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Shareוַיְהִי בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי. יֵשׁ קְרִיאָה לִגְדֻלָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: קָרָא מֹשֶׁה לְאַהֲרֹן. אָמַר לוֹ מֹשֶׁה, כָּךְ אָמַר לִי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, לְמַנּוֹתְךָ כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל. אָמַר לוֹ אַהֲרֹן, אַתָּה יָגַעְתָּ בַּמִּשְׁכָּן וַאֲנִי נַעֲשֶׂה כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל. אָמַר לוֹ: חַיֶּיךָ, אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאַתָּה נַעֲשֶׂה כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל, כְּאִלּוּ אֲנִי נַעֲשֶׂה. שֶׁכְּשֵׁם שֶׁשָּׂמַחְתָּ לִי בַּגְּדֻלָּה, כָּךְ אֲנִי שָׂמֵחַ בִּגְדֻלָּתְךָ.
וְאֵימָתַי שָׂמַח לוֹ. בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁאָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וְעַתָּה לֵךְ וְאֶשְׁלָחֲךָ אֶל פַּרְעֹה (שמות ג, י). אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, הָיָה הַדָּבָר שָׁמוּר לְךָ. אָמַר לוֹ מֹשֶׁה, בִּי אֲדוֹנָי שְׁלַח נָא בְּיַד תִּשְׁלָח (שמות ד, יג), אַתָּה מַעֲבִיר עָלַי שֶׁאָחִי גָּדוֹל מִמֶּנִּי וַאֲנִי הוֹלֵךְ לְפַרְעֹה. אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, חַיֶּיךָ שֶׁאָמַרְתָּ כָּרָאוּי שֶׁהוּא גָּדוֹל מִמְּךָ, אֶלָּא אַף עַל פִּי כֵן, וְרָאָךָ וְשָׂמַח בְּלִבּוֹ (שמות ד, יד). אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחַאי, אָמַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, אוֹתוֹ הַלֵּב הַשָּׂמֵחַ בִּגְדֻלַּת אָחִיו, יִנָּתְנוּ אֲבָנִים טוֹבוֹת עָלָיו, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וְנָשָׂא אַהֲרֹן אֶת שְׁמוֹת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּחֹשֶׁן הַמִּשְׁפָּט עַל לִבּוֹ (שמות כח, כט). לְפִיכָךְ כָּל שִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים שֶׁהָיָה מֹשֶׁה עָסוּק בַּמִּשְׁכָּן, הוּא הָיָה זוֹרֵק אֶת הַדָּם וּמַקְטִיר אֶת הַחֲלָבִים. אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, מָה אַתָּה סָבוּר שֶׁאַתָּה נַעֲשָׂה כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל, קְרָא לְאַהֲרֹן וּלְבָנָיו שֶׁיְּשַׁמְּשׁוּ. לְפִיכָךְ, וַיְהִי בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי וְגוֹ'. וְלָמָּה לְזִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, כְּדֵי לְגַדְּלוֹ בִּפְנֵי הַזְּקֵנִים. אָמַר לוֹ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, קְרָא לַזְּקֵנִים וּמְשַׁח אוֹתוֹ, וְהַגְּדֻלָּה אֶתֵּן לוֹ בִּפְנֵיהֶם, שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיוּ אוֹמְרִים: מֵעַצְמוֹ נַעֲשָׂה כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל.
Moses said to him, “The Holy One, blessed be He, has told me to ordain you as high priest.” Aaron said to him, “You have labored on the tabernacle; so shall I be made high priest?” He said to him, “By your life, even though you are being made high priest, it is as if I were being made [high priest];11See above, Exod. 1:24. for just as you were glad for me in my greatness, so I am glad for you in your greatness.”
Now when was he glad for him? When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him (in Exod. 3:10), “So come now, I will send you unto Pharaoh.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Go, keep this commandment.” Moses said to Him (in Exod. 4:10, 13), “Pray (bi) – Lord, You are doing me wrong. My brother is older than I; yet I am going ahead of him.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “[By your life], you have spoken rightly; nevertheless (according to Exod. 4:14), when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.” R. Simeon ben Yohay said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘That heart which is glad for his brother's greatness shall have those precious stones (of Exod. 28:17-21) laid upon it.’” Therefore, all those seven days that Moses was busy in the tabernacle, he was sprinkling the blood and performing the sacrificial burning of the choice pieces. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, “What do you think? That you are high priest? Call your brother so that he may serve as high priest.” Ergo (in Lev. 9:1), “And it came to pass on the eighth day Moses called [Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel].” Why the elders of Israel? In order to promote him in the presence of the elders. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Call the elders and ordain him in their presence, lest they say that he became high priest on his own.
(29) Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel on the breastpiece of decision over his heart, when he enters the sanctuary, for remembrance before יהוה at all times.
We need to examine why in this instance the names of the tribes of Israel were so important, when elsewhere it was always the names of the patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov that were important to be remembered.
Although our sages point out that the letters of the names of the patriarchs were also represented on the breast plate, (compare Bamidbar rabbah 2,7 and Sh’mot rabbah 38,11) we do not find this spelled out in the text. The text only tells us that the letters of the names of the 12 tribes were engraved on the 12 jewels making up the breastplate.
We have explained that Aaron was chosen as priest from amongst the Children of Israel, (28,10). We must assume that the selection of one out of many refers to the selection of an individual, seeing that he was especially beloved, and this implies normally that by comparison the community at large was relatively despised; in order to counter such an assumption, the Torah commanded that the names of all the tribes be inscribed on the breast plate to show clearly that G’d loved all of them.
