The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
In Vayikra 9:3, Moshe is instructed to tell the Jews to take a שְׂעִֽיר־עִזִּים֙ לְחַטָּ֔את. The Toras Kohanim explains that that this was an atonement for the sale of Yosef.
R' Frand then quoted the Meshech Chachma who asks - why did the Jews need to atone for the sale of Yosef now? When they left Egypt they were not told to do this, or even when they received the Torah. Why did they need to atone now? He answered that it was because the dedication of the Mishkan took place after the sin of the Egel. Prior to that point, the Jews could have said - why did Yosef go Yaakov to complain about us? He should have told us what our issue was and we would have accepted the Mussar.
R' Frand compared this to the person who complains to the principal that his child has an issue with a teacher. The first step should have been the father going to discuss his concern with the teacher directly and only if he was unsuccessful should he go to the principal.
But after the sin of the Egel the Jews could no longer say - we would have accepted Mussar. During that episode, Chur tried to rebuke them and he was killed because the Jews were unwilling to accept rebuke. Now that they lost that claim, it was time to bring an atonement for selling Yosef.
R' Frand said a second vort related to the pasuk in Vayikra 9:7 which states - וַיֹּ֨אמֶר משֶׁ֜ה אֶל־אַֽהֲרֹ֗ן קְרַ֤ב אֶל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֨חַ֙ . The Targum explains that Aharon was embarrassed and did not want to approach the altar and that Moshe told him to go because for this you were chosen.
R' Frand quoted the Arizal who explained that Moshe told Aharon - specifically because you are reluctant to take this role - that is why you were selected for it.
R' Frand then told a story about R' Tzvi Pesach Frank. When he was approached to be the Rav of Yerushalaim, those who came to him said - the people of Yerushalaim have so many problems and began to list them. He then said - I know about their problems, but why are you mentioning them to me? They responded, because we need a Rav with that thought process - someone who thinks that he is not important enough to have the problems brought to him.
R' Frand then quoted the Imrei Emes who explained the pasuk based on a thought from R' Chaim Vital. He explained that everyone comes to this world with a particular character flaw he needs to fix. If a person wants to know what that is, he should think about what his biggest problem is and that is what he needs to fix. Maybe he is jealous, or easy to anger - that is what he should fix. This was Moshe's message to Aharon - you are reluctant to take this position - this is what you were chosen to do in this world.
R' Frand said a third vort related to the three animals which chew their cud but do not have split hooves. By the camel the Torah states in Vayikra 11:4 not to eat it because וּפַרְסָה֙ אֵינֶ֣נּוּ מַפְרִ֔יס - it presently does not have split hooves. By the hyrax the Torah states in Vayikra 11:5 וּפַרְסָ֖ה לֹ֣א יַפְרִ֑יס - it will not have split hooves. By the hare the Torah states in Vayikra 11:6 וּפַרְסָ֖ה לֹ֣א הִפְרִ֑יסָה - it did not have split hooves.
Why did the Torah use three different tenses?
R' Frand answered (without attribution) that it is because before a person condemns another as unclean, he needs to be sure that he knows the person's past, present and future. Until you know the whole story you should not label someone as tamei.
R' Frand linked this to a story where R' Shach was approached about throwing a boy out of the yeshiva because he was smoking on Shabbos. R' Shach said - do you know his parents? Do you know his chavrusa? Until you know the entire story he should not be thrown out as there is more to it if he is smoking on Shabbos. And he was not thrown out.
R' Frand closed with a story about a post-Holocaust family wherein the husband no longer wanted to go to shul. Every morning he would go to the newsstand and buy a newspaper and then come home and read it, instead of going to shul. One day his wife said to him - why not take the paper and read it in shul? He listened to his wife and went to shul every day and read the paper in the back of the shul. To their credit, the shul members did not throw him out and even invited him when there was a tikkun after davening. Because he was not condemned by the members of the shul he eventually began davening again and was chozer b'teshuva.
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