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By Rabbi Shloime Lindenbaum
למה נגרע לבלתי הקריב את קרבן ה’ במועדו (פרק ט פסוק ז)
When the Jewish nation was preparing to bring the קרבן פסח in the desert, a group approached Moshe and explained that because they were טמא (impure) they weren’t allowed to participate. They felt this was unfair and asked, “Why should we lose out by not bringing the קרבן”? R’ Moshe Feinstein says that that even if a טמא person were to bring a קרבן פסח they would not fulfill the מצוה and the קרבן is invalid if it is brought solely for them. If so, why did they want to bring the קרבן? This wouldn’t result in fulfilling the מצוה? R’ Moshe answers that they loved the מצוה so much that they wanted to have some connection to it. Even though they knew that it was impossible for them to truly fulfill it, they were overcome with a desire to tap into the מצוה in some way. R’ Moshe learns from here that the same applies for us- even if it is difficult or impossible for us to fulfill a מצוה in it’s true form, out of our love for Hashem and His מצוות we should try to connect to it somehow.
ויצאו שניהם (פרק יב פסוק ה)
Hashem rebuked Miriam and Aharon for speaking negatively about Moshe and explained to them the various advantages and superiority that Moshe had over other נביאים (prophets). The פסוק tells us that Aharon and Miriam could not be standing with Moshe at the time that Hashem was praising him, and Rashi explains that this is because of the rule that we do not say all a person’s praises when they are present. R’ Yeruchem Levovitz deduces from here that the reason why we shouldn’t completely praise a person in front of them is not because this will cause the listener to become haughty. After all, Moshe was going to be aware of these praises regardless, when he wrote them in the תורה! Rather, it must be that we do not want it to look as though we are flattering the listener (חניפה). Although this doesn’t apply to Hashem, He did it in this way to teach us how we have to avoid appearing as though we are overly flattering someone else.
