Torah Portion

SPIRIT

TORAH PORTION

It Is All Relative

What do Brian Doyle-Murray, Frank Stallone and Joey Travolta have in common? You’re correct if you answered that they are talented show business personalities who have a more famous brother.

Then there’s Tommie Aaron. He was a quite decent major league baseball player in the 1960s and early 1970s. Though Tommie Aaron didn’t merit induction into the Hall of Fame, his achievements would normally merit the praise and pride of one’s hometown and family. But Tommie Aaron is the brother of Hank Aaron. Tommie does share the record, with Hank, of most career home runs by brothers, 768, far outdistancing the three Dimaggio brothers.

Turning from baseball to Torah, the name Aaron is still associated with a less famous brother. Moses’ older brother, Aaron, has remarkable accomplishments — as Judaism’s first high priest, a prophet and the one who accompanied Moses when speaking before Pharaoh.

Yet, Aaron always lived in the shadow of his more famous brother.

Parashat Tzav begins with God telling Moses to command Aaron regarding the priestly rituals — indicating that Aaron plays an important role. However, in the opening of Leviticus, when calling out to Moses, God specifically does not mention Aaron. Rashi tells us that this omission is intentional and that Aaron’s relationship with God is less than that of Moses. One explanation for Aaron’s “second tier” status is due to his role in the Golden Calf story. While Moses is on Mount Sinai, receiving the Torah, the Israelites demand that Aaron help them build a false

Rabbi Elliot Pachter god to worship, and Aaron seems to comParshat Tzav: Leviticus 6:1-8:36; Jeremiah 7:21-8:3; 9:22-23. ply. While seemingly inappropriate behavior for a leader of Israel, it is also noteworthy that Aaron is not punished for his dubious act. In fact, the great sage Hillel describes Aaron as a lover and pursuer of peace. In other words, our rabbis see Aaron’s building the Golden Calf as a means of keeping peace in the Israelite community until Moses returns. Though not as strong or effective a leader as his younger brother, Aaron, nonetheless, plays a vital role in Jewish history. In the battle with Amalek. Aaron was chosen to be one of the two people to hold Moses’ arms in the air, thereby ensuring an Israelite victory. Is Aaron as great as his brother Moses? Certainly not. But is Aaron a leader, a positive contributor to Jewish history and, in many ways, a more achievable role model for all of whom will never be like Moses? Yes, indeed. Rabbi Elliot Pachter is the rabbinic adviser at the Frankel Jewish Academy and rabbi emeritus at Congregation B’nai Moshe, both in West Bloomfield.

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