TORAH PORTION

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To My Dear Family and Friends,
Please accept my deep appreciation for your variety of
expressions during my recent hospitalization. May God
grant all of you everlasting good health.
Ruth Traison

6453 Farmington Rd.

(at Maple Rd.)

The Way Of Aaron
Is The Way Of Love

RABBI MORTON F. YOLKUT

Special to The Jewish News

"Hillel said: Be of the
disciples of Aaron, loving
peace and pursuing peace, lov-
ing people and drawing them
nearer to Torah." (Avot 1:12).

• The death of Aaron, brief-
ly described in this week's se-
cond sidrah, is described in
stirring and dramatic detail
in the Midrash. The Jewish
people mourned for Aaron
even more than they later did
for Moses, for Aaron was a
man who loved peace and pur-
sued peace. It was as an eter-
nal tribute to the first high
priest of Israel that Hillel
urged us to become disciples
of Aaron by emulating his no-
ble qualities. They are four in
number.

Shabbat Matot-
Masei: Numbers
30:20-36:13,
Jeremiah 2:4-28,
3:4

Ohev shalom — Love peace:

To the man who is ambitious
and opportunistic, peace is on-
ly a truce, a poor second best
to total victory for his own
ruthless ends. In order to be
a disciple of Aaron, you must
not seek peace merely
because it is the best arrange-
ment under prevailing condi-
tions, but because you love
peace, because peace is the
most desirable state of all.
One of God's names is
Shalom. Shalom is a positive
virtue in its own right, not
merely the absence of strife.
Hence, one must not only
hate war, but love peace.
Rodef shalom — Pursue
peace: Aaron not only loved
peace, but actively pursued it,
bringing it into existence
where it had not existed
before. The rabbis give us the
following scenario in describ-
ing his peace-making
methodology: If Reuben and
Simeon were not on speaking
terms, Aaron would approach
Reuben and say, "I met Si-
meon the other day. He feels
terrible that he upset you. He
feels very sorry about the
whole situation. He would
like to make amends, but he
feels that you would not ac-
cept his hand in friendship."
He then went on to Simeon
and told him the same story
about Reuben. Later, when

Morton F Yolkut is rabbi of
Cong. B'nai David.

Reuben and Simeon met,
each simultaneously offered
his hand of friendship to the
other. As a result of Aaron's
active efforts, peace was
achieved.
Ohev et habriyot — Love peo-
ple: The love of our fellow
man can come from many
sources. We may love our
fellow man because he is
human. In a deeper sense,
that means we love another
person because we love
ourselves, and see ourselves
in him. There is nothing
wrong with that kind of
humanistic approach. "Thou
shall love thy neighbor as
thyself' implies we must first
love ourselves. But this is
dangerous, for often this kind
of neighborly love exists only
where we feel a kinship of
some kind between ourselves
and the fellow man. But
where there are differences in
color or creed or background
or opinion, this kind of love
breaks down.

Aaron 'was a man who lov-
ed his fellow men. He loved
them because they were
created by God. In loving man
he loved God, for the love of
created and Creator were in-
timately bound up with each
other in his eyes. And when
we love a man because he is
God's creature, differences of
race, belief and background
can not affect that love
adversely.
U'Mekarvan le'Torah —
Draw them nearer to Torah:
The love of fellow creature
may be expressed in many
ways. Charity, respect,
economic assistance, ap-
preciation — are all signs of
such love. But the greatest
love of all is helping your
friend find meaning in life in
a manner that is worthy and
dignified.
With Aaron this, too, was
reflected in concrete human
relations. According to our
rabbis, if Aaron knew of an
Israelite who was lax in his
-.religious observances, he
would befriend him and take
a personal interest in his life.
Soon the man would say to
himself, "When such a great
man as Aaron is my friend,
how can I violate the
teachings of Judaism?"
This was the way of Aaron
— the way of love. He did not
preach. He did not condemn.
He did not excommunicate.
Aaron simply enveloped peo-
ple with love and friendship.
In responding to the warmth
of his personality, people
came closer to Torah.

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