"But they shall not go in to see when the holy things are
covered, lest they die" (Bamidbor4:20). The Rashbam
comments: When the heichal is dismantled, the Aron
Hashem is revealed, and if they gaze upon it they will
die, as we find with the people of Beis Shemesh: And He
smote the people of Beis Shemesh because they beheld the Ark
of Hashem.
It is impossible to gaze upon the Aron Bris Hashem in
its revealed glory and remain the same person. That exalted
sight requires a level that either elevates a person to
great heights, or does the very opposite and causes people
to die. Hashem smote the people of Beis Shemesh because they
beheld the Ark.
"We find that the tribe of Levi numbered the least in
population. Why was this?" asks the Midrash. "Because
they saw the face of the Shechina, as it were. This
reduced their numbers. Said Hashem: In this world, those who
behold My glory are annihilated, as it is written: For man
cannot behold Me and live. But in the future, when I shall
restore My Shechina to Zion, I will reveal Myself in
My glory to all of Israel and they will gaze upon Me and
live forever more, as it is written: For they will see, eye
to eye, when Hashem returns to Zion" (Midrash
Tanchuma).
In this world, in the physical form of vision of this-world,
one cannot look and remain unscathed, to continue on as
usual. Only when the sight takes on a spiritual dimension
and what follows therefrom, as will be in the future, will
we be able to look eye to eye and see, and live forever.
In Shmuel we find the description of the bringing of
the Aron Bris Hashem from the fields of Plishtim (I
6,13;19). "And [in] Beis Shemesh [they] were harvesting the
wheat in the valley and they lifted their eyes and saw the
Ark and rejoiced to see it. . . . And the people of Beis
Shemesh were smitten for seeing the Ark of Hashem, and
seventy men [and] fifty thousand men were smitten, and the
nation mourned that Hashem had struck such a great blow
amidst the people."
Chazal ask in maseches Sotah 35: Did He smite them
[merely] for seeing? It replies: They were harvesting and
bowing. Rashi explains: They did not cease their labor in
honor of the Aron, but continued on with their regular
routine. They happened to look while working, and continued
as if nothing had happened. The seeing of the Ark had no
effect on them: it marked no milestone in their lives, no
elevation, no new spiritual level, no new obligation. And
so, the people were smitten.
The sefer MiBeis Levi adds a further incisive
emphasis: The people of Beis Shemesh considered themselves
"chareidim" -- concerned and involved -- for the
glory of the Aron and its sanctity. Indeed, they bowed and
prostrated themselves before it, but they did not truly bow
in honor of the Aron. They bowed in order to serve their own
purposes: they continued to harvest for their own benefit .
. . While holding the scythe in one hand, they bowed and
grasped a handful of wheat in the other. Their bowing was a
pretense, an incidental act only for display, for
appearances. It had no intrinsic sense of obeisance.
Had they not bowed at all but continued on with their
harvesting, their sin would have been lesser! Then we could
dismiss them as coarse, uncouth men who are completely
immersed in their daily work, in their own gain. But to make
a pretense, an outward show at the expense of the glory of
the Aron -- this was unforgivable. It showed that they
lacked a basic sense of holiness and propriety in their
hearts.
We can now understand, he concludes, a fascinating
observation made in the gemora there about Uza, who
thrust out his hand to support the Aron that seemed to be
falling when Dovid Hamelech brought it to Jerusalem. Then
too, "Hashem grew wrathful with Uza and smote him for the
error, and he died." Chazal said that he relieved himself
[in the wording of the gemora: He served his personal
purposes] before the Aron. Anyone hearing this cannot
conceive such a horrible thing to be possible! At a time
that the anointed king and all the holy assembly of the
nation were standing about the Aron, trembling in awe, that
a man should have the audacity to do something as wicked as
that, the very mention of which shocks and stuns the
listener to the core!
The words of the posuk are even more surprising, "And
Dovid was angered that Hashem had burst [His wrath] against
Uza." Should Dovid Hamelech have had mercy upon or regrets
over such a despicable person?
The idea behind this is that Uza did indeed send out his
hand to hold up the Aron, lest it fall to the ground. But
his concern for the Aron was merely a superficial one, for
appearance sake. The underlying purpose was quite different,
and he had a purpose. It was to serve his own purposes . .
.
