Musar על שבת 56:17

Nonetheless, there was a partial rehabilitation through the construction of the Tabernacle called מקדש, Sanctuary, which served as an illustration of how the material and spiritual worlds are inter-related, as I have explained on פרשת תרומה and on פרשת ויקהל-פקודי. It was equivalent to a new act of creation, a rejuvenation of the universe as it were. In that rejuvenated universe Aaron took the place of Adam. Of Aaron the Torah writes specifically that he should be brought "close," i.e. that he should personify what Adam had personified prior to the latter's sin. (cf. Exodus 28,1 and the Midrash I have quoted in connection with that verse). In our physical universe Aaron's function as High Priest corresponds to the function of the High Priest in the Celestial Region who offers the souls of the righteous on an altar (Chagigah 12). We have illustrated this by quoting כי היום ה' נראה אליכם (Leviticus 9,4) and showing that the words נראה אליכם nhna comprise the same letters as אהרן , מיכאל. This is an allusion to Aaron's function here on earth being similar to that of the archangel Michael in Heaven. Aaron was to bring about the closest rapprochement possible between man and G–d Instead of offering the souls of the righteous, Aaron could only offer animal sacrifices i.e. from the domesticated beasts such as the cattle and the sheep. This was basically no different from what Adam himself had done after he had sinned, when he sacrificed the ox which is reputed to have had a single horn on its forehead (Shabbat 28). Noach offered animal sacrifices in expiation for a corrupt human society which had been punished. Abraham did likewise in order to obtain forgiveness for the sin of the generation of the Tower of Babel. It is written of him ויבן שם מזבח לה' ויקרא בשם ה', "He built there an altar for the Lord, and proclaimed the name of the Lord" (Genesis 12,8). Not only did Abraham offer animal sacrifices, but he even offered his only beloved son Isaac as a sacrifice.

We find that he is commanded to let his hair grow and at the conclusion of the term of his vow to shave it off. There is no doubt that excessive hair or total hairlessness both deprive him of the typical appearance of a human being. Such a condition helps to minimize normal human appetites, such as greed and lust. Hair carefully coiffed, tends to reinforce such human desires. We find in Nazir 4b, that Simon the Just, who had officiated as High Priest for eighty years, stated that only once in all those years did he eat of the offering that a Nazirite who had defiled himself had been forced to offer. He relates that once a good looking young man from the South had come to him, and when asked why he had allowed his hair to look so disheveled and overgrown, the young man had told him that he had assumed the vows of a Nazirite after having had a glimpse of his reflection in the water. He found himself so good looking that he had become sexually aroused. He realized at that time that this was a ruse of the evil urge, and therefore let his hair grow wild in order to preserve his innocence and future in the Hereafter. When Simon the Just heard the reason this young man had adopted the Nazirite vows, he kissed him and said: "May there be many more like you whose motivation in adopting these vows is as commendable. Concerning the likes of you the Torah has written: איש כי יפליא לנדור נדר לה'." This is what the Torah refers to when it describes a נזיר as having נזר אלוקיו עליו, "having the crown of his G–d on his head." Such a person has entered the domain that Adam was in before he sinned, before he became a זר, when he too still wore that "crown". At that time his closeness to G–d was such that it did not require something זר, i.e. an intermediary, such as holy anointing oil. This status, however, is maintained only during the currency of his vow; afterwards the Nazirite reverts to being an ordinary mortal like the rest of us and this "crown" is withdrawn from him. He therefore has to bring certain offerings to atone for reverting to a lower level of sanctity, to the condition that Adam/Man has been in since the first sin. This, then, is the reason the Nazir has to bring sin offerings.

Next, the Torah deals with שור הנסקל, the ox which is stoned because it has proven aggressive, has gored a human being. Adam had sinned originally, but he was forgiven after he had sacrificed an ox as a sin offering. This ox is reputed to have possessed only one horn (Shabbat 28). The Kabbalists see a deep significance in this, something that points at the אחדות, the secret of unity.

When that time comes, the תיקון, "repair work" will have been completed and the world will be as good as at the time it was created when both body and soul were on an equally elevated level. It was said of Adam in Psalms 49, 13: אדם ביקר בל ילין; נמשל כבהמות נדמו, "Man does not even spend a single night on his pedestal; he is like the beasts that perish." This was the Psalmist's description of Adam's spiritual descent to the level of the ox. Our sages have said that the ox that Adam sacrificed had his horns protruding in front of his legs (Avodah Zarah 8). Had Adam not sinned, he could have lived up to the ideal described in Leviticus 1, 2: אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן לשם, "when you Adam will offer yourself as an offering to G–d." Adam, endowed with everlasting life, would then have cleaved to G–d in the same manner as the righteous nowadays are described as doing after their death. We are told that the angel Michael, in his capacity as the High Priest in the Celestial Sanctuary, "sacrifices" the souls of the צדיקים. The repair-work was begun by the "ox" as an extension of Joseph whom the Torah describes as בכור שור, firstling ox (Deut. 33,19). The repair will be completed by the "lion," i.e. Yehudah. When that has been accomplished, Israel will be transported "on wings of eagles," in contrast to the time of the destruction, when the prophecy of Deut. 28,49: "G–d will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, etc.," was fulfilled. In the future the blessing of Deut. 32,11 in which G–d is described as taking Israel under His wing like an eagle, will come true. We observe that the different גלגולים, wanderings of the Jewish people, follow the pattern of the animals Ezekiel saw in his vision of the מעשה מרכבה, in Ezekiel 1, where the Chashmal is described as equipped with the features of man, ox, lion and eagle. At that time Israel will achieve an unparalleled degree of unity and not only the Lord will be One, but His name will be One. The last letters in the words אחד ושמו אחד combine to make the name דוד. When that has come to pass all the participants will have achieved ever-lasting life as had been intended by the Creator from the beginning.

Before going into the symbolics of that cruse of pure, uncontaminated olive oil, let me review a statement by our sages in Megillah 14a dealing with Samuel I 2,1: רמה קרני, "He raised my horn." The Talmud points out that when Chanah gave thanks to G–d for having raised her קרן (granted her a son, Samuel), she deliberately did not use the expression פכי, my cruse, [another word for a container for oil for anointing]. Her reason for this was that whereas the dynasty of all the Jewish kings who were anointed from a קרן, horn, endured, all those who were anointed from a פך, found that their dynasty did not continue for long. King Saul and King Yehu are examples of kings who were anointed from a פך. David and Solomon, were anointed from a קרן, horn, containing the שמן המשחה, special oil for anointing the Priests or kings. Another important statement by our sages which contributes much to our understanding of the mystique of the Chanukah lights is the statement that the ox offered as a sacrifice by Adam had only one קרן, horn, on its forehead (Shabbat 28b).