There are people who have a valid point of view or an idea but they lack the presence and weight to compel others to seriously consider that idea. On the other hand, there are people whose strength of character and magnetism forces us to accept their direction and ideas. We respect them, kavod, and we take their opinion seriously and treat it with the weight it deserves, koved. When they deliver rebuke or a message of chizuk we take them seriously.
Gedolei Yisrael had that magnetism. They have always felt the weight and responsibility for the community on their shoulders. In return, they earned the respect, kavod, of the people and as a result their messages were given serious and weighty consideration, koved. To be a leader, one must have the ability to attract and inexorably draw people to his cause. He must be able to compel them intellectually or emotionally to connect with and find common cause with his point of view, regardless of the responsibility acceptance may entail.
Aharon and his children were to be dressed in the special priestly garments that were l’kavod u’letiferes (Exodus 28:2). People were in awe of the beauty projected by Aharon when he wore his priestly garments. However, they were simultaneously filled with a reverence for him and by extension, kavod for Hashem. Aharon was given a special responsibility and difficult task. He was the representative of the people. He was responsible for praying on their behalf. He took responsibility for the fate of the people on Yom Kippur. If someone committed involuntary murder, he was held responsible as well as the murderer.
The Torah says (Exodus, chapter 28) several times v’nasa Aharon, Aharon was commanded to carry the responsibility of bnei Yisrael, represented by his wearing these garments. This was his masa, the koved, the heavy responsibility of being the intermediary between Hashem and the people. It is a difficult task indeed.
When Alexander the Great was deceived by the Kusim to destroy the Temple, Shimon HaTzadik dressed himself in the garments of the kohen gadol and went to placate Alexander and convince him to spare Jerusalem. When Shimon HaTzadik approached, Alexander bowed down before him. When the Kusim asked why he bowed before this Jew, he answered that this Jew appeared to him before every battle and foretold his victorious campaign. Alexander was overwhelmed by the beauty of the kohen gadol dressed in his priestly garments and was filled with respect for the person who had assured him of victory in his dreams for so long. Alexander was compelled to honor Shimon by bowing to him, kavod, and to seriously consider and ultimately grant his request, koved, to spare the city and eradicate the threat of the Kusim (See Yoma 69a).
Shimon HaTzadik. like his ancestor Aharon, recognized his masa, his responsibility, to ensure that Alexander not conquer Jerusalem and destroy the Temple. This was an example of kavod and koved exemplified by the descendant of Aharon, who also wore the bigdei kehunah, l’kavod u’letiferes, and carried the heavy responsibility of the welfare of the people on his heart, in the tradition of “v’nasa osam Aharon al libo.”
