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Prophet And Priest:
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ne of the most impressive
themes in the Book of Ex-
odus is the harmonious col-
laboration between the two
great leaders, Moses and Aaron.
At the beginning of the book,
as God orders Moses to go to
Pharaoh and demand the release
of the Israelites, he joins him with
his brother Aaron who is known
as one "who can speak well."
Moreover, God reassures Moses,
according to Rashi, that though
Aaron was the elder brother he
would never be envious of the
major rode assigned to Moses as
the liberator of the people. (Bashi
on Exodus 4:14).
Indeed, remarkable harmony
prevailed between the two broth-
ers during the next four decades.
They discharge their respective
duties one at a time, in rotation,
always with the full cooperation,
mutual respect and trust. There
were times when Moses' leader-
ship was needed; other times,
Aaron was the man of the hour.
For example, in our current se-
drah of Tezaveh, the name of
Moses is not mentioned even once
while Aaron's name appears over
30 times. It seems that in this
portion devoted to the holy vest-
ments and the consecration of the
priestly line, Moses withdraws.
This week's sedrah is addressed
to Aaron alone. And so there was
always a clear division of au-
thority, with Moses as prophet
and Aaron as kohen (priest).
Moses and Aaron were to be-
come the archetypes of two dis-
tinct religious personalities in
Jewish history: the navi, the
prophet; and the kohen, the
priest. the prophet, as a man of
din (justice), is an idealist. Like
Moses, chief of prophets, he holds
fast to his ideals and insists upon
the application of his teachings
without compromise. The priest,
as the bearer of rachamim (corn-
passion), is a realist. Like Aaron,
the first high priest, he under-
stands the conditions in which
his ideals are to be lived, he ap-
preciates the failings of the flesh
and the frailty of human nature.
The prophet is the demanding
critic, while the priest is the tol-
erant father.
The rabbinate is heir to both
traditions — of din and
ra-chamin. It has historically been
expected to combine both func-
tions: that of Moses and Aaron,
of navi and kohen. The rabbi, as
spiritual leader, was expected to
reproach his people and encour-
age them, criticize them and in-
spire them, judge them and love
them.
In recent times, rabbis have of-
ten allowed the prophetic di-
mension of their calling to be
muted. They teach, encourage,
inspire; but much less often do
they raise their voices in criticism
or righteous indignation. They
have in them much more of
Aaron than of Moses. Rachamim,
especially in modern America,
brings more results than din.
More is accomplished with friend-
ship than with reproach, in love
than in rebuke.
Shabbat Tezaveh:
Exodus 27:20-30:10
Ezekiel; 43:10-27.
Yet the rabbi is true neither to
himself nor to his tradition nor to
his God if he eliminators entire-
ly the prophetic and critical ele-
ment from his personality. The
great talmudic sage Abaya once
remarked that if a rabbi is ex-
tremely well liked by his congre-
gation it is not so much because
of his innate superiority as be-
cause he tactfully refrains from
every kind of criticism. (Ketubot
105b). And in Eastern European
Jewish communities, they used
to say, that a rabbi who never
criticizes his people is no rabbi;
on the other hand, a rabbi who
always criticizes his community
is no mensch.
But this is not merely a pro-
fessional dilemma for rabbis and
spiritual leaders. It is the Torah
and tradition which speaks to all
Jews with two distinct voices.
Some of us respond better to the
unconditional demands of the
prophet, others to the fatherly
plea of the priest. Both are au-
thentic voices of Judaism. Which
will be more effective depends
upon the individual constitutions
and distinct personalities of each
of us. But we would do well to lis-
ten to both with all out hearts
and with all our souls. CI
B'nai Moshe
LIFE Service
Congregation B'nai Moshe
will have a Shabbat service
and dinner on Friday, Feb. 24
at which time the LIFE
(Learning Is a Family
Experience) students will
particip ate
There is a charge for the
dinner and reservations are
required. Call the office for
more information, 788-0600.