Rejoicing in the Fortune of Others

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In the beginning of Parashas Tetzaveh (Shemos 27:20), the Jews were commanded to bring pure olive oil to Moshe for use in the Menorah. This is puzzling—Moshe was not a kohein, and he would not be the one to prepare or light the Menorah. Why was it necessary for him to receive the oil? The Ramban suggests that it was Moshe’s task to make sure that the oil was pure. However, this doesn’t answer the question. Surely there were others who knew how to assess the quality of olive oil. Why was Moshe being connected to the mitzvah of lighting the Menorah?

A few verses later (ibid. 28:1–2), this same question recurs. Moshe is commanded to bring Aharon closer so that garments could be prepared for the kohanim. What is Moshe’s role here? He wasn’t the tailor—in the next verse, he commands “those who are wise of heart” to prepare the clothing. It seems that here too, Moshe was commanded to get involved in an avodah that had nothing to do with him.

R’ Chaim Shmuelevitz answers based on the Midrash (Tehillim 133), which speaks of two “goods.” The passuk (ibid., verses 1–2) states, “Behold, how good and how pleasant is the dwelling of brothers in unity. Like the good oil on the head, running down upon the beard, the beard of Aharon.” The expressions of “good” refer respectively to the joy felt by Aharon and Moshe. When Moshe anointed Aharon, they were both happy that Aharon merited to become the kohein gadol. Moshe was so happy that he felt as if he himself was being anointed. Indeed, when Moshe first merited prophecy at the Sneh (Burning Bush), he tried to get Aharon appointed to redeem the Jews instead of him (Shemos 4:13). In the following verse, Hashem assured Moshe that Aharon felt the same way—he was “rejoicing in his heart,” not merely putting on a smile and keeping his envy to himself.

This attitude, explains Rav Shmuelevitz, is why Moshe was associated with the priesthood. Moshe’s happiness for his brother was so great and so clean of any trace of selfish emotions that he felt as if he himself was becoming the kohein gadol.

The Ramban (Vayikra 19:18) views the above as an ideal to be pursued by every Jew, and notes that it applies in all spheres of life. When a fellow Jew has more money than us, we should be able to be happy for him. Whatever his successes are, and whatever his cause for celebration is, we should consider it our own personal cause to celebrate.

The ideal relationship between Jews is that of David and Yonasan—a love that overrides all personal interests and ambitions. Yonasan was the heir apparent to the throne that David had been designated to receive. Yet, Yonasan recognized that David was more worthy of it than he, and managed to see him only as a friend, and not as competition. This is how Hashem wants all of our relationships to be.

Once, a man asked Rav Zelig Pliskin how he could be happier. He was constantly beset with difficulties, and he was generally miserable and depressed.

Rav Pliskin told him, “If you want to feel happy all the time, work on feeling happy about the good things that happen to others. Feel their joy as if it were your own. The jealous person can only lose, and though the one who is not jealous doesn’t feel hurt by the success of others, he has nothing to be happy about, either. If you want to get more happiness out of life, this is the way: work on feeling happy for others.”

This is one lesson we can learn from Moshe’s involvement in the mitzvos of the kehunah.

Rav Gedalia Schorr offers a different approach, based on Shemos Rabbah (37:4). It says there that the commandments concerning the priestly garments and olive oil for the Menorah went through Moshe because he possessed the power of Torah. It is the power of Torah that infuses the kohanim with the spiritual energy to perform their service in the best way. Rav Schorr cites a gemara (Sotah 44a), where the Sages expound on a passuk in Mishlei (24:27) to teach that only through dedication to the study of the Written and Oral Torah can one’s deeds truly be illuminating. Torah study imbues deeds with a special light and cleanses them of any negative intent. This idea is conveyed when Moshe—as the symbol of Torah—was involved in the preparation of the priestly garments and the oil of the Menorah. The power of Torah makes the kohein’s service complete.

HaRav Tzvi Weissfish recounts that his rebbe, HaRav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, served as an example of how Torah study purifies and illuminates one’s deeds. Rav Elyashiv had a list of fifteen families who were in particularly difficult financial situations. Though he had no resources of his own, he was always trying to obtain donations for them.

Once, Rav Elyashiv was approached by one of his close family members. This relative asked Rav Elyashiv if he could use some of the money that had been donated for the poor this one time, as he was in a particularly dire situation.

Rav Elyashiv apologized and explained, “This money was given to me for poor families. The donors did not intend that the money be used for me. If I would give you some of the money, it would be like I took it for myself. I have to be clean of any personal gain.”

This level of purity of intent was something Rav Elyashiv achieved only through his great toil in Torah study.

Rav Elyashiv was also able to recognize when others were free of selfish motives and intents. He would say that the reason he joined Rav Shach in leading the generation was because he saw a man who had no selfish motivations. The honor of the Torah was the only thing that concerned him. “I couldn’t refuse such a person,” he would say.

May the power of Torah illuminate and purify our actions!

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