“And Moshe said to Aharon, come close to the altar, and offer your sin offering, and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself, and for the people: and offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them; as Hashem commanded.: (Vayikra 9:7)

RASHI: [AND MOSHE SAID TO AARON] GO TO THE ALTAR, for Aaron was embarrassed and afraid to approach. Moshe therefore said to him “Why are you embarrassed? For this is what you have been selected for!”

This Rashi is quite ambiguous. First, we must explain what is bothering Rashi. The Sifsei Hachamim explains that the verse started off with “come close to the altar”, but Aharon was already told to come close in verse 2! It should have said “go and do your sacrifice”. It seems that Aharon had to be nudged as he was timid to approach. Why was he hesitant?

Our rabbis teach us that this offering was an atonement for the sin of the golden calf, and being that Aharon was involved in that sin, he felt that it was improper for him to be the representative of klal Yisrael, in asking forgiveness. However, there are those who explain that specifically because he was the one involved, he was the one who would be best to represent his fellow Jews.

This year, however, I saw a new approach by the Baal Hafla’ah (Rabbi Pinchas HaLevi Horowitz). Moshe Rabbeinu was approached by Hashem back in Parshas Shemos to take the Jewish people out of Egypt. For seven days Moshe and Hashem argued as to whether Moshe or some other person should be the agent of redemption. Due to Moshe’s incorrect behavior in this incident, Hashem eventually gave Aharon the Kahuna. In addition, Aharon received the Kahuna because he was happy for Moshe that he would be the redeemer and didn’t question Hashem’s choice. Says the Hafla’ah: The reason that Aharon was chosen to be the Kohen was because he didn’t ask questions about Hashem’s decision. Therefore, in our Parsha, for Aharon to be hesitant at this point and decline the assignment to represent klal Yisrael in bringing an offering on their behalf would undo the reason Aharon was elevated to his position.

There is a joke told about a boy who went to cheder, learned diligently and had an unbelievable amount of derech eretz for his parents. However, on Seder Night, try as he might, the father was unable to get his son to ask any questions. The father soon became frustrated and asked his son, “Doesn’t it seem to you that many of the things that I am doing are unusual? Why aren’t you asking me about this unusual behavior?” To this the boy responded, “I was taught by my Rebbi in cheder that one doesn’t question their parents!” It’s evident that this was a misunderstanding on the part of the son. I would just like to clarify the source of the child’s confusion. My cousin, who should be well, expresses the answer as follows: One may ask about the actions of Hashem with a question mark (e.g. What does Hashem want from me? What is he trying to tell me?). But one doesn’t have the right to ask about Hashem with an exclamation point (e.g. Why would Hashem do this to me!!).

As Pesach has passed and we have hopefully strengthened our emuna, there is a danger of falling into this dilemma, knowing when to ask and explore and when to just accept that which Hashem does. As Bnei Yisrael marched towards Har Sinai, they may have what we would call nowadays a “panic attack”. This happened at the foot of the Yam Suf where they had nowhere to go, and in Marah when they had no water. We must keep in mind that in situations such as these, we shouldn’t need to ask questions, as we know that Hashem loves us. This is represented by the verse, “How you followed Me in the wilderness in an unsown land.” On the other hand, we should be invigorated to delve into and understand all that Hashem does, for this will help us become greater people and feel secure that everything He does is for our betterment. We must remember that there are some situations in which we must ask “why?” in order for us to grow, and other situations in which we should just accept the Divine decree. But either way a person should not feel a feeling of despair.