Aharon's Harsh Words: Remembering Our Father in Heaven

1“Hashem spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, and commanded them regarding Bnei Yisrael and regarding Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to take Bnei Yisrael out of the land of Egypt.”¹ Several points in this verse need a closer look. First, everything the Holy One, blessed be He, had said to Moshe Rabbeinu until now was also meant to take Bnei Yisrael out of the land of Egypt. Why, then, does the verse single out this speech as being for that purpose? Second, we already know that Pharaoh was king of Egypt, so why does the verse say it again here? Third, why is Aharon named in this statement too, when we do not find him named in the other things said to Moshe in Egypt?

2aLet us begin with the words of my holy father and teacher, zt"l, on Rashi's comment at the beginning of the parshah: “‘I appeared’: to the Avos.”² The holy sefarim and the commentators, the Mizrachi, the Gur Aryeh, the Degel Machaneh Efraim and the Ohev Yisrael, ask what Rashi means by this. My holy father explained it through the words of the Be'er Mayim Chaim, by R' Chaim of Chernowitz, on the verse “We have become orphans, and there is no father.”³ The Be'er Mayim Chaim asks why the verse says the same thing twice. He explains that even while we are in exile and suffer many troubles, so that “we have become orphans,” what pains us most is that “there is no father.” We are like children exiled from the table of our Father the King.⁴ We lack closeness to our Father in Heaven, and we are so far from Him now. But by feeling the pain of this lack, we will be privileged to draw close to Him, as the verse says, “From afar Hashem appeared to me.”⁵ When we remember how far we are from our Father, our King, we will naturally want to draw close to Him. And then “Hashem appeared to me”: we reach deveikus, cleaving to the Creator.

2bThis is what Yaakov Avinu meant when he said, “Gather and listen, sons of Yaakov, and listen to Yisrael your father.”⁶ He taught the tribes of Israel, and the generations to come, that they must always remember who “your father” is. With this we can explain Rashi's words, “‘I appeared’: to the Avos.” Rashi means that every person must know, and want, to return to the Avos, to the God of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, and to cleave to Him. Those are his holy words.

3aWe can explain the matter as follows. As is well known, Bnei Yisrael in Egypt were sunk in the forty-nine gates of impurity, its lowest depths, and they worshipped idols.⁷ So they needed a great man to raise them up from the lowliness of the exile in Egypt. He would teach them understanding, knowledge and insight, so that they would know Hashem, and prepare them to come out of the depths of the kelipos, the husks of impurity, that surrounded their souls on every side. This was the task of Aharon HaKohen. For the Kohen's role is to prepare the people and teach them knowledge, as the verse says, “For the lips of the Kohen guard knowledge, and they seek Torah from his mouth.”⁸ In this way the Kohen makes them fit and worthy of blessing, as the verse says, “They shall place My Name upon Bnei Yisrael, and I will bless them.”⁹

3bWe find Aharon HaKohen acting in just this way, as the early Midrash Tanna Devei Eliyahu relates: “Aharon knew of himself … He would tie an iron chain around his waist and go around to all the doorways of Israel. Whoever did not know how to recite Krias Shema, and whoever did not know how to pray, he would teach to recite Krias Shema and to pray. And whoever did not know how to enter into the heart of the Torah, he would teach.” So far its words.¹⁰ He also taught them the ways of peace and increased peace between people, for he “loved peace and pursued peace.” Through all this Aharon drew them close and brought them into the way of the Torah, and receiving the Torah was the purpose for which they had to leave Egypt. As we learned in Avos: “Be among the disciples of Aharon … loving people and drawing them close to the Torah.”¹¹

4My holy ancestor wrote along the same lines in his holy sefer Toldos Adam.¹² He pointed out that the words “king of Egypt,” melech Mitzrayim, have the same numerical value as “windpipe and gullet,” kaneh veshet.¹³ This hints that Aharon set Bnei Yisrael right and taught them knowledge in the service of the windpipe, which is words of Torah and prayer, and in the service of the gullet, which is the way one eats. See his words there. This answers our second question: why the verse mentions here that Pharaoh was “king of Egypt.”

5That is why this verse says that Hashem spoke to Moshe and to Aharon with the word vayedabber, from dibbur, the harsh word for speech.¹⁴ This verse is not about what was to be said to the king of Egypt, but about what was to be said to Bnei Yisrael. Here Moshe and Aharon were commanded to prepare the souls of Israel and take them out of the kelipah and impurity of Egypt, so that they would be ready to leave the land of Egypt. This answers our first question. They had to speak harshly to Bnei Yisrael, so that “each man cast away the detestable things of his eyes,”¹⁵ and so the harsh word dibbur is used here. That is also why Aharon HaKohen is named in this verse. He too was charged with drawing Bnei Yisrael close to their Father in Heaven, as we explained, and with preparing them to leave Egypt. The main task here was to remind Bnei Yisrael not to forget, Heaven forbid, that they have a Father in Heaven. For just before this the verse says, “But they did not listen to Moshe, because of shortness of spirit and hard labor.”¹⁶ So now Moshe and Aharon were commanded to awaken Bnei Yisrael and draw them close to their Father in Heaven. It is as we cited from my holy father: when they see how far away they are, precisely then “Hashem appeared to me.”

6May Hashem grant us too that we know how far away we are, and so be privileged to leave the exile through the righteous redeemer. Amen, may it be His will.