A covering for the מזבח

פסוקים א-ה

‘ה tells משה to tell אליעזר to separate the dead rebel’s fire pans from the ashes because they are holy. ‘ה tells משה to tell אליעזר to take every single fire pan and flatten it out for a ציפוי למזבח-covering for the mizbeach and it will be a ויהיו לאות לבני ישראל- remembrance for Bnei Yisrael . אליעזר does as he is told. But why does ‘ה tells משה to tell אליעזר to do the job and not אהרון? It wasn’t proper for אהרון to do this type of cleaning and since he contributed to the death of the rebels it wouldn’t have been nice for him to be the one to collect the fire pans. Why are the fire pans considered holy- כי קדשו? because they were used for a mitzvah (following the command of Hashem- שהרי עשאום לכלי שרת) and is only allowed to be used for another mitzvah- ואסורין בהנאה. What will this “remind” Bnei Yisrael of? This will remind Bnei Yisrael of the rebels sin ולא יהיה כקרח and that only a כהן is allowed to serve in the משכן. 

בני ישראל’s blame and the punishment

פסוקים ו-י

בני ישראל once again blame משה and אהרון for killing קרח and the rebels ‘אתם המיתם את עם ה. Hashem tells משה and אהרון to remove themselves from this nation הרימו מתוך העדה הזאת because “I will eat them instantly”- ואכלה אותם כרגע. And משה and אהרון fell on their faces- ויפלו על פניהם.

The plague…

פסוקים יא- טו

‘ה brings a plague on בני ישראל for blaming משה and אהרון. Moshe tells אהרון to run and get a fire pan and bring a קטורת on it- ושים קטורת so it would be a kapara for Bnei Yisrael. אהרון listens to משה and brings a קטורת and he is able to get forgiveness for Bnei Yisrael- ויכפר על העם (Moshe doesn’t do this because he is not a כהן, and only כהנים can bring קרבנות. Why did משה tell אהרון to bring a קטורת and not any other קרבן? Bnei Yisrael thought that a קטורת is a “killer קרבן” because “it” killed קרח and the 250 men- סם המות הוא but משה wanted to show Bnei Yisrael that it was the people who sin not the type of קרבן and Moshe wanted to show Bnei Yisrael that the קטורת can save lives not only kill.אהרון stood between the living and the dead- ויעמוד בין החיים והמתיים aharon grabbed the מלאך המות and convinces him to stop killing people. Aharon stops the plague but 14,700 people still die because of their complaints- ויהיו המתים במגפה ארבעה עשר אלף ושבע מאות . 

מבחן המתות

פסוקים טז- כו

‘ה tells משה to tell each leader of each שבט to take a dead stick and put it in the אוהל מועד and each שבט will write their name on their stick- איש את שמו תכתב על מטהו. write אהרון’s name on שבט לוי’s stick and place them all in the אוהל מועד. the שבט that I want to be כהנים, their שבט’s stick will blossom with flowers buds and almonds all at the same time. משה obeys ‘ה and tells Bnei Yisrael and each שבט do as they are told and bring a stick with their name on it. and אהרון’s stick is in the middle of all of theirs- ומטה אהרון בתוך מטותם so they wouldn’t say “because אהרון’s stick was near the שכינה, that’s why it blossomed- שלא יאמרו מפני שהניחו בצד שכינה פרח. And it was the next day, and משה came back to the אוהל מועד and he saw that אהרון’s stick blossomed with flowers- ויוצא פרח and it budded buds-ויצץ ציץ and almonds grew- ויגמול שקדים. This is a big miracle because 1) it is a dead stick!  2) first flowers grow, then they turn into buds then they turn into fruits- here, all stages of development are happening at once! 3) The flowers, almonds, and buds will be kept forever because we see that it will be a reminder for whoever wants to rebel in the future. And משה takes the sticks and shows Bnei Yisrael and each שבט takes their staff back except for לוי, Hashem told משה to bring it back to the אוהל מועד for a reminder for the future, And משה obeyed. 

בני ישראל are concerned about what they are and aren’t allowed to do

פסוקים כז-כח

בנ”י are scared they are going to constantly get punished/die because they keep on making mistakes and they ask משה to tell them what they are and aren’t allowed to do- כל הקרב קרב אל משכן ה’ ימות האם תמנו לגוע