Parshas Vaera
A Torah Thought By Rabbi Aryeh Goldman
The Torah (Vaeira 6, 26&27) tells us that the mission that Hashem gave Aaron and Moshe was to a) take the Jewish people out of Mitzraim and to speak to Pharaoh about taking them out of Mitzraim.
The Malbim addresses the question about why this sentence is broken up. It would seem to be one mission-to take the Jewish people out of Mitzraim, and that mission includes many things such as speaking to Pharoh. Therefore, it’s hard to understand why it seems to be spelled out as though there are two separate missions?
The Malbim also asks that in both parts of the description of the mission it mentions the names of Moshe and Aaron, but in the first part it mentions Aaron’s name first and in the second part of the sentence it mentions Moshe’s name first. What’s the reason for the switch?
The Malbim says that both questions can be answered in the following manner: He explains that there were really two parts of the redemption from Egypt. There was the physical redemption from the abuse and the slavery in Egypt and there was the redemption from the spiritual traps of Egypt. Moshe and Aaron were tasked with a mission to speak to Pharoh about the Jewish people leaving their physical slavery and they had a mission to speak to the Jewish people to help them leave the spiritual traps of Egypt.
Moshe was mentioned first in regards to the mission to take away the physical slavery because he had the lead role in that mission, and Aaron was mentioned first in regards to the spiritual mission because he had the lead role in that mission.
The Malbim explains that for the Jews to escape from the spiritual traps of Egypt they needed to be drawn away from them. They had become attached to the Egyptian way of life and they didn’t necessarily want to give it up.
Aaron Hakohen was the one who had developed a personal relationship with many of the Jewish people. He dedicated his life to helping them improve their lives. He helped so many of them find happiness in their family life and avoid conflict in their relationships. As a result, he was the one who was able to have more of an influence on them to give up on the Egyptian ways and to embrace the path of the Torah.
We know that Moshe Rabbeinu was the one who Hashem chose to be the overall leader of the Jewish people, he was the one who spoke to Hashem in the most intimate manner, and he was the one who would eventually be chosen to go up to Heaven, be taught the Torah from Hashem, and to bring the Torah to the Jewish people. However, without having a personal relationship with the Jewish people he was not as effective in helping them change as Aaron was.
It is important for us to have a Moshe Rabbeinu in our lives, who can teach us about the ways of Hashem (Torah, mitzvos, middos), but we also need to have people like Aaron in our lives, who we can have a personal relationship with, who will help us to grow in our service of Hashem.
It is also important for us to develop a relationship with our children, students, and others that will enable us to have a positive influence on them, to help them grow in their service of Hashem.
Have a great Shabbos everyone!