(Numb. 20:25-26:) “Take Aaron [and his son Elazar] […,] And strip Aaron.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “See, you may console him that he is bequeathing his crown to his sons. [This is] something that you are not bequeathing to your [own] children.” (Numb. 20:28:) “So Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments and put them [on his son Elazar].” But if the high priest leaves the Temple mount in priestly vestments, does he not receive forty lashes, since [these vestments] are [made of] wool and flax?117Cf. Deut. 22:11, which forbids the mixture, and Kil. 9:1, which allows robes of this mixture for priests when they minister in the Temple. Cf. also Yoma 72a, according to which the forty lashes are for one who tears a priestly garment. However, [Scripture serves] to inform you that, with the wording by which he inducted him into the priesthood, when [the Holy One, blessed be He,] said to [Moses] (in Lev. 8:2), “Take Aaron,” with this very wording He also said to him (in Numb. 20:25), “Take Aaron.” (Numb. 20:27:) “So Moses did as the Lord commanded....” [This verse serves] to teach you that, even though He had spoken a decree against his brother, he did not hesitate.118See below, Numb. 6a:2. (Numb. 20:29:) “Then all the congregation saw that Aaron had died.” When Moses and Elazar came down [from the mountain], the whole congregation assembled themselves against them and said, “Where is Aaron?”119Numb. R. 19:20. They said to them, “He is dead.” They said to them, “How could the angel of death hurt him, a man who has halted the angel of death and held him back?” It is so stated (in Numb. 17:13), “So he (i.e., Aaron) stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was halted.” They said to them, “If you bring him [back], well and good; but if not, we will stone you [to death].” At that time Moses rose in prayer. He said, “Master of the world, bring us out from [this] suspicion.” Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, opened the [burial] cave and showed him to [the congregation] for them. It is so stated (in Numb. 20:29), “Then all the congregation saw that Aaron had died.”
Take Aaron and Strip Aaron. God on to Moses, See, You May Console Him
(Numb. 20:25-26:) “Take Aaron [and his son Elazar] […,] And strip Aaron.” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “See, you may console him that he is bequeathing his crown to his sons. [This is] something that you are not bequeathing to your [own] children.” (Numb. 20:28:) “So Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments and put them [on his son Elazar].” But if the high priest leaves the Temple mount in priestly vestments, does he not receive forty lashes, since [these vestments] are [made of] wool and flax?<sup class="footnote-marker">117</sup><i class="footnote">Cf. Deut. 22:11, which forbids the mixture, and <i>Kil.</i> 9:1, which allows robes of this mixture for priests when they minister in the Temple. Cf. also <i>Yoma</i> 72a, according to which the forty lashes are for one who tears a priestly garment.</i> However, [Scripture serves] to inform you that, with the wording by which he inducted him into the priesthood, when [the Holy One, blessed be He,] said to [Moses] (in Lev. 8:2), “Take Aaron,” with this very wording He also said to him (in Numb. 20:25), “Take Aaron.” (Numb. 20:27:) “So Moses did as the Lord commanded....” [This verse serves] to teach you that, even though He had spoken a decree against his brother, he did not hesitate.<sup class="footnote-marker">118</sup><i class="footnote">See below, Numb. 6a:2.</i> (Numb. 20:29:) “Then all the congregation saw that Aaron had died.” When Moses and Elazar came down [from the mountain], the whole congregation assembled themselves against them and said, “Where is Aaron?”<sup class="footnote-marker">119</sup><i class="footnote">Numb. R. 19:20.</i> They said to them, “He is dead.” They said to them, “How could the angel of death hurt him, a man who has halted the angel of death and held him back?” It is so stated (in Numb. 17:13), “So he (i.e., Aaron) stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was halted.” They said to them, “If you bring him [back], well and good; but if not, we will stone you [to death].” At that time Moses rose in prayer. He said, “Master of the world, bring us out from [this] suspicion.” Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, opened the [burial] cave and showed him to [the congregation] for them. It is so stated (in Numb. 20:29), “Then all the congregation saw that Aaron had died.”