Breishit is filled with fraternal strife,until nearly its end, but Shemot has the exemplary brotherly relationsip of Aaron and Moshe.
We read in our Parasha, of Moshe Rabbeinu’s repeated refusals to accept Hashem’s charge, that he lead Bnei Israel out of their bondage in Egypt, concluding with his words:(4:13)’Please, my Lord, send through whomever You will send!’.
Answers Hashem(4:14):’Is there not Aaron your brother, the Levite? I know that he will surely speak; moreover, behold, he is going out to meet you and when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart.’
Rashi comments:’He will rejoice in his heart’: not as you thought, that he will resent your attaining a high position. Because of this, Aaron merited אורים ותומים: the ornament of the breastplate, which is placed over the heart.’
The parshanim expound:Hashem said this to Moshe, to put his mind at rest, that Aaron might resent that Moshe, and not he, was chosen to take Bnei Israel out of Egypt.
‘The Torah comes to teach that the opposite was the case, that Aaron would rejoice a true and real joy, in the greatness that was bestowed on his brother; that despite he, Aaron, being older than Moshe, and also that Hashem revealed Himself to him in Egypt, prior to revealing Himself to Moshe, in the burning bush.
‘In the natural order of things, Aaron had good reason to be envious of Moshe, nevertheless, said Hashem to Moshe, that this was not the case, but rather, that Aaron ‘will rejoice in his heart’, that you were chosen.to meet you’, ‘not, like you think that he might resent that you have been given greatness’.
The master of language, Haktav veHakabala, learns this from the words ‘moreover..he is going out to meet you’:’Not like you think, that he might resent your greatness, the word ‘moreover’ meaning : אדרבה: but rather, denoting the opposite of this, as we find, concerning the ass of Balaam, where the Torah writes (Balak 22:33)’וגם אותכה הרגתי: moreover, I would have killed you.’’.
Rav David Pardo, in ‘Maskil leDavid’, on our Rashi, adds:’’not as you thought…as, if not so, but merely referred to his joy in seeing you, like the simcha of one who has not seen his brother for a long time, why write:’moreover..he is going out to see you..’? But, rather, this is what was said:’He saw your greatness, and therefore rejoiced in his heart’.’
Our Sages, in their golden language, encapsulate this message, in short words;( Tanchuma ):’’when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart’: it does not say ‘and he will rejoice in his words’, but ‘he will rejoice in his heart.’
Might we add, that this ‘testimony from Above’, was necessary, because, as our Sages teach:(Pes’ 54:) ‘Seven things are hidden from man..(including that) man does not know what is in the heart of another man, concerning him.’
Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz brings the words of our Sages, that ‘he rejoiced in his heart, more than in his mouth’, on which the Zeit Ra’anan comments:’The joy in his heart, was more than words can express’, so great was it, that it over-filled his heart, so that no words could express it.
‘A heart that was so large, that it was able to contain the fullest quantity of joy, in the good fortune of others, was the perfect place for the urim and tumim, because only such a heart could ‘feel’ the heart of every-one of the people, and the collective heart of all of them; and to correctly interpret the answer given by the urim and tumim,as necessary to feel and empathize with the questioner, and with his query.’
We brought, in the name of Rashi, the commensurate reward that Aaron received from Above, for his rejoicing in the greatness of his younger brother, Moshe, which is a Gemara:(Shabbat 139.): ‘Rabbi Mallai said: as a reward for ‘when he sees you, he will rejoice in his heart’, זכה לחשן משפט: he merited that the breastplate of judgement rest on his heart.’
The Be’er Ba’Sadeh, on our Rashi, comments:’We are compelled to say ‘merited the breastplate..placed over the heart’, because, if not so, why the words ‘on his heart’, as it only needed to say:’he will see you and rejoice, and, from this, we would know that he would rejoice ‘in his heart’, as there is no simcha other than in the heart.
‘Therefore he mentioned the words ‘in his heart’, to teach us that for this Aaron was rewarded with the breastplate of judgment worn on his heart, measure-for-measure.’
The Abarbanel comments that this reward requires explanation:’Why was it specifically considered to be the reward for Aaron not envying Moshe’s greatness, more than for all the other good attributes of Aaron - and in what way is the breastplate related to this reward? ‘Was the breastplate not one of the eight garments of the Kohen Gadol - and, if so, Aaron wore it as a result of being Kohen Gadol, not as a reward for not envying Moshe’s choice!
‘Rabbeinu Nissim - the Ra’n - to answer this question, explains that all of the ways of Hashem are in the nature of measure-for-measure, as this brings people to believe in hashgacha pratit. We know that, in itself, the breastplate did not foretell the future - what might happen - but only did so, because of the urim and tumim it bore; we also know that the urim and tumim were not amongst the eight priestly garments, and are therefore not mentioned in Parashat Pikudei, which details their making - and were not made by the artisans, but Moshe Rabbeinu himself was commanded as to their making, as we read in Parashat Tetzave.
‘We therefore need to ask: Why was Aaron rewarded, to bear the urim and tumin, since the prophet for his avocation, has to be able to foretell future events, and not to be involved in the service of the Mikdash, so too, the Kohen, his function is to serve in the Mikdash, but not to foretell the future.
‘This is why our Sages said that Aaron was so rewarded for ‘seeing you..and rejoicing in his heart’, meaning: that he did not envy that Moshe Rabbeinu, his younger brother, and who received the gift of prophecy later than he - he already having earlier prophesied in Egypt - therefore, his reward was the ability to foretell the future, by the urim and tumim that he was to wear.’
The Torah Temima also expounds that the reward was measure-for-measure:’We can understand the reason for this reward for his rejoicing, because his great merit was that he did not envy Moshe’s greatness, that Hashem said that (4:16):’You’ Moshe ‘תהיה לו לאלהים::shall be his leader’, despite Moshe being younger than him; and, for this, he was rewarded to wear the breastplate of judgement, on which were the urim and tumim, and with the aid of which, judgement was rendered; and the judge is called, in several places in the Torah, by this title: אלהים - thus, the reward is measure-for-measure.’
The Maharal, on our Gemara, expounds:’Had there been any trace of envy or resentment in the heart of Aaron, on his younger brother’s greatness, there could not have been joy in his heart; therefore, the fact that he ‘rejoiced in his heart’, it proved the completeness of his heart, and therefore he merited bearing the breastplate of judgement, because it is borne on the heart, and requires a heart clean of any envy, which would render it unfit to bear the breastplate which bore the holy names.
‘More so, as they were called אורים ותומים, alluding to being תמימים: unblemished and complete, which excluded any feeling of envy; had Aaron, in his heart, had any trace of envy, he would have been unworthy to bear the breastplate of judgement, on which were the urim and tumim, but he rejoiced in the greatness of his brother, and had a heart worthy for this.’
Rav Chaim Friedlander adds:’’The Torah does not say ‘and he rejoices in his mouth’, or simply: ‘he rejoices’, but ‘he rejoices in his heart’. The joy of Aaron was not an external, superficial joy, but an internal joy, with his whole heart and being; this is why our Sages expound: The heart that rejoiced in the greatness of his brother, will come and bear the urim and tumim, which shall be on the heart of Aaron, and moreover, he is coming towards you…’
‘Whereupon, Hashem revealed himself to Aaron, and said to him (4:27):’’The Lord told Aaron:’Go towards Moshe, to the desert’. So he went and met him the mount of G-d, and he kissed him.’
‘When our Sages say, that ‘the heart that rejoiced in the greatness of his brother, it should bear the urim and tumim’, that is not just a coincidental link. The urim and tumim had to be worn specifically on the heart of Aaron, and not his chest; the urim and tumim have a connection with the heart, as by them internal matters were revealed to the Kohen, as Hashem chose to reveal.
‘The interpretation of the letters on the urim and tumim was through ruach hakodesh, not through logical deduction - a function of the heart, which could only be performed if there was no personal interest of the Kohen. ‘Therefore, measure-for-measure, the heart of Aaron which rejoiced in the greatness of his brother, and was completely free of any thought of ‘self’ or his own personal honor, merited also to wear the urim and tumim on his heart.’
Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl opens his commentary, by noting that, “a parchment, with the special name of Hashem written on it, was placed in the breastplate of judgement, which is why it was called ‘urim and tumim’, because through it Bnei Israel received complete and enlightening answers, to questions that were addressed to Hashem, these answers being divined by the Kohen Hagadol, from the letters of the urim and tumim, which lit in respect of the question asked.
‘These letters were the names of the holy tribes, which were engraved on the twelve stones on the breastplate, which the Kohen would translate into words, by the ruach hakodesh which Hashem imbued him with, for this purpose.
‘This is the way in which the breastplate operated, and its function.
‘As to its inner-spiritual aspect, our Sages’ as we have brought, ‘said that Aaron merited to wear the breastplate against his heart, as a reward for ‘he is going out to see you..and he will rejoice in his heart’, alluding to his rejoicing at the greatness which Moshe was given.
‘Here we ask: what was the special quality that Aaron revealed in this, going out joyfully to greet his brother, after decades of separation? Further, not ‘just’ a brother, but one who has been appointed to redeem his people from the terrible enslavement, in Egypt.
‘Undoubtedly, in addition to his own joy at his own impending redemption, he was full of pride that the redeemer was his brother - is there a greater, natural joy, than that.
‘But this was, in fact, a very difficult test for Aaron, that we can understand from its context. We read that for seven days, Moshe declined to accept Hashem’s charge, to be the redeemer, finally saying:’Send the one that you regularly send, who is Aaron’.
‘In all those the long years that Moshe had stayed out of Egypt, to escape the wrath of Pharoah, Aaron was the leader of the people; and Moshe is very fearful that Aaron will be hurt, if Moshe was to accept that his younger brother is appointed ahead of him.
‘How could any mortal not have a twinge of resentment, in these circumstances: how can it be - Aaron must naturally wonder - that, after I suffered and led the people during their long and terrible ordeal, and encouraged them that the redemption would come, when it does come, ‘out of no-where’, my younger, absentee brother, is given the greatness?!
‘From our Parasha, we learn that Aaron’s concerns were not unfounded: when Moshe ‘libels’ Bnei Israel, saying that they would not believe that Hashem appeared to him, and charged him, Moshe was punished with leprosy; however, for his suspicions regarding Aaron, he was not punished, though the Torah testifies that his concerns were unfounded.
‘Only the Creator, who knows what is in man’s heart, could testify to this, that Aaron’s heart was ‘supernatural’, that he truly rejoiced in the greatness bestowed on another, as if it was his personal simcha - in his heart, there was no difference whatsoever if another, or himself, was appointed.
‘There are two ‘categories’ of the heart: there is the person who has no desire for honor, and is content with his own domain. To be worthy to bear the breastplate of judgement, this attitude is insufficient. Aaron goes well beyond this: not only does he not seek honor for himself, but he rejoices in the simcha of another - a very rare quality, as it is far easier to share someone’s misfortune, than to truly rejoice in another’s simcha, as this requires a supreme oneness, two hearts acting as one.
‘We also learn, in his role in the episode of the golden calf, that Aaron totally self-negated himself, for the good of the people. So much so, that he decided to take the blame on himself, in acceding to the request of the transgressors, to take part in creating the calf, to save the people from a terrible fate, as, should he refuse, and be killed by them - as happened to Hur -it would be calamitous to Israel; therefore, as the Midrash says, he decided:’Better the fault should be ascribed to me, and not to Israel’.
This was Aaron, and this is why he merited to bear the breastplate of judgement on his heart, with the urim and tumim.
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