Seven Levels of Teshuva Aharon Part Two
Aharon, Hod and Eternal Life:
The verse says about Aharon that “He stood between the dying and the living, and the plague stopped.”1 Aharon took the incense pan from the Mishkan and stopped the plague. It is Aharon, the Cohen Gadol, who stands between life and death.
The incense pan had killed Aharon’s children.2 The incense pan had killed the participants in the rebellion of Korach.3 Moshe instructed Aharon to take the incense pan and use it to bring life and stop the plague.4 The pan had always brought death. Aharon was now asked to use it for life. Something that had always brought death could be used to bring life. Aharon had the ability to see something in an entirely new way; he could see its Hod, its glory.
This ability of Aharon to see something an entirely new way allowed him to have the perspective necessary to bring peace between people. He could teach people to see something differently and no longer be upset.
Aharon’s ability to bring peace is called Rodef Shalom, he chased after peace. Nothing was the same from one moment to the next. He was always chasing after the next moment. Aharon’s Hod, his ability to see something with an entirely new perspective from one moment to the next allowed him to touch eternal life every second. This is why it was he who became the Cohen Gadol, the one to bring forgiveness to the entire nation on Yom Kippur. The Stan had no power over Aharon who was constantly chasing life.
Yom Kippur Service:
The Cohen Gadol, the Aharon of each generation, would not sleep on Yom Kippur night.5 There was not one second of his Yom Kippur was wasted. He was kept in constant motion the entire day, running from one step of the service to the next. He was chasing eternal life each second of Yom Kippur.
1 Bamidbar 17:132 Vayikra 10:1-23 Bamidbar 16:354 Ibid. 17:115 Yoma 19b