The Torah (10,20) praises Moshe Rabbeinu for the fact that he was happy to admit that he had made a mistake about what the proper halachic ruling was. Elazar and Isamar (the surviving sons of Aaron) had questioned a halachic ruling of his and he admitted that he was wrong. The Torah points out that he was happy to have been corrected.

The fact that the Torah praises Moshe for admitting to his mistake is reflective of the fact that it is actually a big accomplishment for a person to admit that he was wrong. We are usually resistant to admit to our mistakes and therefore the fact that Moshe admitted to his mistake demonstrated a high degree of integrity and character.

For most of us, we want to be good people and we want to know what is truly the proper thing to do. However, we also want to follow our own needs and interests and we want to do what we want to do. As a result, we often disregard what Hashem wants from us and we prioritize what our own interests are. Our ego also interferes with our interest in doing the mitzvos properly. Our ego causes us to prioritize power and prestige over doing the right thing.

One of the ways that our ego interferes with our mitzva observance is that it makes us resistant to admit to our mistakes and we can sometimes live our lives making continuous mistakes rather than admit that we have been wrong.

In our Shabbos Shemoneh Esrei we state that Moshe was happy to be a servant of Hashem. To Moshe, the most important thing in life was to find out what Hashem truly wanted from him and to do it correctly. We are also taught that Moshe was the most humble person in the world. As a result he wanted the truth. He was more happy to have been corrected than to continue in his mistake.

In the beginning of the parsha we learn about the incident of the passing of Nadav and Avihu, who were two of the sons of Aaron. Hashem described these people as the holiest people of their generation. They were holier than Moshe, Aaron, and Miriam and all of the other great people of their generation. Yet, the Torah tells us that Hashem held them accountable in a significant manner due to their sin of bringing a “strange fire” into the mishkan during its inauguration.

There is much discussion about what their sin was. The Torah says that they had brought an offering into the mishkan (as an attempt to bring honor to Hashem), however the offering was described as a strange fire that Hashem had not commanded.

From the fact that Hashem refers to Nadav and Avihu as holy people makes it clear that they were not intending to disobey Hashem when they brought the wrong offering. Rather, they had thought that they were doing what Hashem would want them to be doing. However, apparently they were a little overconfident that they were making the proper decision, and they unfortunately misinterpreted what Hashem really wanted.

This is one of the most clear examples in the Torah that demonstrates the fact that it is not sufficient for us to try to do what seems to be the right thing to do. Rather, we need to do our best to follow the instructions that Hashem gave us. Hashem gave us the Torah with very specific instructions about what our job is to do and Hashem holds us responsible to do our best to follow those instructions.

It is often a big challenge for us to be open to recognize that a) we don’t know what is truly right and wrong in life, and b) we are responsible to follow the rules and guidelines that Hashem sets up for us.

It is important for us to recognize that we need to be open to the fact that we need to adjust our understanding of what is right and wrong in life and to adjust our behaviors to fit into the proper understanding of what is right and wrong.