Rav Yisroel Apelbaum Shlita – Parshas Shemini - The Ultimate Simcha!

 In this weeks Parsha, Aharons two sons Nadav and Avihu died when they did the Avoda intoxicated. After Aharon silently accepted this great tragedy, the Torah says “יַ֣יִן וְשֵׁכָ֞ר אַל־תֵּ֣שְׁתְּ | אַתָּ֣ה | וּבָנֶ֣יךָ אִתָּ֗ךְ בְּבֹֽאֲכֶ֛ם אֶל־אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד וְלֹ֣א תָמֻ֑תוּ חֻקַּ֥ת עוֹלָ֖ם לְדֹרֹֽתֵיכֶֽם, Do not drink wine that will lead to intoxication, neither you nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, so that you shall not die”

The Netziv explains that Aharon was commanded specifically now after He lost His two sons to rise above the occasion and to overcome His sadness and serve Hashem with 100% simcha. Even though a regular Kohen who is an aval may not do the Avoda because He is in pain, since Aharon was the Kohen Gadol and was on such a great spiritual level, Aharon had to bring Himself to a state of 100% simcha and continue to do His Avoda.

Aharon might have thought that wine and beer would bring Him the proper level of simcha that is required to perform the Avoda so Hashem therefore told Him that although wine and beer can bring a person to a certain level of simcha, it won't bring Him to the 100% level of simcha which He is required to have in order to perform His Avoda.

The Pasuk continues and says “וּלְהוֹרֹ֖ת אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אֵ֚ת כָּל־הַ֣חֻקִּ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֧ר יְהֹוָ֛ה אֲלֵיהֶ֖ם בְּיַד־משֶֽׁה:” Aharon was instructed to teach the Bnei Yisrael the חֻקִִּ֔ים of the Torah. Hashem was telling Aharon that there is something much greater that will bring him to that level of 100% simcha and that is to throw Himself deep into Torah and to get a deep and clear understanding of the Torah and that will cause Him to completely forget all of His sadness. When a person totally attaches himself to Hashem by properly learning Torah, nothing in the world can bother him, not even his aveilus.

The Gemara in Taanis daf 30 says that a person may not learn Torah on Tisha bav. The Gemara in Moed Kattan daf 15 says that an aval may not learn Torah, even though an aval is allowed to drink wine. The reason is because Torah brings a person 100% true happiness which makes a person forget about the mourning of the Bais Hamikdash and his loved one as opposed to wine which only brings temporary simcha and therefore an aval may drink wine but not learn Torah. If a person completely throws himself deep into his learning and gets a deep understanding of Torah, his whole being will light up with such a great simcha that it can even cause an aval to forget about his sadness. Torah has the power to completely transform and light up our lives!

Rav Dovid Barran zt"l was once walking in Yerushalayim on a cold snowy day and saw someone screaming and dancing in the snow. R' Dovid thought he was some crazy person but when He got closer He saw that it was none other than Rav Shach zt"l! R' Dovid questioned His behavior and Rav Shach explained to Him "I just got out of the Bisker Ravs house from learning with Him and I was so full of simcha that I wanted to express my happiness. Normally I don't express myself in such a way in public even though I always feel such great simcha from my learning since people might think I've gone crazy but today in this Kind of weather I thought that no one was around and I therefore wished to truly express my simcha of the Torah."

If a person understands Torah in a clear way, it will completely transform his entire being and his entire life with uncontrollable simcha. May we be zoche to realize the power that the Torah has and get a proper understanding of the Torah which will lead us to experience the most amazing simcha imaginable which will light up our entire lives!

All credit goes to the Rosh Hayeshiva

Thank you,

Dovid Weiner

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