Parashas Tetzaveh - 5778 - The " Kohanim," Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin,

Charles Darwin and the Platypus

Parashas Tetzaveh focuses, to a large extent, on the " Kohanim," the Priests, descendants of Aharon. Addressing Moshe, HaShem says, " Bring near to yourself Aharon your brother, and his sons with him, from among the Children of Israel - Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, Elazar and Itamar, the sons of Aharon - to minister to Me." (Shemos 28:1) And that will have a profound effect on the nature of your People - " And you will be for Me a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation." (Shemos 19:6)

In Parashas Emor, we find, " They shall be holy to their G-d" (VaYikra 21:6) - on which the Ramban comments, " The Holiness is their separateness, meaning that even with respect to those items which are permitted to most Jews, the " Kohanim" should maintain a certain separateness. For example, they should stay away from the impurity of the dead and, in the area of marriage, they should avoid marrying women who, while being Jewish, are not fit for them in terms of purity and in clean characteristics, and the reason is that I am HaShem, Who makes you holy. Now, HaShem is either speaking here directly with the " Kohanim," as in fact the Parashah begins, " Speak to the 'Kohanim,' " or the meaning is " I am HaShem Who makes all of you holy, the " Kohanim" and also the rest of the People; and the reason is that by virtue of the fact that he sacrifices the " Bread of G-d," Holiness will be yours, for through his actions, I sanctify all of you, and allow My Divine Presence to dwell in your Temple." In fact, Holiness will be the defining characteristic of the Jewish People.

The " Sefas Emes" writes, " These two righteous individuals were prepared to be servants in the Temple, as it is written, " Moshe and Aharon among His 'Kohanim' " for the " Kohen" must be totally negated with respect to the One, Blessed be His Name, as it is written with respect to them, " And who are we?" and another verse writes concerning Aharon, " And Aharon, who is he?" for they had totally negated themselves, the only distinction being that Moshe Rabbeinu was humble by virtue of being a completely righteous person, and Aharon came to total self-negation by virtue of being a Master of Repentance." (VaYikra Shemini 645)

In the Jewish Press of February 18, 2018, there appears a fascinating essay by Rabbi Dr. Natan Slifkin, entitled, " The Paradox of the Platypus." " ...Three years ago, I opened the Biblical Museum of Natural History, featuring an extraordinary array of both inanimate and live exhibits...but the single most extraordinary creature I have ever had the pleasure of meeting is the Australian duck-billed platypus. How could a furry animal with four legs have a beak and webbed claws like those of a duck? The early naturalists were amazed before they found out something even more extraordinary - that this mammal lays eggs! Such a creature was a paradox and was given the name Ornithorhynchus Paradoxicus - the 'paradoxical bird-snout.' Upon first sight, I pronounced the blessing the Talmud prescribes for seeing wondrous creatures, 'Baruch meshanah habriyot' - 'Blessed is the One Who makes extraordinary creatures.' "

" In 1836, Darwin was on his voyage in Australia when he came across several platypuses. He wrote in his diary that this most extraordinary animal, so different from everything in the rest of the world, had given him cause for theological concern. Surely two distinct Creators must have been at work at the same time. His observation of an Australian ant convinced him otherwise - 'The one hand had surely worked throughout the universe.' "

[And now, we speak about another unique creature: above, spiritual; below, physical, with the same Creator, and, as we'll see below, the physical can serve as a metaphor for the spiritual, though they are separated by an infinity of levels.] " Platypuses are not primitive. Rather, they combine certain very ancient characteristics - laying eggs, a single cloaca - with some very advanced characteristics, such as electroreceptors. Indeed, using

the eitz chaim metaphor, the platypus is a worthy metaphor for Judaism itself. The fact that Judaism separated itself from the rest of the world many millennia ago means that the spiritual ideas of the rest of the world were basically primitive, and Judaism has continued to progress over thousands of years. It delicately and harmoniously combines ancient but meaningful traits with advanced accomplishments."

L'Illuy Nishmas beni, Aharon Baruch Mordechai ben Pinchas Menachem