We wanted to talk a bit this week about the way Moses and his brother Aaron were so closely knit together. They walked as if they were one, as the body of believers should be walking together today. It would have been easy for either one of these great men to become jealous of the other one. After all, being the High Priest was the top of the charts in the spiritual world for the people of Israel. It is said of many Rabbi’s that the love that connected these two brothers was so strong, that when the oil was on Aaron’s head, it was like Moses had been anointed also. One Rabbi I read stated that Moses actually “felt” the oil on his beard, so great was the unity between them. It certainly was no less different in Aaron’s feelings toward Moses either. YHVH did make Moses the great leader of the people when Aaron was really the “older” brother. This never bothered Aaron in the least, instead, Aaron came to greet him with open arms. In fact, the oil brought to Moses was considered to have been brought directly to Aaron, because Moses viewed Aaron’s anointment as his own. Both were very humble men. Aaron did not need the Priestly garments to show everyone how great he was. He was Holy and distinct in his own right, but the garments “were for the people” to see his position.

The Priestly garments were for glory and splendor. The glory representing YHVH and the splendor representing Israel. The garments were also worn for another reason. They were to symbolize YHVH’S forgiveness of certain sins. For instance, the gold crown was symbolizing the forgiveness of the people’s sin of brazenness. The Hebrew term for boldness is “ azus meitzach”, which literally translated means, “a bold brow”. This trait can be sumed up in one word, “chutzpah.” In other terms we might say it’s insolence or audacity. There are times when a little “chutzpah” is a good thing, but like everything else, too much is not good. It can become destructive to one’s character. An example of a good time to have used this trait was during the Holocaust, to keep the spiritual fires from going out in the Hebrew people. A bad time may be when you think you’ll just give someone a piece of your mind. If you’re like me, you’d better save that piece, because you need all you can get. There is not a place in the body for jealousy or insolence. We all need to learn to work together as one, even as Moses and Aaron worked and walked as one. We need that Moses-Aaron “bonding.”