ויאמר משה אל אהרן קרב אל המזבח וגו'. ופירש רש"י לפי שהיה אהרן בוש וירא לגשת, אמר לו משה למה אתה בוש לכך נבחרת ע"כ, והוא תמוה משום שנבחר בזה לא יסתלק הבושה מעליו, והנה שמעתי מן אדוני אבי זקיני זללה"ה פירוש על זה, מפני שיש לך יראה ובושה מן השם יתברך לכך נבחרת, כי (תהילים נ״א:י״ט) זבחי אלהים רוח נשברה, וכבר נזכר זה בכתבי האר"י ז"ל: (דגל מחנה אפרים שמיני).
And Moses said to Aharon: Draw near to the altar . .. (ibid. 9:7) Rashi comments that Aharon was ashamed and afraid to draw near [to the altar].6Because of his involvement in the making of the Golden Calf. Moses therefore said to him, “Why are you ashamed? You were chosen for this.”7I.e., to serve G‑d in the Sanctuary. This is a surprising explanation. Just because he was chosen doesn’t mean that he should not be ashamed. Rather, I heard from my grandfather [the Baal Shem Tov] this explanation: [Moses said,] “You were chosen because you feel fear and shame before G‑d,”8That is, when Moses said, “You were chosen for this,” he meant, “You where chosen because of this.” for “The sacrifices of G‑d are a broken spirit” (Psalms 51:19).9I.e., because Aharon was humble, he merited offering sacrifices to G-d. This idea has also been mentioned in the writings of the Arizal.10The Arizal writes (Likutey Torah on this verse): “Because you have the qualities of humility and shame, you were chosen over your fellows to be the Kohen.” R. Tzadok HaKohen writes that it was the very shame Aharon felt over having made the Golden Calf that made him worthy of being chosen as Kohen Gadol; for every fall can lead a person rise in the very area he stumbled, to the opposite extreme. Degel Machane Ephraim, Shemini
ויאמר משה אל אהרן קרב אל המזבח וגו'. ופירש רש"י לפי שהיה אהרן בוש וירא לגשת, אמר לו משה למה אתה בוש לכך נבחרת ע"כ, והוא תמוה משום שנבחר בזה לא יסתלק הבושה מעליו, והנה שמעתי מן אדוני אבי זקיני זללה"ה פירוש על זה, מפני שיש לך יראה ובושה מן השם יתברך לכך נבחרת, כי (תהילים נ״א:י״ט) זבחי אלהים רוח נשברה, וכבר נזכר זה בכתבי האר"י ז"ל:
(דגל מחנה אפרים שמיני).
And Moses said to Aharon: Draw near to the altar . . . (ibid. 9:7)
Rashi comments that Aharon was ashamed and afraid to draw near [to the altar].6Because of his involvement in the making of the Golden Calf. Moses therefore said to him, “Why are you ashamed? You were chosen for this.”7I.e., to serve G‑d in the Sanctuary.
This is a surprising explanation. Just because he was chosen doesn’t mean that he should not be ashamed. Rather, I heard from my grandfather [the Baal Shem Tov] this explanation: [Moses said,] “You were chosen because you feel fear and shame before G‑d,”8That is, when Moses said, “You were chosen for this,” he meant, “You where chosen because of this.” for “The sacrifices of G‑d are a broken spirit” (Psalms 51:19).9I.e., because Aharon was humble, he merited offering sacrifices to G-d.
This idea has also been mentioned in the writings of the Arizal.10The Arizal writes (Likutey Torah on this verse): “Because you have the qualities of humility and shame, you were chosen over your fellows to be the Kohen.” R. Tzadok HaKohen writes that it was the very shame Aharon felt over having made the Golden Calf that made him worthy of being chosen as Kohen Gadol; for every fall can lead a person rise in the very area he stumbled, to the opposite extreme.
Degel Machane Ephraim, Shemini