Parshas Va'eira - Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

Parshas Va'eira

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

By: Daniel Listhaus

הוּא אַהֲרֹן וּמשֶׁה אֲשֶׁר אָמַר ה' לָהֶם הוֹצִיאוּ אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם עַל צִבְאֹתָם: הֵם הַמְדַבְּרִים אֶל פַּרְעֹה מֶלֶךְ מִצְרַיִם לְהוֹצִיא אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל מִמִּצְרָיִם הוּא משֶׁה וְאַהֲרֹן

“This is Moshe Aharon and Moshe to whom Hashem 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 the land of Egypt; this is Moshe and Aharon.”

-Va'eria 6:26-27

Rashi¹ comments that throughout Chumash, there are some times that the Torah puts Moshe's name before Aharon's, and other times that the Torah chooses to write Aharon's name before Moshe's.² The reason for this, as Rashi continues to explain, is in order to convey that Moshe and Aharon were equal in significance.

The Kli Yakar³ makes the same observation but explains in more detail. He writes that as one reads through the story of B'nei Yisroel in Mitzrayim, it does not take too much effort to realize who the protagonist is. Moshe was the one who met Hashem at the s'neh (the [burning] bush) and was the one specifically appointed by Hashem Himself as the one who would take B'nei Yisroel out of Mitzrayim and bring them to Har Sinai to receive the Torah. In order to counter such a perspective of the story, the Torah comes to tell us that indeed Aharon played just as much an important role as Moshe. The Kli Yakar continues to say that the Torah also must refer to them as “Moshe and Aharon”, with writing Moshe's name first, because one could also read through the conversations between them and Pharaoh and notice that because of Moshe's speech impediment, Aharon was the one who did most of the talking. Therefore, the Torah must also come to put Moshe's name first in order for us to realize that despite the fact that Aharon played such a vital role in communicating to Pharaoh, Moshe's role of communicating Pharaoh was deemed as equally important.

This Rashi and Kli Yakar are very difficult to understand. There is no question that Aharon was an incredible person. As a matter of fact, before Moshe came back to Mitzrayim, Aharon was the one who would get nevuos (prophecies) from Hashem. However, is it really possible that once Moshe came back from Midyan after experiencing talking to Hashem face-to-face – something that only Moshe ever experienced – that Aharon was even close to the greatness that Moshe possessed? The Torah itself testifies to Moshes greatness stating that, “This man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more so than any person on the face of the earth.”⁴ Furthermore, in the Ani Ma'amins,⁵ we declare that the nevuos (prophecies) of Moshe rabbeinu are all emes (truth; reality), and that he is the 'father' of of all nevi'im (prophets) – all those who came before him and after him. This is also expressed in the poem of Yigdal⁶ which states, “There was never anyone in the Jewish people as great as Moshe, nor will there ever be.” How can it be that Rashi and the Kli Yakar explain that Moshe and Aharon were of equal greatness if it seems that Moshe was clearly someone who achieved heights greater than anyone?

The truth is that a similar question could be asked exactly the other way. Aharon indeed played the key role in communicating to Pharaoh. Hashem Himself told Moshe, “You shall speak to him [Aharon] and put the words in his mouth; and I shall be with your mouth and with his mouth, and teach you both what you are to do; and it will be that he will be a mouth for you and you will be for him a master”.⁷ Aharon truly did more speaking to Pharaoh than Moshe, so why is the Torah calling them equals in this area? If the Torah is simply trying to convey that there were some things that Aharon did better than Moshe and other areas that Moshe excelled in, that is already apparent from the passukim and we would not need the Torah to switch the order of their names a few times in order to catch our attention and tell us this. If indeed the Torah is trying to tell us, as the Kli Yakar is suggesting, that they were both equal in both areas, then at least granted we would understand that the Torah would want to go out of its way to point this out, because it is not at all obvious. However how can this explanation be true after we know two basic facts: that Moshe was greater than any person to ever live and that Aharon was the one who spoke to Pharaoh?

It must be that Rashi and the Kli Yakar are teaching us an incredible lesson. We see from here that one cannot see a person's true success by what one perceives he accomplished in the world. Each individual has his or her own inner conflict, flawed character trait, or mission to solve in this world. Additionally, when Hashem sends us to live in this world, he programs us with certain settings: Which family will we born into? What number are we to be amongst siblings? Will we be wealthy or poor? Tall or short? Each of us is given a different combination of a variety of elements. It is within this environment, with the tools we are given, that we are expected to accomplish what we were put into this world for. Therefore, it is unreasonable that the same quantitative level and position be achieved by every person, or even to assume that it is possible for one to do so, because different things are expected from different people based on the abilities Hashem provided them with.

The Ramban, in his Igeres Haramban,⁸ writes that there is absolutely nothing of which man could be prideful. One could brag about his wealth, honor, or wisdom, but really these things come from Hashem. Therefore, really, every person is equal before Hashem. The fact that a person is wise makes him no more independent than the one who is not; and Hashem could, at any moment, easily reverse their situations with no effort at all. The Ramban continues to write that despite the fact that before Hashem all are equal, a humble person should look at others and assume that they are better than himself. If one sees someone else who is rich or wise, he must accord him respect because perhaps Hashem made him wealthy because he is a tzaddik (righteous person). Yet, even when one knows someone who is struggling to make a living or who is not so bright, one cannot assume that Hashem is upset at him. Rather, one must accord respect to such a person and think to himself that that person is more righteous than himself for when he himself does aveiros (sins) he does so on purpose, but this person only sins accidentally.

We cannot judge a person's accomplishments based on what we see as his successes. We may see two people standing right next to each other one and know for certain that one of them is clearly on a much higher spiritual level than the other. However, that means nothing about how much each accomplished percentage-wise of what Hashem expects of them as individuals, and therefore it is impossible to know who in fact is more accomplished.

The Gemara⁹ brings a statement from R' Yitzchak: If a person says to you “I tried but did not succeed”, do not believe him. If a person says, “I did not try but succeeded”, do not believe him. If a person says, “I tried and found success”, believe him.

On the surface this Gemara is difficult to understand. There are plenty of people who seem to have an easier time grasping things, while there are also certainly others who, as much as they try, just cannot understand.¹⁰ So why is it that we only believe the one who says “I tried and found success”? Is it really not possible to try and still not succeed?

Perhaps with the aforementioned concept we could understand this Gemara. True success is not necessarily defined as what objective level you achieve or the number of things you accomplish. Rather, success is measured by how much you fulfill what is expected of you. If you truly tried your hardest with the tools that Hashem provided you in the environment he placed you in, then of course, by definition, you succeeded, no matter how little it may be perceived by others that you changed. As individuals, we often think that our own lives are so intricate with so many details and challenges, and when we look at others we think of how easy they have it. However, we must not judge a book by its cover. It could be that the small things that that person is expected to accomplish are much harder for him than the many things that are expected of you, given each of your personalities and life settings.

There is no doubt that Moshe and Aharon were two different people with different challenges and personalities. Additionally, there is no question that quantitatively, Moshe achieved the highest possible level of kedusha (Holiness) and nevuah which was never, nor will ever, be matched by anyone else. However, that does not mean that no one could accomplish the same amount that Moshe did in his lifetime. Moshe utilized his settings and tools from Hashem to the max and achieved the level of success that was expected of him. In the same way, Aharon too matched Moshe in terns of what was expected of him as his role as a person and part of B'nei Yisroel. Additionally, Moshe was as much a speaker to Pharaoh, as little as he did, as Aharon was despite the fact that Aharon spent much more time speaking to Pharaoh.

We too have the ability to have our names worthy of being placed before Moshe's to demonstrate that, like Aharon, we have accomplished our role to the fullest. All we have to do is try our hardest to use what Hashem gave us to complete our purpose for being here.

May Hashem help us realize what our mission in life is as individuals and then help us maximize our potential in order that we could indeed honestly proclaim, “I have tried and found true success.”

1Shemos 6:26

2This format is the exception. The above quoted passuk (verse) is one such example. Another example is in Bamidbar 3:1.

3Ibid.

4Bamidbar 12:3

5The seventh Ani Ma'amin (Thirteen Principles of Faith) based on the Rambam.

6Yigdal mirrors the Rambam's Thirteen Principles of Faith. This poem could be found in the Siddur at the very beginning of Shacharis.

7Shemos 4:16

8This is a letter that the Ramban sent to his son.

9Megillah 6b

10This Gemara is specifically dealing with learning Torah and not business matters (which the Gemara describes could be decided that you not be successful despite working hard). However let us assume that the same would be true regarding working on oneself and trying to accomplish what one's purpose is.

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