“Mistakes were made,” said the CEO as he discussed the illegal activity his company had been involved in. He looked regretful, yet he kept blame at arm’s length and couldn’t admit he had personally done anything wrong.
How unlike the CEO is Moses in this week’s Torah portion! Moses became angry at his nephews Eleazar and
Itamar for not eating the purification offering at all. They should have
sprinkled the blood on the altar and eaten the meat in the sanctuary in order to
gain atonement for the Israelites. Aaron replied that since his other sons,
Nadav and Avihu, sinned and paid the ultimate price publically, it was not
appropriate for his family to stand before God bearing the sins of the
people. “And when Moses heard, this, he
approved.” (Lev. 10:20)
When Aaron corrected him, Moses could just have said “Mistakes
were made” and dropped the whole issue.
But he didn’t for he approved what Aaron had taught him. According to Rashi, “Moses admitted that
Aaron was right and was not ashamed to say, “I had not heard this law.” In fact
according to S’forno “Moses rejoiced in the good reasoning of his brother and
his sons who understood and decided the law so well.”
Sometimes it seems easier to blame someone else rather than
admitting our own failings. Equally dangerous is to try to minimize our wrong
doings by calling it “just a mistake” instead of acknowledging its true nature.
Moses’ willingness to admit he was wrong should serve as our
model to strive for.
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