Aaron the Superhero
For some reason, children and athletes like to focus on Samson as superhero. Anyone who has learned Tanakh well knows that Samson has a variety of problematic attributes, especially his willingness to follow his wandering eyes. I would like to nominate Aaron the High Priest as a superhero instead. Look at this evocative pasuk [verse] in this week’s parsha, Korach.
וַיַּעֲמֹ֥ד בֵּֽין־הַמֵּתִ֖ים וּבֵ֣ין הַֽחַיִּ֑ים וַתֵּעָצַ֖ר הַמַּגֵּפָֽה׃ And he stood between the dead and the living until the plague was stopped.
The Baalei HaMidrash use this verse to imagine a confrontation between Aaron and the Angel of Death. As Rashi explains,
׳ AND HE STOOD BETWEEN THE DEAD [AND THE LIVING] — He (Aaron) seized the Angel of Death and stopped him despite himself. The angel said to him, “Let me be, so that I may carry out my commission!” He (Aaron) answered him, “Moses has bidden me prevent you”. The angel replied, “I am the messenger of the Omnipresent whilst you are but the messenger of Moses!” Aaron retorted, “Moses does not say anything out of his own mind, but only at the command of the Almighty. If you do not believe me, behold, the Holy One, blessed be He, and Moses are at the entrance of the appointed tent; come with me and ask them!” This is the meaning of what is stated (v. 15): And Aaron returned unto Moses (i.e. returned together with the Angel of Death) (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Tetzaveh 15 at end of תצוה). Another explanation is: Wherefore was the plague stayed by means of the incense? Because the Israelites were traducing and speaking ill of the incense, saying, “It is a deadly poison: through it Nadab and Abihu died; through it the two hundred and fifty men were burnt!” therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, said, You will see that it is also a means for restraining the plague, and it is only sin that brings death” (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 17:5:3 on Exodus 17:5).
So who is this man who is capable of placing his own body as a barrier between the living and the dead, and who can seize the Angel of Death himself?
I’d like to suggest that Aaron’s most impressive qualities were patience, calm and an ability to remain unruffled even under great provocation. While the Torah is filled with references like ויחר אף משה (and the anger of Moses was kindled) it never once says ויחר אף אהרון. This despite the fact that often Moses and Aaron were often lumped together and targeted together.
In this very narrative, Moses gets very upset after being misjudged and suspected of doing things he has not done.
וַיִּ֤חַר לְמֹשֶׁה֙ מְאֹ֔ד וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֔ה אַל־תֵּ֖פֶן אֶל־מִנְחָתָ֑ם לֹ֠א חֲמ֨וֹר אֶחָ֤ד מֵהֶם֙ נָשָׂ֔אתִי וְלֹ֥א הֲרֵעֹ֖תִי אֶת־אַחַ֥ד מֵהֶֽם׃ Moses was angry and he said to יהוה, “Pay no regard to their offering. I have not taken the donkey of any one of them, nor have I wronged any one of them.”
Later on, after it would seem that Korach’s rebellion has been thwarted, the people still turn on Moses and Aaron and declare
וַיִּלֹּ֜נוּ כׇּל־עֲדַ֤ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ מִֽמׇּחֳרָ֔ת עַל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְעַֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹ֑ר אַתֶּ֥ם הֲמִתֶּ֖ם אֶת־עַ֥ם יְהֹוָֽה׃ Next day the whole Israelite community railed against Moses and Aaron, saying, “You two have brought death upon יהוה’s people!”
Ramban brings down Ibn Ezra’s fascinating interpretation.
What proof is this that the tribe of Levi has been chosen, and that Aaron was chosen to be the High Priest? It is possible that by your prayer or by some [secret] wisdom which you possess you burnt those that offered the incense.”
So here once again both Moses and Aaron are being suspected of nefariously plotting the deaths of the 250 individuals who died offering up incense. The impression the nation has is that it’s not God who killed them; it’s Moses and Aaron with their secret powers.
This is obviously false. Despite being slandered and suspected, when God decides to take out his wrath on the faithless people, Moses quickly orders Aaron to take his fire pan and atone for them. Aaron quickly does exactly what he is told and makes expiation for the people.
What I find fascinating is that Aaron is willing to run into the fire for a nation that has maligned him, argued that he only has his position out of nepotism, tried to oust him and replace him, and believes that he has deliberately murdered 250 of them…without complaint. Unlike Moses, he doesn’t get angry at God and ask God to kill him (as occurred in a previous parsha). He doesn’t ask God to avenge him. He doesn’t get angry at the people. He just wants to save the Jews- despite their absolutely not deserving it.
Isn’t that superhuman?
Aaron reminds me of a tale regarding the sage Hillel in Shabbat 31a.
The Sages taught in a baraita: A person should always be patient like Hillel and not impatient like Shammai. The Gemara related: There was an incident involving two people who wagered with each other and said: Anyone who will go and aggravate Hillel to the point that he reprimands him, will take four-hundred zuz. One of them said: I will aggravate him. That day that he chose to bother Hillel was Shabbat eve, and Hillel was washing the hair on his head. He went and passed the entrance to Hillel’s house and in a demeaning manner said: Who here is Hillel, who here is Hillel? Hillel wrapped himself in a dignified garment and went out to greet him. He said to him: My son, what do you seek? He said to him: I have a question to ask. Hillel said to him: Ask, my son, ask. The man asked him: Why are the heads of Babylonians oval? He was alluding to and attempting to insult Hillel, who was Babylonian. He said to him: My son, you have asked a significant question. The reason is because they do not have clever midwives. They do not know how to shape the child’s head at birth.
That man went and waited one hour, a short while, returned to look for Hillel, and said: Who here is Hillel, who here is Hillel? Again, Hillel wrapped himself and went out to greet him. Hillel said to him: My son, what do you seek? The man said to him: I have a question to ask. He said to him: Ask, my son, ask. The man asked: Why are the eyes of the residents of Tadmor bleary [terutot]? Hillel said to him: My son, you have asked a significant question. The reason is because they live among the sands and the sand gets into their eyes.
Once again the man went, waited one hour, returned, and said: Who here is Hillel, who here is Hillel? Again, he, Hillel, wrapped himself and went out to greet him. He said to him: My son, what do you seek? He said to him: I have a question to ask. He said to him: Ask, my son, ask. The man asked: Why do Africans have wide feet? Hillel said to him: You have asked a significant question. The reason is because they live in marshlands and their feet widened to enable them to walk through those swampy areas.
That man said to him: I have many more questions to ask, but I am afraid lest you get angry. Hillel wrapped himself and sat before him, and he said to him: All of the questions that you have to ask, ask them. The man got angry and said to him: Are you Hillel whom they call the Nasi of Israel? He said to him: Yes. He said to him: If it is you, then may there not be many like you in Israel. Hillel said to him: My son, for what reason do you say this? The man said to him: Because I lost four hundred zuz because of you. Hillel said to him: Be vigilant of your spirit and avoid situations of this sort. Hillel is worthy of having you lose four hundred zuz and another four hundred zuz on his account, and Hillel will not get upset.
Regarding Aaron, I also think of the idea in Shabbat 88b
And the Sages taught: About those who are insulted and do not insult, who hear their shame and do not respond, who act out of love and are joyful in suffering, the verse says: “And they that love Him are as the sun going forth in its might” (Judges 5:31).
At the end of this week’s parsha, there is a test where each tribal head surrenders their staff to Moses, who places them in the Ohel Moed [Tent of Meeting]. The staff of the candidate God desires to serve as High Priest will sprout; the others will not.
We then get to a beautiful verse.
וַיְהִ֣י מִֽמׇּחֳרָ֗ת וַיָּבֹ֤א מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל הָעֵד֔וּת וְהִנֵּ֛ה פָּרַ֥ח מַטֵּֽה־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לְבֵ֣ית לֵוִ֑י וַיֹּ֤צֵֽא פֶ֙רַח֙ וַיָּ֣צֵֽץ צִ֔יץ וַיִּגְמֹ֖ל שְׁקֵדִֽים׃ The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Pact, and there the staff of Aaron of the house of Levi had sprouted: it had brought forth sprouts, produced blossoms, and borne almonds.
-Numbers 17:23
If you look at the Hebrew, the language has a double meaning- and the Chizkuni comments on it.
ויצץ ציץ, “it had budded;” a sign that priests would come forth. The High Priests descended from Aaron would wear this ציץ, headband, engraved with the word: kodesh, holy, on their forehand (compare Exodus 28,36).
I love the symbolism here. God could have chosen a different way to demonstrate Aaron’s leadership. For example, He could have made Aaron’s staff burst into flames and not be consumed.
But God did not do anything destructive with Aaron’s staff- in fact, He chose to do the exact opposite, and create something that budded and bloomed.
Why?
Because that’s who Aaron was. A person who did not get angry, did not get upset, was patient, and was willing to suffer insults without returning them in kind. He is understood to have been a man of peace, who wanted peace and harmony between others, a rodef shalom [someone who pursues peace]. (That desire for the welfare of others seems obvious from the pesukim- he is literally putting himself between the dead and the living, using his body as a shield, in order to protect people who are thankless and ungrateful.)
That kind of person is compared, in the Gemara, to the “sun going forth in its might.” And as we know, the sun makes things bloom and grow. So it is unsurprising that Aaron’s chosenness was demonstrated through something budding, blooming and quickening. Still waters run deep, and in Aaron’s case, they cause growth.
It’s a lesson for all of us. This gentle man was willing to accept blame (see Golden Calf), endure suffering (see his silence when his sons were killed), accept the unfair suspicions of the nation and a deliberate effort to throw him out of his role- all without retaliation, while consistently continuing to care for the welfare and wellbeing of the nation. This is a man who can sacrifice his own needs for the welfare of the people, who can recognize there is something much bigger than his ego. Looked at in this way, of course he was the High Priest. Who better to bring sacrifices than someone who has been able to sublimate his ego to such a degree? Who chooses not to take insults personally, not to get angry, and to always act out of love?
I’m not an Aaron, but I admire the personality traits of those who are. I think this model of manhood is one worth holding up. Not every hero wields a sword.
