B"H
Wednesday, Menachem Av 1, 5783 (Hakhel Year) / July 19, 2023
Today(Wednesday) is Rosh Chodesh Menachem Av. Like every other Rosh Chodesh, additional prayers are recited, and the special Rosh Chodesh Torah reading is read.
Today begins the special nine-day mourning period for the destruction of our Holy Temples. Certain restrictions apply during these nine days, which ends with the fast day of Tisha B’Av – the nineth of Av when the Temples were actually destroyed.
Today is the yartzeit (day of passing) of Aaron the High Priest.Aaron’s day of passing is the only date mentioned in the Torah associated with someone’s passing. The Torah doesn’t even give us the exact day when Moshe or their sister, Miriam passed away. Aaron was special that the Torah writes the exact day of his passing.
Aaron was three years older than his brother Moshe (Moses). Aaron accompanied Moshe when he went to Pharaoh to command him to let the Jewish people go. Together with Moshe he led the Jewish people through the forty years of their desert journey. Just like Moshe, Aaron was not permitted to go into The Promised Land. He passed away at the age of one hundred and twenty-three.
Our sages tell us that Aaron had a unique quality; He loved peace and went out of his way to restore peace between husband and wife and between one person and another. In his unique, non-judgmental and peaceful way he would make people realize when they sinned against G-d, thus restoring peace between man and G-d.
Aaron accomplished this through his genuine love for people. When two people were angry at each other, Aaron would go to one of them and say, “I met the other person and he very much wants to be your friend again, but he is afraid to approach you because you may reject him. After convincing the person that the other one sincerely seeks his friendship, Aaron would approach the other one and tell him the same. Eventually both of them made peace with each other.
If Aaron heard that a person sinned, instead of rejecting him, as many did, he would go out of his way and befriend him. The person thought to himself, “If Aaron only knew the sin I committed, he would surely not have become my friend.” Aaron didn’t reveal that he knew, but, the sinner, ashamed of what he did, repented.
Our sages say that although we cannot attain the spiritual level of Aaron the High Priest, yet, this particular quality of loving peace and promoting peace, is something we must all seek. In Pirkei Avot, our sages tell us, “Be of the disciples of Aaron; loving peace, pursuing peace, loving people and drawing them to Torah.” It is something we can and must strive to attain.
Over 150 years ago, rabbis and Russian government officials met to try to nullify some of the harsh decrees of the Russian Czar against Jews, which deprived Jews from earning a decent and respectable livelihood. During the meeting, Rabbi Menachem Mendel (known by his writings as the Tzemach Tzedek), spoke out strongly against the Czar for his heartless treatment of Russian Jews.
One of the rabbis turned to him and said, “You know very well that for this kind of talk you place your life in danger and our sages say, “One who willingly places his life in danger will lose his share in the World-to-Come!”
Rabbi Menachem Mendel, whose love for his people was boundless, replied, “If my fellow Jews cannot have their share in this world, of what value is to me my share in the World-to-Come!”
HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY & CHODESH-MONTH