Hur vs. Aaron
“Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration are completed, for your consecration (milu’eichem) will last seven days” (Leviticus 8:33).
Why does the Torah use the word “milu’eichem,” which literally means to complete (l’malei)? What was lacking that needed completion?
The answer, in a word, is faith. When the Jews wished to build the Golden Calf, they approached Hur and asked for his help. “Hur faced them and said, ‘Headless people! Don’t you remember the miracles G-d performed for you?’ They immediately rose up against him and killed him. They then turned to Aaron…and said, ‘Just as we did to him, so shall we do to you.’ When Aaron saw that it was so, he grew scared [and helped them]” (Shemot Rabba 41:7).
This Midrash illustrates the fundamental difference in character between Aaron and Hur. Certainly both trusted in G-d, but Hur trusted in G-d completely. Such trust includes willingness to sacrifice one’s life for the sake of His Name. Hur embraced this trust, and it led him to perfection: he sacrificed his life in protection of G-d’s honor. Aaron, by contrast, was afraid when he saw what they had done to Hur and did not wish to endanger himself. He cooperated lest they murder him too.
Aaron had an additional reason for cooperating. As the Rabbis (Sanhedrin 7a) explain, “Aaron said: If I do not heed them, they will do to me what they did to Hur. Through me will be fulfilled ‘Shall a priest and prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the L-rd?’ (Lamentations 2:20), and their sin will be unforgivable. Better that they should worship the calf. Perhaps they will find forgiveness through repentance.”
Even so, Aaron sinned by cooperating. Although his intentions were good, he was still obligated to sacrifice all and let himself be killed for the sake of G-d’s Name because that is what complete trust in G-d requires.
It was this sin – this lack of trust – that the milu’im came to rectify. Regarding the verse, “You shall consecrate (u’mileisa yad) Aaron and his sons” (Exodus 29:9), the Rabbis said, “Aaron and his sons received spiritual completion via these steps” (Midrash HaGadol). On the verse, “He brought forth the second ram, the milu’im ram” (Leviticus 8:22), Rashi comments, “This was the completion ram, for milu’im connotes completion. The milu’im completed and perfected the kohanim in their priesthood.”
Likewise, the Sifra (Tzav, Mechilta d’Milu’im 20) states, “‘Milu’im ram’ – indicating completeness for all. This teaches that the milu’im brought spiritual completion to Aaron and his sons.”
The Jewish Idea