From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 3:49
AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Vaeira,
5767
Separate but
Equal
By Rabbi Joshua (separately known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
In
this week's parsha, after Moshe again pleads that he has difficulty speaking and
therefore is reluctant to speak to the nation about their redemption from Egypt,
the Torah tells us, that God commanded Moshe and Aharon in regard to Pharaoh and
the Bnei Yisroel. We are then given the lineage of Moshe and Aharon, tracing
them back to their origins in the tribe of Levi, and, then, we are told, "This
is Aharon and Moshe, to whom God said, 'Take the children of Israel out of Egypt
according to their legions,' They are the ones who spoke to Pharaoh, king of
Egypt, to take the children of Israel out of Egypt ; this is Moshe and Aharon"
(Shemos 6:26-27). The midrash, as cited by Rashi, notes that in some places the
Torah mentions Aharon first, before Moshe, and in other places, the Torah
mentions Moshe first, before Aharon, to teach us that the two brothers were
equal. Many commentators point out that this cannot be taken literally, for, as
the Torah itself tells us, Moshe was the greatest prophet who ever lived.
Rather, as my teacher Rav Aharon Soloveichik, zt"l, explained, in his work The
Warmth and the Light, the different character traits that Moshe and Aharon
exemplified - truth and justice, in the case of Moshe, and kindness and peace,
in the case of Aharon - are of equal importance. Still, there must be a reason
why the Torah chose, at this point, to mention Aharon before Moshe, and then,
immediately afterwards, mention Moshe before Aharon, as if to emphasize the fact
that Aharon had just been mentioned before Moshe. I believe that a look at
our verse in its context can help us understand why this point in the narrative
was chosen to emphasize the importance of Aharon's character traits.
In the beginning of the parsha, God appears to Moshe and
tells him "Therefore, say to the children of Israel, 'I am God, and I shall take
you out from under the burdens of Egypt… " (Shemos 6:6). God proceeds to
describe the process of redemption that he will bring to the people, culminating
with bringing the people to the land which He had promised to their forefathers
(Shemos 6:7-8). Moshe then delivered this message to the people, but, as the
Torah tells us, "They did not listen to Moshe because of shortness of spirit and
hard work" (Shemos 6:9). Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, in his Meshech Chochma,
explains that people who are suffering do not have the patience to listen to
promises regarding the future. Rather, they want immediate relief from their
current suffering. Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib of Gur, in his Sefas Emes, says that
the suffering of the people caused them to concentrate on their physical needs,
and prevented them from focusing on the spiritual elements of life. This
explanation is better understood in conjunction with the comment of the
grandfather of the Sefas Emes, Rabbi Yitzchok Meir of Gur, in his Chidushei
HaRim. He says that the first stage of redemption mentioned by God, which was
redeeming the people from the burdens of Egypt, can be explained a bit
differently. The word for 'burdens,' - sivlos - also has the meaning of
tolerance. In order to attain redemption, says R. Yitzchok Meir, one needs to
realize he is actually in exile, and refuse to tolerate it any longer. The
Israelites in Egypt, after so many years of slavery, had come to tolerate their
condition, and make their peace with it. Moshe needed to take them out of that
mind-set, but he was unable to, because of their shortness of spirit and their
hard work. As we saw from the Sefas Emes, this means that they were too focused
on their physical condition to pay any attention to anything of a higher,
spiritual nature. It was, I believe, at this stage that the character traits of
Aharon took on such great importance.
The rabbis tell us
that Aharon, as a man who loved peace and pursued it, used to bring people
together by telling them how much each one cared for the other. I believe that
it was this ability of Aharon to motivate people to care about someone else, and
not just themselves, that was needed in order to take the people out of their
servile mind-set. By focusing on another person's troubles, one finds a higher
purpose in life, and is thereby able to take his mind off his own physical
condition and concentrate on more significant matters. As we mentioned in last
week's message, Aharon actually initiated this demonstration of care for the
other when he stood at Moshe's basket while it floated in the Nile and cried for
him. It was this kind of concern for the other that Aharon needed to teach the
people. Although Moshe himself certainly exhibited concern for his people, it
was Aharon who had the ability to teach them to do so, and he was therefore the
one who spoke to them about the redemption, which could only begin when they
could no longer remain at peace with being enslaved. I believe that this is the
reason that the Torah mentions Aharon before Moshe specifically in regard to
taking the people out, as we read, " This is Aharon and Moshe, to whom God said,
'Take the children of Israel out of Egypt according to their legions'
".
Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi
Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.
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