Torah Down Under

The passuk says in parshas shelech lechah (13:3): וַיִּשְׁלַח אֹתָם מֹשֶׁה מִמִּדְבַּר פָּארָן עַל פִּי ה' כֻּלָּם אֲנָשִׁים רָאשֵׁי בְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל הֵמָּה Moshe sent them from Midbar Paran according to the instruction of Hashem, they were all men – they were the leaders of the benei yisrael . Rashi explains: "כלם אנשים" - כל אנשים שבמקרא לשון חשיבות ואותה שעה כשרים היו They were all men – Wherever it says the term ‘ anashim ’ in the passuk it is an expression of importance; this is used here because at that time they were tzadikim . The passuk later on in the parsha (13:26) says: וַיֵּלְכוּ וַיָּבֹאוּ אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן וְאֶל כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל מִדְבַּר פָּארָן קָדֵשָׁה וַיָּשִׁיבוּ אוֹתָם דָּבָר... They went and they came to Moshe and to Aharon and to all of the people to Midbar Paran to Kadesh and they returned a report to them... Rashi explains: "וילכו ויבואו" - (סוטה לד) מהו וילכו להקיש הליכתן לביאתן מה ביאתן בעצה ...

The gemara says in Tamid (26a) that cohanim and leviim are obligated to keep guard in the beis hamikdash both by day and also by night. The gemara says that we learn this from the passuk in Bamidbar that says (במדבר ג, לח) : וְהַחֹנִים לִפְנֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן קֵדְמָה לִפְנֵי אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד מִזְרָחָה מֹשֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן וּבָנָיו שֹׁמְרִים מִשְׁמֶרֶת הַמִּקְדָּשׁ לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל Those who camped in front of the mishkan to the east, before the Ohel Moed eastward, were Moshe and Aharon and his sons. They who watched the holy watch on behalf of the benei yisrael. Moshe was a levi and Aharon and his sons were cohanim, so we see that leviim and cohanim have to guard the mishkan and the beis hamikdash. The Raavad (Tamid 28a) asks: היכי ילפינן ממשה ואהרון דכהנים ולויים בעי, הלא משה כהן גדול הוה כדאיתא בזבחים פרק טבול יום? י"ל אפילו למ"ד התם כהן גדול הוה מכל מקום לענין מראה נגעים לא היה כהן How can we learn from the fact that the passuk says “ מֹשֶׁה וְאַה...

The Rambam says in Hilchos Kilayim (10:32): כהנים שלבשו בגדי כהונה שלא בשעת עבודה אפילו במקדש לוקין מפני האבנט שהוא כלאים ולא הותרו בו אלא בשעת עבודה שהיא מצות עשה כציצית “If cohanim wear bigdei kehunah while they are not performing the avodah even if they are not in the beis hamikdash then they receive malkos because the avnet contains kilayim and it was only permitted for the cohanim to wear this garment while performing the avodah .” The Ravad argues with the Rambam and says: טעה בזה שהרי אמרו (ביומא בפרק בא לו) כהן גדול במקדש אפילו שלא בשעת עבודה מותר כו' “The Rambam has made a mistake in this halachah because the gemara says (Yuma 69a) that a cohen gadol is allowed to wear the bigdei kehunah in the beis hamikdash even when he is not performing the avodah .” The Binyan Halacha explains the opinion of the Rambam as follows: Gid hanashe in a korban olah There is a machlokess in Chullin (90a – b) between Rebbi and the Rabbanan whether or not the...