Parshas Behaalosecha

BS"D

This week is shabbos Parshas Behaalosecha, "When you light"", from the verse which reads, "The Lord spoke to Moses saying: Speak to Aaron and say to him: When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall cast their light toward the face of the menorah" (Number 8:1-2). In the general flow of the Torah, this Parsha, discussing laws of the Menorah in the Temple, does not follow the subject matter of that which directly proceeds it, which discussed the inauguration of the Sacrificial Alter in the Temple, and the various offerings of the 12 Tribal Leaders. Rashi, the famous commentator of the Torah, says this teaches us that when Aharon (Moshe's brother, and the High Priest in the Temple) saw that neither he nor his sons nor his tribe (the Tribe of Levi) were included in the Inaguration of the Temple he became dumbfounded (literally, "his intelligence was weakened"). In response, the Holy One Blessed Be He taught Moshe this parsha of the laws of the Menorah, to show Aharon that he too would not only have a part in the Inauguration, but an even greater part. We have to understand, however, why was Aharon dumbfounded upon hearing this? Perhaps it would have been more proper to be upset or insulted.
Aharon, as the High Priest, was necessarily involved in all matters of the Temple, from small details of bird sacrifices, to the great and holy service of Yom Kippur. Even more so, his entire existence was bound up in the Holy Temple, and all of his powers and faculties were entirely dedicated to serving in the Temple. Therefore, when Aharon saw a certain service performed, let alone such an important one as the Inauguration, that did not involve him, he saw himself as lacking in completeness, and first and foremost, lacking in intelligence, dumbfounded in the most literal sense of the word.
There is a great lesson here that we can all learn: As we have spoken of several times before, each of us has a Temple inside (which extends to the world and people around us), where we are the High Priest, and therefore everything that we learn about Aharon applies to each and everyone of us. Therefore, when we see that others are "serving" in their Temple, exerting themselves in Torah and Mitzvos, while we are not, we should be dumbfounded, and feel that we are lacking in our own completeness. As the statement of the sages says, "I was only created to serve my master"; all of the abilities and talents that we have were only given us that we should use them in the service of Hashem, and if we do not, then we should feel a distinct lack. And if we truly come to this feel, and commit ourselves to joining them in their service, then Hashem should bless that we too will have a part in the Inauguration of the Third Temple, and the lighting of the Menorah in the Holy City of Jerusalem.