In this week’s Parsha, the pasuk says, u’fashat es begadav, the Kohen, divests himself of his holy priestly clothing, velavash begadim acherim, he puts on ordinary simple clothing, vehotzi es hadeshin, in order to remove and dispose of the ashes. The question is why? Why do we require the holy Kohen to do the menial chore of disposing the ashes? Shouldn’t it be someone else’s responsibility to clean up?
I heard from my father, Rav Yitzchok Fingerer shlita, a beautiful answer from Rav Bunim of Pshischa. Rav Bunim says that it is precisely the holy person who engages in the most exalted of services. The holiest people understand that it is not beneath his dignity to clean up – that it isn’t beneath his honor to remove the ashes. Why? Because that too, can be holy. Perhaps we can all relate to this in a conventional sense, without belittling the greatness of the Kohen, we can relate to this by applying it to our own lives. We must understand that we can consecrate and sanctify even a mundane task. We can make a menial chore holy. Why? Because when we are doing something out of service to Hashem and his people, that too can be holy!
One day, a newly married couple had an argument, so they consulted Rav Mordechai Gifter zt”l. The husband, a young man in Kollel refused to take out the garbage. He considered it belittling and beneath his dignity to fulfill the lowly task of taking out the nightly garbage. His wife on the other hand Text Box:disagreed and felt that it was his job. When the man went to Rav Gifter, Rav Gifter thought for a moment and decided that if the young man thought he was too important to do such a menial task of taking out the garbage, he should not have to do it.
Later that evening, there was a knock on this young couple’s door. To the couple’s astonishment, the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Gifter, was outside their house. With a serious face, Rav Gifter said that he came to take out the garbage. Noticing the dismay on the woman’s face, he explained that they had decided that her husband was too important to take out the garbage. However, someone had to do it, and it surely should not be her, so he came to do the job. The couple learnt their lesson and didn’t argue over taking out the garbage anymore. What greatness! We must remember that we can consecrate, that we can sanctify even a mundane task, even a menial chore. By doing that, it contributes to our holiness and greatness!
