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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