Chukas

Miriam has already passed away and now Aaron’s time has come. Hashem tells Moshe to bring both Aaron & his son, Elazar, up the mountain where Moshe proceeded to take the priestly garments off Aaron & put them on his son, thereby transferring the mantle of leadership. Then, Aaron passes on & Moshe & Elazar go back down the mountain. The posuk then tells us: ויראו כל העדה כי גוע אהרן ויבכו את אהרן שלשים יום כל בית ישראל , The entire assembly saw that Aaron had perished, and they wept for Aaron thirty days, the entire house of Israel.  

Rashi says the reason for the words  כל בית ישראל is to tell you that everyone, men women & children mourned for Aaron because he was אוהב שלום ורדף שלום, a lover of peace & a chaser of peace.

The בן איש חי questions this terminology. It would seem that אוהב  שלום ורדף שלום are two opposites; אוהב שלום is one who runs after peace whereas a רדף is one who chases away so a רדף שלום  would be one who chases away peace. How could Aaron possess these two seemingly contradictory traits & that's the reason he's missed?

The Chofetz Chaim relates a mashal of a charlatan who went to the town square dressed in elegant clothing looking for an unsuspecting victim. Then he saw a tourist looking around admiring the sights. The charlatan approaches the tourist saying, “I see you’re new around here; would you like me to take you around & show you the town?” The tourist gratefully accepts & they spend the day touring the city.

As night approaches, the charlatan invites the tourist to the fanciest restaurant in town telling him that since you are my guest for the day, I will treat you to an exquisite dinner. Elated, the tourist agrees and they order every imaginable delicacy. They're having a great time. As time goes on, the charlatan excuses himself, sneaks out the back door & runs away, leaving the tourist with a huge bill. Only then does it dawn on him that this man wasn't his friend at all, but a bitter enemy.

Sometimes, what seems like a great thing really isn't. Sometimes, in order to make peace, you have to push people away. Explains the בן איש חי, often, Aaron would go to make peace, telling one party how the other feels so bad, trying to make peace between them. However, this person’s "friends" go over to him trying to fan the flames of hatred by telling him, look what he did to you. How can you forgive him? He doesn't deserve your forgiveness.

In these times, even a lover of peace has to take the opposite approach & chase away those that are trying to prevent peace. These so called friends might make you feel good now, but will run when the bill comes. We have to take this to heart & learn to stay away from people that instigate fights. We must latch on to the other trait of Aaron, to be a אוהב שלום, a lover of peace staying far away from strife & running after peace!