Aharon's staff and drawing near

בפסוק האיש אשר אבחר כו' מטהו יפרח והשכותי כו'.

On the verse, "The man whom I shall choose, his staff shall blossom, and I will cause to subside [the complaints of Bnei Yisrael]" (Bamidbar 17:20).

The Sefas Emes addresses the test of the staffs: Aharon's staff would blossom, thereby quieting the murmuring of the people.

הענין שבזה שכך תלונות בנ"י שהראה להם כחו של אהרן הכהן שהוא בחי' ימין מקרבת.

The idea: that by this, the complaints of Bnei Yisrael were [stilled], for He showed them the power of Aharon the Kohen, who is the aspect of "the right hand draws near."

The blossoming staff demonstrated Aharon's special quality — the trait of "the right hand that brings close," the power of drawing people near in love rather than pushing away.

ואפילו במטה עץ שלו הואיל והוא קנינו שורה בו ברכה ודביקות.

And even in his wooden staff — since it was his possession — there rested upon it blessing and attachment (dveikus).

So great was Aharon's holiness that even a lifeless wooden staff, simply because it belonged to him, drew down blessing and a clinging to the Divine — to the point of miraculously blossoming.

וכן מצינו שקנין כספו של כהן אוכל בתרומה מה שהזר במיתה.

And likewise we find that the property acquired by a Kohen's money may eat terumah — whereas a non-Kohen (zar) [who eats it] is liable to death.

A Kohen's slave, acquired with his money, may eat terumah, even though for a non-Kohen eating terumah is a capital matter. This shows how the Kohen's kinyan (acquisition) extends his sanctity even to what he owns.

ועל ידי אהרן נתקרבו כל בני ישראל כמ"ש מקרבן לתורה

And through Aharon all of Bnei Yisrael were drawn near, as it says [of Aharon], "bringing them close to the Torah" (Avos 1:12).

Aharon's signature avodah was to love and pursue peace and to draw people close to Torah; through him the entire nation was brought near to Hashem.

וע"י הי' כל הקרבנות שהוא בחי' ימין מקרבת ובחי' השלום שכתוב שלום לרחוק ולקרוב:

And through him were all the korbanos, which are the aspect of "the right hand draws near," and the aspect of peace (shalom), as it is written, "Peace, peace, to the far and to the near" (Yeshayahu 57:19).

All the korbanos — whose very name means "drawing close" — flowed through Aharon, embodying the right hand that brings near and the trait of shalom that reaches both the distant and the close.

Summary: The blossoming of Aharon's staff revealed his unique power — "the right hand that draws near." His holiness was so great that even his wooden staff, as his possession, drew down blessing and dveikus, just as a Kohen's acquired property may partake of terumah. Through Aharon all of Yisrael were brought close to Torah and Hashem, for he was the channel of the korbanos (which mean "drawing near") and of shalom that reaches both the far and the near.