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When I lived in Merrick, I had a lovely friendship with a colleague, Rabbi Paul Kushner, who led a congregation in a neighboring town. Kushner was the brother of Rabbi Harold Kushner, the famous writer who authored best-selling works like “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” Was it a challenge being the younger brother of a famous person, I asked him once? Well, he responded, some scholars in Israel identified a sarcophagus (box used to collect bones) with a figure called James the brother of Jesus. I take no position on the identification, Paul told me, but I sure know what it’s like to be James the brother of Jesus.
We as Jews might ask ourselves – what was it like to be Aaron, the brother of Moses? Sure, Aaron is an important figure in his own right, but Moses is the seminal figure of Jewish history. How can anybody match stature like that?
Our sages say that Moses mitigated these feelings with a strong sense of brotherly love. While Moses led the people during and after the exodus from Egypt, it was Aaron, we should remember, who led the sacrificial worship in the Tabernacle. Aaron and his descendants alone were permitted not only to wear the four garments of ordinary priests, but four additional garments worn by the High Priest alone, as we read in this week’s portion, Tetzaveh. And it was G-d who instructed Moses to appoint his brother Aaron as High Priest – publicly – as we read in the 9th century CE Midrash Tanchuma:
R. Shimon bar Yochai said, “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, ‘That heart which is glad for his brother's greatness shall have those precious stones (of Exod. 28:17-21) laid upon it.’” Therefore, Moses was busy all those seven days in the tabernacle, performing the sacrificial worship. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “What do you think? That you are high priest? Call your brother Aaron so that he may serve as high priest.” Thus we read in portion Shmini (Leviticus 9:1), “And it came to pass on the eighth day Moses called [Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel].” Why the elders of Israel? In order to promote him in the presence of the elders. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Call the elders and ordain him in their presence, lest they say that he became high priest on his own.
For the record, the two Rabbis Kushner got along very well, and both enjoyed successful rabbinic careers. Even if, like Moses and Aaron, one brother’s job always did seem a bit more glamorous.
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
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