Moshe Rabbeinu Admits He Forgot
Moshe Rabbeinu objects when Aharon's Rosh Chodesh offering is burned. Aharon explains the halachah, and Moshe openly admits he had heard it and forgotten.
The Torah records a conversation that took place between Aharon HaKohen and Moshe Rabbeinu. Some of the finer points of the argument are in dispute. However, it is clear that the meat of the rosh chodesh sacrifice that was offered on Rosh Chodesh Nissan in the second year after Klal Yisrael left Egypt was burnt. Moshe Rabbeinu felt that this was improper. Aharon HaKohen successfully defended himself and explained his actions. He argued based on his understanding of halachah that the rosh chodesh korban could not be eaten that day due to the tragic death of his two sons. Therefore, the holy sacrificial meat needed to be burned. Whereupon the pasuk states, “And Moshe heard [the argument] and it was pleasing in his eyes.”
The Gemara (Zevachim 101a) praises the fact that Moshe Rabbeinu did not lie and claim he did not hear the halachah that, due to Aharon’s mourning, the korban could not be eaten. Rather, he unabashedly told the truth and admitted that he heard the halachah from Hashem but had subsequently forgotten it.