- By Rabbi Dr. Aaron Adler
President, YBA Ner Tamid, Hashmonaim

במדבר פרק כ פסוק כט

וַיּרְאוּ כּל הָעֵדָה כּי גָוַע אַהֲרן וַיּבְכּוּ אֶת אַהֲרן שׁלֹשׁים יוֹם כּל בּית יִשׂרָאֵל:  

רש''י במדבר פרק כא פסוק א

וישמע הכנעני - שמע שמת אהרן ונסתלקו ענני כבוד

            The inevitable had finally arrived. The forty-year sojourn in the desert was coming to an end. The entire adult population, along with its leadership, would shortly be gone. In this week's Parshat Chukat, we read that the beloved High Priest, Aharon, was now being taken away. Along with this very sad event came the realization that the public display of Divine Providence was removed from the people as well. (See above: ''ונסתלקו ענני הכבוד''.)  Unique to all Torah figures, the recording of Aharon's demise includes the precise calendar date of the actual event – a phenomenon shared with no other individual throughout the entire Torah. In Bamidbar 33:38, it reads:

וַיּעַל אַהֲרן הַכּהֵן אֶל הר הָהָר עַל פּי יְקֹוָק וַיּמָת שׁם בּשׁנַת הָאַרְבּעִים לְצֵאת בּנֵי יִשׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם בּחדֶשׁ הַחֲמִישׁי בּאֶחָד לַחדֶשׁ:

That Biblical date (''בחדש החמישי באחד לחדש'') translates into Rosh Chodesh Av. This date is Halachically known to us as the beginning of the ''Nine Days'' – that period of upgraded mourning for the Temple's destruction culminating with the Fast of Tisha B'Av. The Mishnah (Ta'anit 4:6) speaks openly of Rosh Chodesh Av commencing such a period (''משנכנס אב, ממעטין בשמחה''). Most interesting is the mentioning of the date, Rosh Chodesh Av, in the listing in the Shulchan Aruch of miscellaneous fast days. In the section Orach Hayim 580:2 it reads: ''באחד באב מת אהרן הכהן''. Why would a tradition develop marking the death of Aharon with a fast day (a tradition hardly observed today by anyone)? A comedian once asked: If Tisha B'Av would fall out on a Rosh Chodesh, would we be required to fast on that day? Of course, the ridiculous nature of the question is obvious – the ninth of the month can never fall out on the first! However, a kernel of truth does lie in this infantile piece of humor. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Ta'anit, Ch. 4) records that Jeremiah's vision (Jeremiah 1:11) of the almond staff reflected a three-week period relevant to events leading to the Temple's destruction. Unclear, however, was the starting point of this three-week period. Did the Babylonians crash through the walls of Yerushalayim on the ninth of Tammuz or on the seventeenth of Tammuz? Only according to the latter opinion would the ninth of Av (''Tisha B'Av'') be the exact date commemorating the destruction. However, according to the former opinion, the three-week period having commenced on the ninth of Tammuz, draws to a conclusion on Rosh Chodesh Av! The Yerushalmi text reads as follows:

עשרי' ואחד יום מיו' שהובקעה העיר ועד יום שחרב בית המקדש אמר רבי אבונה סימנא מקל שקד אני רואה מה הלוז הזה משהוא מוציא את ניצו ועד שהוא גומר את פירותיו עשרים ואחד יום כך מיום שהובקעה העיר ועד יום שחרב הבית עשרים ואחד יום מאן דאמר בתשעה לחדש באחד באב חרב הבית מאן דאמר בשבעה עשר בתשעה באב חרב

            Clearly, for posterity purposes, tradition has locked into the Tisha B'Av date. However, a substrata tradition was apparently maintained throughout the ages of continuing to fast on Rosh Chodesh Av thereby perpetuating that other tradition as well. It apparently became important to assign the date of Rosh Chodesh Av some degree of particular significance. Indeed, an illusion was located in the Torah itself in the form of Aharon's demise on that calendar date. And how fitting an illusion it was! Aharon was best known for his love for all the people seeking at every juncture to promote peace and tranquility. Hillel the Elder, in Pirkei Avot 1:12 taught:

הוי מתלמידיו של אהרן אוהב שלום ורודף שלום אוהב את הבריות ומקרבן לתורה:

The destruction of the Temple, brought about by the lack of love amongst Jews (שנאת חנם), the antithesis of Aharon's personality, was tantamount to the death of Aharon once again. Hence, the relevance of the date Rosh Chodesh Av to the day of the Temple's destruction is quite clear.

            That Aharon was so loved, adored, and admired by the entire nation is evident by the fact that absolutely everyone mourned his death. ''ויבכו את אהרן שלשים יום כל בית ישראל''. In contradistinction we find that at the passing of Moshe, the Torah (Devarim 34:8) speaks of ''ויבכו בני ישראל את משה בערבת מואב שלשים יום''.  Conspicuously absent in this verse is the word,''כל'' (all of Israel). Rashi there points out it was Aharon's character and personality that drew him so much closer to the nation as opposed to Moshe's relationship with the people. Rashi's words are quite telling:

 בני ישראל - הזכרים, אבל באהרן מתוך שהיה רודף שלום ונותן שלום בין איש לרעהו ובין אשה לבעלה נאמר (במדבר כ, כט) כל בית ישראל, זכרים ונקבות:

            Without claiming abilities to read into G-d's intentions, it nevertheless cannot be viewed as simply an accident of fate the fact that the famed and beloved R' Menachem Mendel Schneersohn Zt''l, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, returned to his Maker on the third of Tammuz 5754 beginning the week of Parshat Chukat. A deep sense of loss was felt not only amongst the Chassidim of Chabad, but rather transcended all contemporary boundaries dividing the Jewish people. It was truly an expression of ''ויבכו...כל בית ישראל''. For many many individuals whether in moments of crisis or perhaps on the threshold of major crossroads in life, the Rebbe served as their guiding pillar of Divine cloud (''וה' הולך לפניהם יומם, בעמוד ענן לנחותם הדרך''). For the Jewish people as a whole, struggling through the difficult end of that exilic dark tunnel, the Rebbe provided the necessary illumination and guidance in the spirit of ''ולילה בעמוד אש להאיר להם''.

            Entering into the annual season of national mourning for our Temples in both the months of Tammuz and Av, we note that if we could only live up to the measure of ''Ahavat Yisrael'' personified by both Aharon in his day and the Lubavitcher Rebbe in our day, this long dark historic tunnel would - in all likelihood - be behind us forever.

Back