Shabbos Parshas Vaeira - 5778

Shabbos Parshas Vaeira - 5778 Rabbi Hal Miller

G-d spoke to Moshe and Aharon and commanded them to the Children of Israel and to Pharaoh, King of Egypt. [Shemos 6:13] G-d said to Moshe, "See, I have made you a master over Pharaoh, and Aharon your brother shall be your speaker." [Shemos 7:1]

In numerous places in the Torah, G-d speaks to both Moshe and Aharon jointly, commanding them jointly. Here again, He gives His commands to the two brothers together, but instructs that Aharon be the one who is to relate things to Pharaoh. What, then, is Moshe's role?

Rashi says that we should understand this "as Targum Onkelos renders it, 'your spokesman'." Ramban expands on this: He shall speak for you to the people, and it will be that he will be with your mouth and you will be his leader."

Why did Aharon have to "be with Moshe's mouth" if he was going to be Moshe's spokesman? Ramban continues, "To instruct him what he should say to Pharaoh." Moshe will tell Aharon what to say, but Pharaoh will not hear Moshe speak. Aharon will thus be Moshe's "prophet", providing honor and esteem for Moshe.

Rav Hirsch expands on this, saying that to Pharaoh, Moshe will appear to be a god, and Aharon his human representative or prophet. Pharaoh did not have a sufficient understanding to recognize that G-d would not appear in a human form, so this was the only way to get him to accept a Divine Presence.

Rashi points out that the Targum translation of "spokesman" for "n'viecha" borders on the same idea. The root of the word is the same as that of 'navi', or prophet.

The Medrash Rabbah takes this a step further. It points out that, despite Aharon being the elder and due appropriate respect (as shown in other places in the story) here it says, "And Moshe and Aharon went in unto Pharaoh." This shows that Pharaoh was supposed to get the idea that, by way of Moshe leading the way in, Aharon was himself paying homage to Moshe.

All of this seems to justify Aharon's role, and the fact that both brothers were required in this mission. But it doesn't make clear what Moshe's role really was. Perhaps we can learn a few lessons here.

Duty belongs to all of us. When a mission comes before us as a nation, we cannot just "let someone else take care of it." We cannot turn our back on responsibility. Israel must be an inseparable team, each of us has to play our own part or the mission will not be accomplished. Just because some have more "glorious" parts to play does not mean the rest can ignore the importance of our own roles. Moshe had been a one-man-act, representing G-d. It was time to bring Aharon into the team, then from there the elders, and eventually all of Israel to participate in the Exodus. When the time comes for others to act, leaders must step back and ensure all have the opportunity to play their parts. The role of the leader then is to "step back", rather than do anything active.

G-d "speaks" to all of us, not just Moshe Rabbeinu or the later prophets. Perhaps the method isn't as clear to the rest of us as it was to them, but He does so just the same. When He does, it falls to each of us to act, not to rely on the leader alone. It may require empathy, instead of action, instead of sympathy. The part to play may only be that of supporting someone else. A difference between Jews and the rest of the nations is that we are one nation for all things. When one of us hurts, all of us hurt. Your difficulty is mine. My success is yours. There are no "separate" roles for us--it's all one and the same. One for all, and all for one. Moshe didn't need a separate role--he shared Aharon's.