The Need for Embarrassment

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Parshas Shemini, the Mishkan was completed. Moshe calls upon Aharon to assume his role as the first kohein gadol (Vayikra 9:7): “Draw near to the altar. . . .”

Aharon was reluctant to begin. Rashi, citing Toras Kohanim, notes that Moshe had to encourage Aharon to come forward and bring the korbanos (sacrifices).

“Why are you embarrassed?” asked Moshe. “You were chosen for this!”

Why was Aharon hesitant about assuming the role of kohein gadol? He wasn’t timid by nature. He had always been a leader of the Jewish nation, and their primary leader until Moshe’s return from Midyan (as Rashi notes in Shemos 4:1).

Even after Moshe returned to Egypt and assumed leadership, Aharon retained the boldness to join him in meetings with Pharaoh, unlike the elders who lacked the nerve (see Rashi on Shemos 5:1). Aharon was not shy. Why was he embarrassed now, when he was asked to offer korbanos as the kohein gadol?

The Ramban (Vayikra 9:7) answers that when Aharon beheld the altar, the image of the Golden Calf appeared before him. He recalled that the Calf had been a stumbling block for him. Perhaps this sin would prevent the Jews from gaining atonement. And so, he stood off to the side until Moshe gave him that extra push: “You were chosen.”

Simply understood, Moshe’s remark seems to mean, “Never mind that you feel unworthy. You’ve been chosen for this job. Go ahead and do it.” The Sefas Emes, though, takes the words further: Moshe told Aharon, “You were chosen for this,” meaning, precisely because of your embarrassment.

Aharon had only one sin to his name—his involvement with the Golden Calf. Even that sin, when assessed properly, becomes very slight (see Ramban, Shemos 32:5). Moreover, he had repented out of love for Hashem. If he still felt embarrassed, all the more so should we live with a sense of embarrassment when considering what we have accomplished to date compared to what Hashem expects of us.

This is a novel perspective on the trait of bushah (embarrassment). Many of us see embarrassment as a drawback, but we see from here that, on the contrary, it can build us. It was the middah of bushah that got Aharon to this lofty level, and bushah can also push us to try to correct our weaknesses and reach greater heights. Embarrassment should play a critical role in our lives. We must live with a constant fear that we are not doing enough for Hashem. This will motivate us to keep growing.

Indeed, bushah is a halachah! The very first Rema in Shulchan Aruch states, “I have placed Hashem before me always (Tehillim 16:8). . . . By having Hashem before one’s eyes at all times . . . one immediately comes to a state of fear and submission, and he is embarrassed from Him at all times.” The Rema is requiring us to work on the feeling that we are in Hashem’s presence. When we strengthen our fear of Heaven, the embarrassment that we feel towards Hashem is bolstered.

HaRav Shach would often send people seeking berachos to a tzaddik named Rav Moshe Mandel. Rav Mandel was exceptionally humble.

“Me? Give a berachah? I still have to repent, I have so much left to correct!” Still, he would advise people, “Who is the greatest person in this world? The one who is fearful and humble before Hashem. If you acquire this trait, it will protect you from all sorts of calamities. It mitigates Hashem’s attribute of justice. Hashem will be with you at all times.”

May we be zocheh to feel humble before Hashem, and may our embarrassment push us to greater heights!