אור החיים — ויהי ביום השמיני

Q — Chazal teach that 'ויהי' always connotes distress (lashon tza'ar). On the great eighth day of the Mishkan's inauguration — a day of joy — whose distress does 'ויהי ביום השמיני' signal?

A — Or HaChaim proposes that the grief is Moshe's own. The priesthood that could have been his and his descendants' passed instead to Aharon and his sons — because Moshe had resisted the mission to Pharaoh at the burning bush, God's anger that day removed the eternal kehunah from him. On the inauguration day, seeing 'the crown of eternal priesthood' fly from his grasp, Moshe felt pain. And though he was exceedingly great in righteousness and humility, 'every living heart feels' — especially over so precious and wondrous a matter.