Parashat Sh'mini

"And it was on the eighth day, Moshe summoned Aharon and his sons and the elders of Yisroel." (9:1) Every day Aharon, his sons and the elders of the people came to learn Torah from Moshe. However, as it is written (Mishlei 14:10) "The heart knows its own bitterness", they knew that on this day, the eighth day, an evil occurrence would befall Yisroel. Therefore, they did not come of their own accord but rather Moshe had to call them. Even when they came, Aharon would not approach the altar to perform the service until Moshe told him to come close to the altar. (HaGaon HaRav Sh'lomo Kluger zt"l)

"... and the entire assembly approached and stood before Hashem." (9:5) To prepare oneself for prayer one must first accept upon himself the mitzvo to love each other. Therefore, the entire assembly of Yisroel came together and thus became a unit devoted to the same ideals. Then they stood before Hashem and prayed, as our Sages say (Talmud Tractate B'rachos 6) that when the Torah uses the word "standing" it refers to standing in prayer.

"Moshe said to Aharon: Come near to the Altar ... as Hashem has commanded." (9:7)

See Rashi that Aharon was embarrassed and afraid to approach the altar and Moshe had to coax him and told him that he was chosen for the task. In Sefer Chadrei Torah it says that the rule is (Shulchon Oruch Orach Chaim Chap. 59) that one who is selected to lead the congregation is supposed to somewhat refuse the position. However, one who holds this position on a permanent basis should do so immediately. Aharon somewhat refused and was told by Moshe that he was chosen for this task on a permanent basis and should not refuse. Also the Sefer Vochai Bohem explains, according to the MaHarshal (Talmud Tractate Bovo M'tzio 86) that the directive of a great person one may not refuse, of a n ordinary person one may somewhat refuse and of a minor one may refuse a lot. Since Moshe and Aharon were equal, Aharon was permitted to somewhat refuse Moshe's order. However, once Moshe said that this order came from Hashem, Aharon could not refuse, for he could not refuse the order of the Great, of Hashem. "Aharon raised his hands toward the people and blessed them ..." (9:22)

The word "hands" in the Torah is written missing a letter to indicate that when Aharon blessed the people his "hands" were empty, not having received anything from the people in exchange for his blessings. This is unlike other leaders who bless the people only after having received some present or money from them. (Rav Naftoli zt"l of Ropschitz, quoted in Otzar Chaim)

"To distinguish between the contaminated and the pure, and between the creature which may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten." (11:47)

Our Sages said, if a pregnant woman smells food on Yom Kippur and desires to eat it, we whisper in her ear "It is Yom Kippur today". If the desire lessens, fine. If not, we feed it to her. There was a story of just such a woman on Yom Kippur and after they whispered that it was Yom Kippur the desire stopped and the baby, when born, became Rebbi Yochanan. A different woman could not control her urge and was given it to eat and she bore a wicked person. This is what it means "To distinguish between the contaminated and the pure". If you wish to know whether the fetus will be righteous or wicked this is the way. See whether the mother has eaten something forbidden as it says "and between the creature which may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten".