“Vayehi beyom haShmini – it was on the eighth day” (Vayikra 9:1). The word “eighth” in the pasuk is preceded by the definite article “heh,” similar to the sixth day of creation which the Torah refers to as Yom haShishi, the special day on which man was created. What was special about the Eighth day?
The Eighth day was preceded by the Shivat Yemei Hamiluim, during which the Mishkan was erected (Rashi 9:23). Each day of the seven days of inauguration was equivalent to each of the seven days of creation. On each of the seven days of creation G-d created something physical, including on Shabbat when He created the concept of rest.
On the eighth day, the physical Mishkan, representing the physical world, was infused with the presence of G-d. Up to that point, the world was, so to speak, on automatic pilot. G-d had delegated the operation of the world and the fate of each man to the stars. One’s health and wealth were determined by the star under which one was born. But with the Shechina entering the Mishkan, G-d gave each Jew the ability to override his predetermined fate by living in accordance with His Torah and His mitzvot.
True, G-d had already done this for Avraham when He elevated him above the stars and told him that the physical being called Avram could not have children, but the spiritual being called Avraham could. But it took seven generations, from Avraham to Yitzchak to Yaakov to Levi to Kehat to Amram and finally to Moshe, until this ability to override fate was given to every Jew. That is why the eighth day is preceded with a letter of G-d’s name which gives each Jew the power to overcome his natural fate just like the letter heh inserted into Avraham’s name gave him the power to do so.
G-d commands Aharon, “Kach lecha egel…l’chatas” – to offer up an egel, a calf, to atone for the sin of the Egel Hazahav (Rashi 9:2). What about the dictum Ein kategar na’aseh saneigar, that counsel for the prosecution cannot serve as counsel for the defense? Isn’t the egel reminiscent of the golden calf that Aharon made? So how can the bringing of an Egel atone for Aharon’s sin?
But there was something about Aharon’s conduct in making the Egel Hazahav that G-d appreciated. We are told that when Aharon saw that the Jews killed Chur for opposing their wishes, he grew concerned that they would kill him too. If that would have happened, the Jews would have been annihilated in retribution for killing Aharon who was both a kohen and a prophet, similar to the punishment facing the Jews later in history for the murder of Zecharia the son of Yehoyada. Aharon also knew that he would be punishable by death at the hand of G-d if he lent his hand to the building of the golden calf. But out of love of the Jewish people and in order to prevent a situation in which they would have been annihilated, he was willing to sacrifice himself and participate in the building of the golden calf, even if it resulted in him incurring the punishment of death. This selfless love for the Jewish people, even at the expense of his own life, is what took the sting out of the bad memory which would otherwise have been triggered by the offering up of a calf.
But that only held true for Aharon. It was not true for the rest of the people. There were no mitigating circumstances to excuse their behavior. Based on Ein kategar na’aseh sanegar, they were not permitted to bring a calf in atonement for the sin of the golden calf. They were commanded instead to bring a he goat in atonement.
Aharon raised his hands toward the people and blessed them with the priestly blessing of peace (9:22). Then he descended from the altar after having brought the korbanot. Why does the Torah say that he only completed the bringing of the korbanot after he blessed the people with the blessing of peace? Didn’t he complete the bringing of korbanot before blessing the people? Don’t the korbanot themselves, which expunge the sins of the Jews, bring peace on their own? So why was it necessary for Aharon to bless the people with peace altogether?
The answer is that the korbanot do have the potential to bring peace, but first G-d longs for the prayers of the righteous. The prayers are the switch that activates peace. This is similar to the story of creation in which we are told that although vegetation was created before man, it remained underground until Adam was created and prayed for rain. And so Aharon only finished his job of bringing the kornabot after praying to G-d for peace.
What was the sin of Nadav and Avihu? We are told that even though fire would come down from heaven and consume the korbanot in the Beit HaMikdash, it was still incumbent on the kohanim to light the fire on the altar themselves. That was a halacha that Moshe explicitly taught Nadav and Avihu. But that was a halacha that Moshe taught them in theory. When it came to applying that halacha in practice, they should have waited for Moshe’s instructions and not acted of their own accord. They should have acted like Pinchas who consulted with Moshe before slaying Zimri, even though Moshe had already taught him, in theory, that anyone who cohabits with an Aramis may be put to death by a zealot. This was the minimum of respect that they owed their teacher Moshe. Similarly we find that when the king was present in the Temple, the kohanim were not permitted to bring the korbanot until the king instructed them to do so.
The letters of the word egel can be rearranged to spell la’ag, which means derision. When the nations of the world see how the Jews, who have been saved by G-d’s miracles, turn for their salvation to sticks and stones, the Jews become a laughing stock in their eyes. But the letters of the word egel can also be rearranged to spell the word ga’al which comes from the word Lehagil, to purify as in haga’lat keilim, kashering vessels. Through the bringing of Aharon’s egel, the Jews were purified from the sin of the golden calf.
