Parshas Matos-Maasei 5784
- Torah Tavlin
- Aug 2, 2024
- 2 min read
כי בעיר מקלטו ישב עד מות הכהן הגדול ואחרי מות הכהן הגדול ישוב הרצח אל ארץ אחזתו (לה-כח)
The Gemara (יומא מז.) teaches that Kimchis, an exceptionally modest woman, bore seven sons who all became Kohanim Gedolim. The function of the Kohen Gadol is to plead and pray on behalf of Klal Yisroel. Such an outstanding person is born to a mother whose impeccable tznius has brought her close to Hashem. Thus, she davens for members of her family and for the sick of the nation, just as her son, the Kohen Gadol, davens for his family and for the needs of the people.
Chazal tell us that the mother of the Kohen Gadol would supply food and clothes to the inmates of the ערי מקלט (cities of refuge) to prevent them from praying for her son to die so that they could return home once again (מכות יא.). Why did the mother of the Kohen Gadol, rather than his wife, do this?
R’ Pesach Eliyahu Falk zt”l writes that the mother considers herself partially to blame for the fact that these people were confined to cities of exile, because when a Kohen Gadol is truly worthy, his powerful prayers prevent calamities, such as accidental killings, from occurring. Thus, if calamities did occur, the Kohen Gadol’s prayers were evidently not at the high level they should have been. The mother of the Kohen Gadol feels that SHE is to blame for this shortcoming. Had she been a better person, her son would have developed an even deeper appreciation for tefillah and service of Hashem, and his tefillos would have prevented these killings from taking place. It is SHE who is indirectly responsible for having caused these people to be in exile and for endangering her son’s life (as people pray for him to die). She therefore takes it upon herself to look after these people and do whatever she can to prevent them from praying for her son to die. A wife in contrast, is not so obviously responsible for her husband’s lack of devotion to tefillah. It was, therefore, the mother rather than the wife, who tried to improve matters. A mother has an enormous effect on her son. The more special she is, the greater her son will be.