In this week’s Parsha, Aharon, the Kohen Godel was commanded to light the Menorah, The Torah says, “V’yas k’ein Aharon – Aharon did so.” On this pasuk Rashi says shelo shino – that Aharon didn’t change the way he lit the menorah. When Aharon lit the menorah, he didn’t deviate from Hashem’s command even one iota. He lit the Menorah the same way Hashem told him to do it. There is a big question here. Isn’t this obvious? Aharon got instructions from Hashem. Of course Aharon didn’t change or differ from Hashem’s instructions. What does this mean?
I heard from my father, Rav Yitzchok Fingerer shlita, that the Kotzker Rebbe says something incredible: The Kotzker Rebbe says that when the Torah says Aharon didn’t change it means that the same enthusiasm that Aharon felt from the very first time he did the mitzvah, he felt it every other time after that as well. Aharon felt that same enthusiasm every single day, for the rest of the 39 years that the Jewish people were in the desert. Aharon kept the initial inspiration and fervor. Aharon kept the joy and excitement. Every day Aharon said, “I’m not going to become habitual. I am going to find new meaning and new purpose in this mitzvah. I’m going to connect to the mitzvah – on a deep and passionate level.” That’s why Aharon was praised.
The lesson to us is that we have to keep our inspiration. Very often, we do mitzvos with barely any meaning. It becomes robotic and it becomes something of almost a burden. We have to find meaning in what we do. We can’t be religious robots. Each day, we must find a new way to connect to Hashem. We must find new meaning to the mitzvos to bring it alive to us. We have to make it ours and connect to it.
A man once came to Rav Avraham Pam zt”l and told him that unfortunately, his father was in the hospital. He said that his father would be honored if the Rosh Yeshiva could visit him – it would mean the world to him. However, Rav Pam couldn’t visit this man because he was a Kohen (Kohanim can’t become tamei to a corpse). What Rav Pam did was incredible. The next day the sick man was told that he would see a big surprise when he looked outside his window. The man looked and he couldn’t believe his eyes. There standing outside many floors below was Rav Pam! Rav Pam was waving to him smiling ear to ear!
Rav Pam went all the way to the hospital and found the exact right place to stand outside so that the man could see him. Rav Pam didn’t really have to make this trip. After all, he was a Kohen, and he could’ve been exempt. He couldn’t go into the hospital anyway. However, just like Aharon Hakohen, Rav Pam did this mitzvah the best way he could and with much enthusiasm and excitement! Let’s try to connect. Let’s try our best to serve Hashem with energy and joy.
