Don't Forget Aaron's Key Role

Va’era

Exodus 6:2 - 9:35

Précis: God reiterates His intention to free the Israelites from bondage and to create a covenant with them. Moses goes back to Pharaoh to seek release of the Israelites. Pharaoh refuses and we see the first seven of the fabled plagues: blood, frogs, fleas, beetles, cattle disease, boils, and hail. Pharaoh relents after each plague begins, deciding to let the people go, but then God “hardens Pharaoh’s heart” and he refuses to allow them to leave.

Ex. 6:12–13 “But Moses appealed to the Lord, saying, ‘The Israelites would not listen to me; how then should Pharaoh heed me, a man of impeded speech?’ So the Lord spoke to both Moses and Aaron in regard to the Israelites and Pharaoh King of Egypt, instructing them to deliver the Israelites from the land of Egypt.”

            Rachel Farbiarz has written (MyJewishLearning.com 1/15/12) about Aaron’s role as the intermediary for Moses, given Moses’ speech impediment. She notes that Aaron’s role was of critical importance to the mission to save the Jews from slavery and to lead them towards Sinai. Aaron’s role is not limited to being an intermediary between Moses and Pharaoh; he also (and of equal importance) serves as an intermediary between Moses and the Israelites. We know that Moses was raised as Egyptian royalty, and we can assume Aaron toiled as an Israelite slave himself.

            Moses could (and did) feel righteous indignation when observing a taskmaster abusing a Hebrew  slave, but he could not understand, in his heart of hearts, what slavery was all about, having not experienced it personally. Aaron on the other hand had personal knowledge of the tribulations imposed on the Israelites, and so Moses could use Aaron’s experience to cross the divide between the Israelites and himself.

            There is an interesting parallel we might consider. American Jews have largely been raised, like Moses, in a privileged set of circumstances. We have the ability to advocate on behalf of our Israeli brothers and sisters, yet we cannot  feel in our own heart of hearts the depth of emotion and the trauma caused by constant wars and threats of war they feel. The Moses/Aaron partnership shows that it is imperative for us to form strong and close coalitions with Israelis, both professionally and personally, and to remember that while we cannot feel precisely what Israelis feel, we can and must serve as their forceful advocates to others.

            Finally, American Jews of my generation have grown up with little, if any, direct experience of Anti-Semitism. In recent years, and especially last week, Jews of France experienced a renewal of Anti-Semitism not seen since before the Shoah. While we cannot feel in our own heart of hearts what our French Jewish brothers and sisters feel, we can and must advocate on their behalf and support them in any way we can.