How the Cohen Gadol Became the Cohen Gadol

There were three steps necessary for Aharon to become elevated as the Cohen Gadol who would preside in the mishkan; the first two were being dressed and then annointed by Moshe, the third, Aharon bringing korbanot, or sacrificial offerings.  

I have written about this in the past, but I think there was symbolic import to the person serving as the King annointing and dressing the Cohen Gadol; Moshe Rabbeinu was obviously beyond reproach, but similar to the Christian faith in Judaism as well, there would be conflicts between the primacy of the king and the high priest, and a statement, in my humble opinion was being made here that whilst the high priest received authority in a manner of speaking from his royal affiliation (Moshe annointed Aharon), that notwithstanding, in a manner of speaking, dressing someone else shows subservience, and the superiority of the other - think Haman dressing Mordechai in the upcoming reading of Megillat Esther. It would seem thus, in the famous case of Yiftach, it was Yiftach who was supposed to go to Pinchas and ask him to annul his vow, after failure to do so meant no more and no less than the death sentence for the former's daughter.   

Vis a vis the third, there is something very odd I'd like to illuminate. Aharon became elevated to a new stature by virtue of bringing inaugural sacrifices; never, as far as I know, do we see such a phenomenon. A person can bring a sacrifice after his status has changed, but the fact that the actual bringing of a sacrifice elevates a person to a new political or social stature within the leadership hierarchy is a new, and novel idea. 

There is a fascinating case in Kiddushin that I'd like to compare it to; typically a man brings a woman a gift to betroth her, though were the man an exceedingly important person who rarely acquiesces to receive gifts, were the woman to give him a gift and the man to receive it, then the woman would be betrothed to the man by virtue of her giving him something, and not the opposite. It would seem that Hashem's willingness to receive this highly personalized offering that could only be brought by one is what elevates Aharon to the new stature, singling him out and elevating him as the only one worthy of having given that sacrifice, the directionality the converse of that typically seen otherwise.  






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