Shemini: Ask Your Elders!

‘And it was on the eighth day…’ It was the first of Nissan, the day they had spent seven days preparing for the day of the inauguration of the Mishkan. Aharon and his sons, the Kohanim of the nation, were about to receive their priestly responsibilities and the whole nation would experience new levels of sanctity. 

Let’s take a look at what happens on this powerful day. The verse tells us that Moshe called to Aharon and his sons, as well as the ‘ziknei Yisrael,’ the elders of the nation. Aharon and the people are each told to bring a korban chat’as, a sin-offering, amongst other offerings. Aharon’s sin- offering is an ‘eigel ben bakar,’ a calf, and the nation’s sin-offering is a ‘se’ir izim,’ a he-goat.

It seems superfluous to the ceremony that the elders of the nation are called to by Moshe, as it doesn’t seem that they have a specific job or purpose. We understand why Moshe singled out Aharon and his sons, since they will be performing the avoda, the key priestly duties of the Mishkan, but the elders seem to be singled out for no specific purpose! Further to that, why do Aharon and the people bring different sin-offerings? What is the significance of a calf to Aharon, and a he-goat to the people?

The sin-offerings are not random or haphazard. The animals they bring symbolize the particular sins that Aharon and the people have to atone for. The calf, the egel, is a reminder of the Egel Hazahav, the Golden Calf which the verse attributes to Aharon (Shemot 32:35) ‘Because they had made a calf that Aharon had made…’ The Torah seems to hold Aharon responsible for the Egel and therefore this was his sin-offering. The Jewish people, however, had to bring a male-goat. What episode in Jewish history is this referring to? 

12 brothers, 2 dreams, one pit… It is a reference to the story of Yosef and his brothers. Yosef’s brothers dipped his garment into goat blood and told their father that Yosef had died. For this, the nation had to bring a he-goat as an atonement. Aharon was not part of this korban because he did not suffer from the flaw that the brothers did: jealousy. Hearing about Yosef’s predicted rise to power and his future ascendancy over them filled the brothers with jealousy. Aharon, nevertheless, was the older brother of Moshe Rabbeinu, the leader of the Jewish people, and he felt only joy in his heart for his younger brother’s prominence. For this inner celebration, he was rewarded with the Choshen, the beautiful breastplate, positioned over his joyful heart. He did not need to join the nation in this sin-offering because he was never guilty.

Throughout the Jewish people’s journey, there have been ups and downs and we have committed some serious sins at times. Why are these two sins the ones we bring a korban for as we prepare to inaugurate the Mishkan? What is the link between them? And to return to our previous question, what have the elders got to do with it? Why are they so central to the ceremony, when it seems their role is extraneous and silent? 

The elders have everything to do with it! When we built the Golden Calf, what did we do? We told Aharon: ‘This is what we are doing, we are constructing an Eigel…’ The Ibn Ezra actually says that the Eigel itself was not an aveira, it was not a problem. The issue was that it gave rise to the possibility of avoda zara (idolatry), there was a fear that those who had recently joined the Jewish people (the eirev rav) would misuse and misunderstand, which did happen. The sin was not the construction, the sin was simple: Ask your elders! Aharon was a great tzaddik and the people should have asked Aharon if it was appropriate to construct the Eigel, instead of just informing him. Why didn’t you consult someone greater and wiser than yourself? This is the sin. 

At the core of our nation stands the elders, the people who are endowed with special wisdom and sagacity and it is towards them we turn if we want to perform our avodat Hashem properly. 

Similarly, the brothers of Yosef, the elevated Shevatim, decided on their own that Yosef was guilty of being mored b’malchut, of running after kingship which did not belong to him. They assembled a minyan, nine brothers, and they included Hashem in their minyan as the ‘10th member!’ In fact, they were wrong in their thought process. Even though it may have seemed that Yosef was rebelling against Yehuda’s kingship, even though it may have seemed like he was another Eisav or Yishmael, their fears were misplaced. Their sin comes down to one thing: Ask your elders! They had a saintly father, Yaakov Avinu, why didn’t they ask him? 

These two korbanot (sacrifices) and aveirot (sins) are closely linked, and both centered on the significance of our elders. On the ziknei yisrael who lead and guide the nation. This is why they were singled out in the ceremony, to send a message to the people: Ask your elders! Turn to them, ask them for guidance, trust in their wisdom, and you will not fall! 

At the core of our nation stands the elders, the people who are endowed with special wisdom and sagacity and it is towards them we turn if we want to perform our avodat Hashem properly. 

We are part of something big and beautiful. We have mesorah: tradition. We are part of a holy chain dating back to our ancestors in Egypt and before. As long as we are connected to our elders, those before us, we will be strong Jews. We will be energised and empowered for the year ahead. But if we do not focus on our holy roots, on where we come from, we will be lost, and stuck in the fatal flaw of not asking our elders. Our parents, our grandparents, our great-grandparents, the Torah scholars of old, they are closer to the source of our beautiful heritage than we are. They are closer to the clarity and the glory. As long as we consult with our elders, and know where we come from, our avodat Hashem will be strong and pure!

How did Yosef survive the physical and spiritual dungeons of Mitzrayim? He always had an image of his father before him. When he didn’t know what to do, he asked: What would my father say? Incredibly, the same Yosef that was sent down into the spiritual wasteland, Mitzrayim, was the same Yosef, overcoming temptation and despair, who came out in honour and righteousness. How did Klal Yisrael survive their exile in Egypt? Because when the Jews came down to Egypt, the verse says ‘et Ya’akov.’ Since Yaakov came down with them, they were doing well. As long as the grandfather is at the table, the grandchildren will behave. Our homes are a mikdash me’at, a microcosm of the Mishkan. At the center of the inauguration of each Jewish home proudly stands the elders, our grandparents and great-grandparents. Ask your elders.