MARCH 17 • 2022 | 43
SPIRIT
It Is All Relative
W
hat do Brian
Doyle-Murray,
Frank Stallone
and Joey Travolta have in
common? You’re correct if
you answered that they are
talented show busi-
ness 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 broth-
ers, 768, far outdistancing
the three Dimaggio broth-
ers.
Turning from baseball to
Torah, the name Aaron is
still associated with a less
famous brother. Moses’
older brother, Aaron, has
remarkable accomplish-
ments
— 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 — indi-
cating 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
god to worship, and
Aaron seems to com-
ply.
While seemingly
inappropriate behavior
for a leader of Israel,
it is also noteworthy
that Aaron is not pun-
ished 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.
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi Elliot
Pachter
Parshat Tzav:
Leviticus
6:1-8:36;
Jeremiah
7:21-8:3;
9:22-23.
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