CHANUKAS HATORAH

Acharei Mos
Chanukas HaTorah - Parshas Acharei Mos
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How does this posuk allude to our redemption?

(16,3) With this (בזאת) shall Aharon enter the holy.

This posuk alludes to the year ת"ח - 408, which was supposed to be the year of our redemption, the word זאת having the same gematria as ת"ח. (But since we did not merit it, 5408 was instead the year of the terrible Chelminicki massacres). And even though the redeemer did not come we wait for him, because lack of Repentance, Prayer and Charity hold back our redemption, and these three things correspond to the words צום - fasting, קול - voice, and ממון - money, each of which has the same gematria as קול - voice, to hint to the posuk in Tehillim (95,7) "today, if you will hearken to His voice", which the gemara in Sanhedrin says refers to the coming of Moshiach. And the gematria of all these three words is 408 - ת"ח. All this is the explanation of our posuk "With this (בזאת) shall Aharon enter the holy", that with our redemption which will come about through our Repentance, Prayer, and Charity, Aharon shall enter the holy.

And this is the explanation of the posuk in Tehillim (118,23) "From Hashem was this (זאת)", the time of the redemption, "but it is hidden in our eyes". Because the gemara in Sanhedrin 98a writes that R. Yehoshua ben Levi asked Moshiach when he was coming, and he repiled: Today! Later, R. Yehoshua complained to Eliyohu that Moshiach had lied to him, saying that he would come today but he did not. Eliyohu responded that this is what Moshiach had told him: "Today, if you will hearken to His voice". And this is the meaning of the next posuk "This (זאת) is the day which Hashem has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it".

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Why will Yaakov not wish to lead the Grace after Meals at the festive meal of the future?

(18,18) And a wife to her sister you shall not take (in marriage).

The question is asked on this posuk, that surely the first woman that a man takes is called his wife, and the second one is her sister, and so it should have said "the sister of your wife you shall not take", or "a sister to a wife you shall not take"!

But we can answer that the Torah is coming to allude to what it says in the Midrash on parshas Bo, that at the festive meal that will be held in the future Yaakov will not wish to lead the Grace after Meals, arguing that about him the Torah writes "a wife to her sister you shall not take". But surely the Torah is written and is speaking about every Jew, so how can Yaakov say that it is written specifically about him?

But the explanation is that Yaakov worked for Lavan for seven years with the sole intention of marrying Rachel. And so even though it turned out that he married Leah first, nevertheless, Rachel is called his wife and Leah is called the sister of his wife. Therefore, Yaakov was right in saying that the posuk "a wife to her sister you shall not take" was written about him, because he married Rachel his wife after he had already married her sister Leah, and the order of the posuk reflects his unique situation.

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