That’s the kind of experience the Israelites faced after the death of Aaron, the High Priest, according to Ginzberg's Legends of the Jews.
Imagine this: Moses and Eleazar return from the mountain, but Aaron isn't with them. The people, frantic, demand that Moses produce Aaron, "dead or alive!" The pressure is intense. Moses prays, and miraculously, God reveals Aaron lying dead on a bier within a cave.
The impact was immediate and devastating. It wasn’t just grief; it was a palpable shift in their reality. As Ginzberg recounts, when they turned to look at the camp, the protective "clouds of glory," those divine, sheltering clouds that had accompanied them for forty years in the desert, were gone. Vanished!
Why? Because, as they realized with heartbreaking clarity, these clouds weren't just a natural phenomenon. They were there for Aaron’s sake. His presence had been their shield, their blessing. With his death, the shield was lifted.
This loss had an unexpected consequence. The generation born in the desert had never directly seen the sun, the moon, or the stars. The clouds of glory had always veiled the heavens. So, when those clouds disappeared, the sight of the celestial bodies was overwhelming, awe-inspiring... and potentially dangerous.
Can you imagine seeing the sun for the very first time as an adult?
According to Legends of the Jews, some were so awestruck by the sun and the moon that they were tempted to worship them! Talk about a crisis of faith!
But God, in His wisdom, reminds them of His commandments. As we find it echoed in Deuteronomy (4:15-20), He essentially says: "Remember the Torah! I commanded you not to be drawn astray by the celestial bodies." He reminds them that He is the one who brought them out of Egypt, out of the furnace of affliction, to be His people, His inheritance.
It's a powerful reminder that even in moments of profound loss and disorientation, the core principles of faith – the covenant with God – must remain steadfast. The story highlights not only the importance of leaders like Aaron, but also the constant need to choose faith over the allure of the unknown, especially when grief and change leave us vulnerable. So, what veils have been lifted in your life? And what do you see for the first time?