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My Dear Students,
Our Torah Portion, Behaalotcha, opens with instructions to Aaron, who has just become
high priest, on kindling the menorah. We are told: Vaya'as ken Aharon ka'asher tziva
HaShem, Aaron did exactly as G-d commanded him.
Why do we need to be told this? Would we ever assume that Aaron would not carry out G-d's
commands?
Even though Aaron had now become high priest, the prestige of his new role did not change
him. As he was dedicated to G-d before attaining this great station, so he was obedient upon
donning the robes of this office. Though Aaron was now viewed with awe, he remained simply
a servant of G-d. His new eminence did not affect who he was.
Our society is not congenial to maintaining an ethical core. Jeb Stuart Magruder of Watergate
infamy, said: "Somewhere between my ambition and my ideals I lost my ethical compass."
Many today have either lost their compass or have one that points in every direction
but true north.
We must not allow circumstances to divert us from our true selves. We must listen to
the higher voice of G-d, the commanding voice of Torah, and the inner voice of conscience.
We must, as Bob Dylan sang, "have a strong foundation as the winds of changes shift." We
must not be laid low by the philosophy of "everybody does it" or "just do it."
The widely-accepted way is not necessarily the better for its being crowded. We must
inquire what we ought to do, not what the most do. We must ask at every crossroads,
"Does the way in which I am about to turn satisfy the demands of my higher self?"
As Martin Luther King wrote: "Cowardice asks: is it safe? Expediency asks: is it politic?
Vanity asks: is it popular? But conscience asks: is it right?"
Aaron's principles survived intact upon graduating to his new status. Though his situation
changed, his attachment to the right was steady. So may it be that no matter what happens to
us, no matter how life changes around us, we will remain true to the truth, fearless
in faith, and constant in convictions.
As Thomas Jefferson once said: "In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters
of principle, stand like a rock."
Shabbat Shalom