rashi — because according to Rashi the beginning of the dressing

(by Moshe)

was

(not with the shirt,

but)

with the trousers²¹.

D.

And one must say the explanation in this:

Rashi does not explain why here the other 3 are not mentioned

garments,

but only "kutonet" — because Rashi assumes the explanation of the simple meaning of the verse as it is,

that Moses indeed dressed the sons of Aaron only in the kutonet and not the other 3 garments.

And although in parshas Tetzaveh

(and further in parshas Tzo)

it states explicitly

that Moshe dressed them also the belt and turbans

(and according to Rashi's view he also dressed them the trousers,

— it is because there it speaks about the order of the seven days of the consecration,

when Moshe dressed the sons of Aharon all four garments: but in our parshah it speaks about the command that Moshe must do "on the first month on the first of the month"²²

— Rosh Chodesh Nissan — which according to Rashi²³

was the eighth day of the consecration.

And on the eighth day of the consecration Moshe dressed the sons of Aharon²⁴

only the tunics,

as follows.

— And simply: certainly the sons of Aharon also on the eighth day of the consecration wore all four garments,

and as Rashi already explained²⁵

that one who serves lacking garments is liable to death: here it speaks however

(as above)

as above)

(as above)

regarding the command to Moshe — "and you shall clothe",

that Moshe must clothe the sons of Aharon,

and regarding the clothing by Moshe — on the eighth day of the consecration he needed to dress them only the tunics,

but the other three garments they themselves clothed themselves.

And the proof — the verse does not mention them.

One must however understand — this itself requires a reason: what is the difference between the seven days of the miluim,

when then Moshe dressed the sons of Aharon with all four garments,

and the eighth day of the miluim when "and you shall clothe them

(only)

with tunics"?

And one must find a simple explanation to such an extent,

that Rashi does not need to explain it at all — one understands it by oneself,

from the verses

(and Rashi's commentaries)

themselves.

5.

One will understand this with an introduction of the distinction that we find between the eighth of the consecrations regarding the seven days of the consecrations that preceded:

Although also the "eighth day",

the day of the establishment of the Tabernacle²⁶,

is a matter of "consecrations"

(as Rashi says several times²⁷),

that "consecrations" means

(as Rashi says in Parshat Tetzaveh²⁸)

"an expression of inauguration it is"

(as Rashi says in our parshah²)

that also on the eighth day Moshe Rabbeinu offered public offerings: and likewise one finds several changes in the order of the service of the day of the establishment of the Mishkan relative to the permanent order of the service for generations³⁰

(and Rashi does not note it in his commentary)

— because since also the day of the establishment of the Mishkan is a matter of

"miluim" and inauguration,

one understands simply,

that

(a)

on that day Moshe

(still)

performed the service

(just as he performed the service during the seven days of the miluim),

and

(b)

it is not necessary that the order on this day be in the same manner as the order for generations],

Nevertheless,

there is a fundamental difference between the matter of the “fillings” of the seven days of the fillings,

and of the eighth day:

Regarding the seven days of the fillings, it was already taught in Parshat Tetzaveh³¹,

that all the services must be performed specifically by Moses,

because

(as Rashi there³²

explains)

only Moses then had the status of a priest by his agency³³

Not so on the eighth of the consecration, it is indeed

(as Rashi explains in the continuation of the verses there<sup><b>4n</b></sup>)

"They were all equalized to the priesthood" — Aaron and his sons already had a status of priests in completeness

(were equalized),

and therefore one finds that Aaron offered several sacrifices on that day<sup>35</sup>,

and likewise the sons of Aaron did on the eighth of the consecration several services

(as related in the portion of Shemini<sup>36</sup>).

And from this it is understandable,

that the consecrations during the seven days and on the eighth are two categories in the matter of the education.

6.

And it can be said the explanation in this:

The matter of "education",

from the language of habituation³⁷

there are two manners:

a)

Chinuch — that one accustoms oneself to a thing before one becomes obligated in it

(like the chinuch of a child),

that the chinuch is only a preparation and qualification for the later deed.

b)

Chinuch means beginning³⁸

— one begins to do a thing

(as an obligation)

or?

the first time it is called by the name "chinuch"

(like the matter of "chanukat hamizbe'ach"³⁹).

And so it is regarding the priesthood of Aharon and his sons:

During the seven days of the consecration, there was with them the matter of training that comes before one becomes

(in the language of Rashi¹⁸)

"established in it"

(in the matter of the priesthood)⁴⁰,

one must first make them into priests;

Not so on the eighth of the consecration, they were already

(became)

priests

(through the seven days preceding this),

and the matter of the inauguration on this day is — the beginning of the service*⁴⁰

(of the priesthood).

The Mishkan itself: although also during the seven days of the miluim they erected the Mishkan

(each and every day)⁴¹,

it was nevertheless only a temporary matter

(they dismantled it on that same day⁴¹)

: the purpose of this was only

(at least — primarily)

a matter of training and preparation for the later erection⁴².

And therefore during the seven days of the miluim "the Shechinah did not dwell in it"⁴³

— because during the seven days the reality of a Mishkan did not yet exist

(in completeness)

; its existence was

(primarily)

a part of the training of Aharon and his sons⁴².

But the eighth of the miluim is "the day of the erection of the Mishkan" — the Mishkan exists,

and the matter of the training

(miluim)

on this day is

(not a preparation for a later matter,

but)

— an actual beginning].

7.

Based on this, it is simply understood the difference between the seven days of the consecration and the eighth of the consecration regarding the clothing of the garments of the sons of Aaron:

The action of inauguration to establish Aaron and his sons as priests can be done only by Moses himself,

as the verse⁴⁴

is precise "And you, bring near to yourself Aaron your brother and his sons with him from among the children of Israel to minister to Me",

that in order to take out Aaron and his sons "from among the children of Israel" and elevate them to become priests

("to minister to Me")

must be "And you, bring near to yourself" — Moses our teacher brings them near to become priests.

That is why all the actions of education of the seven days of the filling were done specifically by Moshe,

until even the immersion of Aharon and his sons was done through him,

as it is written⁴⁵

"And you shall wash them with water" — because before Aharon and his sons become kohanim it is not possible that they themselves can do regarding their kehunah

(to become kohanim)

(as above section 3)

— because since the trousers are included in the eight

(four)⁴⁶

priestly garments,

the wearing is also a matter of

(see Rashi¹⁸)

"filling of hands ..

education" regarding the matter of the kehunah,

and consequently it must be done specifically by Moshe⁴⁷].

But not so on the eighth of the consecrations,

when the sons of Aaron were already priests,

it is no longer necessary that the wearing of the garments be through Moses — they can themselves put on the garments

(just as they performed the service on that same day).

And that which

(a part of)

the dressing was actually done by Moses,

is because of this,

that being the day of inauguration and beginning of the service of the priesthood

— "And they shall serve Me as priests ..

And they shall serve Me as priests"⁴⁸

(The service of the priesthood as an action⁴⁹)

— And the service of the priesthood is connected with the priestly garments⁵⁰,

Therefore the first dressing for the sake of service was done by Moses.

And therefore there is no difficulty that Moses dressed the sons of Aaron only in the tunics

(and not the other garments)

— Because in the dressing it is not necessary that Moses should dress all their priestly garments,

It is enough that he dresses them in a garment

(priesthood)

their essential one — the tunic⁵¹.

And perhaps one can say that the tunic is the main one of them all: the trousers are only "to cover the flesh of nakedness"⁵¹

; the belt is secondary to the tunic; and the turbans are a garment only on the head — but the tunic is a primary garment and a garment that actually clothes the entire body⁵³.

8.

It requires, however, further explanation: what is the difference between Aharon and his sons,

that the sons of Aharon had

Moshe dressed only the tunic,

but as for Aharon, he needed to dress him

(also on the eighth day of the consecration)

all the "holy garments"⁵⁶?

And superficially,

the opposite is logical: if the sons of Aharon could themselves dress their garments

(except for the tunic),

all the more so that Aharon could himself dress his ,

holy garments*⁵⁵

And it can be said the explanation in this: Regarding the service of Aharon on the eighth day of the consecration, Rashi says

(in Parshat Shemini<sup>56</sup>)

that "his offerings and his service• the stone

accomplished the "dwelling of the Shechinah among you".

It turns out,

that this is not merely a service in the Mishkan,

but a service that brought about the completeness of the reality of "Mishkan*

(— "And I will dwell in their midst<sup>57</sup>).

And therefore the entire preparation for the service — the clothing of all his "holy garments" — had to be through Moshe,

that specifically through Moshe the Mishkan is established⁵⁸.

<b>And from the talks of Shabbos Parshas Pekudei 5741,</b>

<b>Shabbos Parshas Tisa 5745)</b>