The
Tosefta at the end of Masekhet Keritot asks:
Why does Aaron precede Moshe in this
verse, whereas Moshe usually precedes Aaron? The Tosefta answers that Moshe and Aaron
are equal.
This
statement is puzzling.
- Isn’t Moshe clearly superior to Aaron in a number
of areas?
The Torah explicitly says that Moshe
was the greatest prophet that ever lived. It also says that he was more humble
than any other man.
On what grounds can the Tosefta claim
Aaron's equality?
- A Tosefta in Megilla (3:13) refers to Moshe as
greater and to Aaron as secondary:
“Just as the lesser person acts as
the interpreter for the greater one – as it
says, ‘Aaron your brother will act as your
interpreter’ – so also the reader of the Aramaic
translation (this was common practice in the
times of the Talmud and is still done in Yemenite
congregations) should not be of greater stature
than the one who reads the Torah scroll itself.”
- The Mishnah in Keritot (6:9) lists a number of
pairs (father and mother, sheep and goats,
pigeons and doves) where both items are equal.
Why are Aaron and Moshe not listed?
The
last question is less severe. The Mishnah might
only list comparisons with halakhic ramifications,
and the Moshe-Aaron comparison has none. However, questions 1 and 2 still stand;
in a number of sources Moshe is clearly superior.
Apparently
our Tosefta in Keritot is making a much more
limited statement. In general, Moshe is superior to Aaron. However, the verse here refers to Aaron
and Moshe’s role in the Exodus, where each one
played an equally important role in the mission.
Moshe was much more centrally involved
in actually taking the Jews out of Egypt, as
will be evident from subsequent parshiot, and
Aaron's role was secondary.
Aaron, though, was the main spokesman
in interactions with Pharoah, where Moshe was
secondary.
Yet
the Torah, one verse after another, switches
the order of their names.
When it speaks about the actual Exodus
– “to whom G-d told, ‘Take the Jewish people,
all of their hosts, out of Egypt” – where Moshe
was central, it lists Aaron first – “Aaron and
Moshe.” (Shemot
6:26) Then, in the next verse when it
talks of speaking to Pharaoh – “They are the
ones who speak to Pharaoh the king of Egypt
. . .” – it lists Moshe first – “this is Moshe
and Aaron.” (Shemot
6:27) This switching of the names actually
teaches a lesson. By listing Aaron first concerning
the area where Moshe was central and listing
Moshe first in the area where Aaron was
central, it makes it clear that both had an
equal role in the mission.