במדבר, פרק י״ז, פסוק י״ב

During a dramatic crisis of a mass plague, leadership steps forward with absolute devotion to save the people. Remarkably, the rescue involves the exact tools that previously sparked intense dispute. Following Moses's instructions, Aaron acts immediately without a moment of delay [אור החיים]. Offering incense outside the Tabernacle and away from its designated time goes against standard law. However, Aaron proceeds because he is following the direct order of a prophet, who has the authority to temporarily suspend a commandment during an emergency [אור החיים]. Gripping the fire pan [ביאור שטיינזלץ], the eighty-four-year-old Aaron runs swiftly into the crowd, driven by his deep love for the Israelites [ברכת אשר על התורה].

A subtle detail emerges regarding the exact timing of when the incense meets the fire. One perspective suggests that Aaron simply prepared the incense in his hands, waiting to place it on the fire until he reached the people [ביאור יש״ר]. Another viewpoint offers a different motivation, noting that because Moses initiated this extraordinary action to save lives, Aaron hesitated to violate the strict prohibition of offering incense outside the Tabernacle. He waited until he could confirm the danger was real and that their prayers had not already been answered. Only upon arriving and seeing with his own eyes that the plague had begun did he put the incense on the fire [העמק דבר]. This brief delay and the act of running also explain how he handled the spices. Normally, one must place the incense with extreme caution to avoid burns from the glowing coals. However, because Aaron ran, the coals cooled slightly, allowing him to simply drop the spices onto the fire without needing such precise care [העמק דבר].

The ability of the incense to stop the Angel of Death is not a random occurrence. It relies on a secret that the Angel of Death himself gave to Moses as a gift when Moses ascended to heaven [תורה תמימה]. Furthermore, this specific offering serves as an atonement for the sin of slander. Just as the incense is normally offered quietly within the sanctuary, it acts as a remedy for slander, which is typically spoken in secret. In this instance, the Israelites sinned by slandering Moses and Aaron, falsely accusing them of killing the people [תורה תמימה].

Ultimately, the rescue from the plague does not stem from any magical property within the incense spices. Instead, it flows from the combined supreme holiness of Aaron and the incense itself. The Israelites had previously denied Aaron's sacred status and claimed the incense was a deadly poison responsible for the deaths of two hundred and fifty men. By intentionally selecting these two specific elements, Moses proves to the people that both possess extraordinary holiness, serving as the very channels through which salvation and life are brought to the nation [ביאור יש״ר].