Shemini

The Sifri brings Rebbi Eliezer said Moshe Rabeinu got angry 3 times and therefore made a mistake each time (forgot a halacha).  One place is in our parsha where Moshe said in anger concerning Elazar and Isamar, “why didn’t you eat the chatas?” when it was burned instead of eaten.  He forgot that an onen is not allowed to eat kodshim. Only kodshei sha’ah (the chatas shemini and chatas Nachshon) were allowed to be eaten, while kodshei doros (the se’eir chatas of Rosh Chodesh) were not allowed to be eaten.

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh asks: why did Moshe get angry?  He knew the halacha that an onen can’t eat kodshim.  Because he got angry he forgot.  What did he get angry about which caused him to forget?

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh explains that Moshe got angry because Elazar and Isamar should have asked him- their Rebbe- what to do, and they didn’t.  Instead, they relied on their own chochmah to decide (moreh halacha bifnei rabo).  Because of this he got angry and forgot the halacha.

Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zatzal says that from here we see that even when one gets angry “k’din”, for a proper reason, he still forgets the halacha.   The anger causes a person to lose the chochmah that he had, even that which he knew a second before.

How can we understand this, that anger affects one’s chochmah? Rav Chaim explains that Torah is a special ruchnius chochmah that needs special kailim in order to acquire it.  These kailim are called midos tovos.   If one has proper midos then the Torah can rest in him and become part of him.  If not, chas v’shalom, then he won’t be able to acquire Torah and he will even lose that which he already had!

May we be zoche to improve our midos and thereby become better kailim for kinyanai haTorah!