In this week’s parsha, the Torah sometimes says, “Moshe and Aharon,” and other times it says, “Aharon and Moshe,” putting Aharon first. Rashi explains that the switch is to convey that to Hashem, both were of equal stature. Therefore, sometimes He says Moshe first, and sometimes Aharon first.
As first, this is quite perplexing. How can we say that Aharon was equal to Moshe when the Torah says about Moshe Rabbeinu that he was, “Anav meod mikol adam – He was the humblest of men?” The Torah also emphatically says, “V’lo kam navi b’Yisrael k’Moshe – There was never a prophet in Yisrael like Moshe.” And the Torah further tells us that no one “saw” Hashem panim el panim, “face to face” as did Moshe.
My Rebbe, Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, zy”a, in his sefer Dorash Moshe, answers that when Rashi says, that Moshe and Aharon were equals, it means that they both fulfilled their full potential. And therefore, in the eyes of Hashem, they were of equal greatness. This is an oh! so important fundamental understanding of our mission in life.
Take, for example, the yeshiva boy who is crestfallen because he has not mastered an intricate K’tzos HaChoshen, like the bochur next to him. But, in reality, this boy’s tafkid, purpose, is to master the Mishna Berurah and the laws of lashon hara. Or perhaps his mission is in the world of sifrei machshava, seforim of thought like the works of the Maharal and the Pachad Yitzchak.
But Rav Moshe’s lesson goes even deeper than this. The Gemara in the first perek of Bava Basra tells us about when Reb Yosef was in a coma. When he came out of the coma, his father, the great R’Yehoshua ben Levi, asked him what he saw. Reb Yosef told him, “I saw a vision of the next world where “Elyonim l’maalah v’tachtonim l’matah – Those who were above here were below there, and those who were low here were great over there.” R’ Yehoshua ben Levi told him that he had seen a clear vision. Rashi explains this simply: that the rich miser who lived it up in this world was lowly in the next world, while the devout beggar who struggled here was lofty in the next world.
Reb Moshe asks, “Why would we need someone coming out of a coma to teach us something so obvious?” He explains instead that sometimes the Rosh Yeshiva who is viewed with greatness in this world might be of a lower stature in the next world, while the devoted plumber who is not so highly regarded in our world might be a “top tomato” in the next world. This is because, Reb Moshe explains, it all depends on how many rungs we climb from the raw talent that we were given toward our true potential. The Rosh Yeshiva who was given much raw potential might have only climbed three rungs while the plumber who was granted much less innate potential might have climbed seven rungs.
This is what we say in our Rosh Hashana liturgy, “Maasei ish u’f’kudoso – Every man and his station in life.” It is possible that one person’s potential lies in how he made a success story out of a difficult marriage, or another’s person’s potential might be to be a caregiver for elderly parents. While Moshe was the great man of Torah, Aharon was the champion of peace. Their missions were completely different. This also underscores the importance of the role of a parent, of whom it says, “Chanoch l’naar al pi darko – Educate one’s child according to his way,” that already at a young age the effective parent is helping his child to identify what are his specific potentials.
This is also very important information for a wife. Sometimes she might feel down that her husband is not the celebrated lamdan that her friend’s spouse is. She must know that her husband who is honest at his job and makes a kiddush Hashem by his dealings with customers and his employer is fulfilling his tafkid, and is equal in the Eyes of Hashem to the greatest masmid in the Beis Medrash.
As the famous chassidishe saying goes: “Reb Zusha said, Hashem is not going to ask me why I wasn’t like Moshe Rabbeinu. Hashem will ask me why I didn’t live up to being the best Reb Zusha that I can be.”
May Hashem bless us that we should all recognize our potential and live up to it, and in that merit, we should be granted long life, good health, and everything wonderful.
Transcribed and edited by Shelley Zeitlin.
