Julius Moses, Aaron and Miriam
By Julius
Moses, Aaron and Miriam
Moses, Aaron and Miriam were the leaders of the Children of Israel at a pivotal time in our history: the Exodus from Egypt and the forty years of wandering in the desert before the people entered the Promised Land.
An entire book could be written on the stories of
these three people. Indeed, four books have already been written: the biblical
books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, which tell the story of
their life and times. This page can only begin to scratch the surface.
The history below is derived from written Torah,
Talmud, Midrash and other sources. Where information comes directly from the
Bible, I have provided citations.
As with the stories of the patriarchs, modern
scholars question the historical accuracy of this information; however,
scholars also claimed that the Torah could not have been written at that time
because alphabetic writing did not exist … and then archaeologists dug up 4000
year old samples of alphabetic writing.
Moses
Moses was the greatest prophet, leader and teacher
that Judaism has ever known. In fact, one of Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith is
the belief that Moses' prophecies are true, and that he was the greatest of the
prophets. He is called "Moshe Rabbeinu," that is, Moses, Our
Teacher/Rabbi. Interestingly, the numerical value of "Moshe Rabbeinu"
is 613: the number of mitzvot that Moses taught the Children of Israel! He is
described as the only person who ever knew G-d face-to-face (Deut. 34:10) and
mouth-to-mouth (Num. 12:8), which means that G-d spoke to Moses directly, in
plain language, not through visions and dreams, as G-d communicated with other
prophets.
Moses was born on 7 Adar in the year 2368 from
Creation (circa 1400 BCE), the son of Amram, a member of the tribe of Levi, and
Yocheved, Levi's daughter (Ex. 6:16-20). Unlike the heroes of many other
ancient cultures, Moses did not have a miraculous birth. Amram married
Yocheved, and she conceived, and she gave birth (Ex. 2:1-2). The only unusual
thing about his birth is Yocheved's advanced age: Yocheved was born while Jacob
and his family were entering Egypt, so she was 130 when Moses was born. His
father named him Chaver, and his grandfather called him Avigdor, but he is
known to history as Moses, a name given to him by Pharaoh's daughter.
The name "Moses" comes from a root
meaning "take out," because Moses was taken out of the river (Ex.
2:10). Some modern scholars point out that the root M-S-S in Egyptian means
"son of" as in the name Ramases (son of Ra), but it is worth noting
that Moses' name in Hebrew is M-Sh-H, not M-S-S. According to one Jewish
source, Pharaoh's daughter actually named him Minios, which means "drawn
out" in Egyptian, and the name Moshe (Moses) was a Hebrew translation of
that name, just as a Russian immigrant named Ivan might change his name to the
English equivalent, John.
Moses was born in a very difficult time: Pharaoh
had ordered that all male children born to the Hebrew slaves should be drowned
in the river (Ex. 1:22). Yocheved hid Moses for three months, and when she
could no longer hide him, she put him in a little ark and placed it on the
river where Pharaoh's daughter bathed (Ex. 2:2-3). Pharaoh's daughter found the
child and had compassion on him (Ex. 2:6). At the suggestion of Moses' sister
Miriam, Pharaoh's daughter hired Yocheved to nurse Moses until he was weaned
(Ex. 2:7-10). Yocheved instilled in Moses a knowledge of his heritage and a
love of his people that could not be erased by the 40 years he spent in the
antisemitic court of Pharaoh.
Little is known about Moses' youth. The biblical
narrative skips from his adoption by Pharaoh's daughter to his killing of an
Egyptian taskmaster some 40 years later. One traditional story tells that when
he was a child, sitting on Pharaoh's knee, Moses took the crown off of
Pharaoh's head and put it on. The court magicians took this as a bad sign and
demanded that he be tested: they put a brazier full of gold and a brazier full
of hot coals before him to see which he would take. If Moses took the gold, he
would have to be killed. An angel guided Moses' hand to the coal, and he put it
into his mouth, leaving him with a life-long speech impediment (Ex. 4:10).
Although Moses was raised by Egyptians, his
compassion for his people was so great that he could not bear to see them
beaten by Pharaoh's taskmasters. One day, when Moses was about 40 years old, he
saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, and he was so outraged that he struck
and killed the Egyptian (Ex. 2:11-12). But when both his fellow Hebrews and the
Pharaoh condemned him for this action, Moses was forced to flee from Egypt (Ex.
2:14-15).
He fled to Midian, where he met and married
Zipporah, the daughter of a Midianite priest (Ex. 2:16-21). They had a son,
Gershom (Ex. 2:22). Moses spent 40 years in Midian tending his father-in-law's
sheep. A midrash tells that Moses was chosen to lead the Children of Israel
because of his kindness to animals. When he was bringing the sheep to a river
for water, one lamb did not come. Moses went to the little lamb and carried it
to the water so it could drink. Like G-d, Moses cared about each individual in
the group, and not just about the group as a whole. This showed that he was a
worthy shepherd for G-d's flock.
I'm sure everyone knows what happened next - if
you haven't read the book, then you've certainly seen the movie. G-d appeared
to Moses and chose him to lead the people out of Egyptian slavery and to the
Promised Land (Ex. Chs. 3-4). With the help of his brother Aaron, Moses spoke
to Pharaoh and triggered the plagues against Egypt (Ex. Chs. 4-12). He then led
the people out of Egypt and across the sea to freedom, and brought them to
Mount Sinai, where G-d gave the people the Torah and the people accepted it
(Ex. Chs. 12-24).
G-d revealed the entire Torah to Moses. The entire
Torah includes the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy) that Moses himself wrote as G-d instructed him. It
also includes all of the remaining prophecies and history that would later be
written down in the remaining books of scripture, and the entire Oral Torah,
the oral tradition for interpreting the Torah, that would later be written down
in the Talmud. Moses spent the rest of his life writing the first five books,
essentially taking dictation from G-d.
After Moses received instruction from G-d about
the Law and how to interpret it, he came back down to the people and started
hearing cases and judging them for the people, but this quickly became too much
for one man. Upon the advice of his father-in-law, Yitro, Moses instituted a judicial
system (Ex. 18:13-26).
Moses was not perfect. Like any man, he had his
flaws and his moments of weakness, and the Bible faithfully records these
shortcomings. In fact, Moses was not permitted to enter the Promised Land
because of a transgression (Deut. 32:48-52). Moses was told to speak to a rock
to get water from it, but instead he struck the rock repeatedly with a rod,
showing improper anger and a lack of faith (Num. 20:7-13).
Moses died in the year 2488, just before the
people crossed over into the Promised Land (Deut. 32:51). He completed writing
the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and
Deuteronomy) before he died. There is some dispute as to who physically wrote
the last few verses of Deuteronomy: according to some, Moses wrote these last
few verses from a vision of the future, but according to others, the last few
verses were added by Joshua after Moses' death. In any case, these verses, like
everything else in the Torah, were written by G-d, and the actual identity of
the transcriber is not important.
Moses' position as leader of Israel was not
hereditary. His son, Gershom, did not inherit the leadership of Israel. Moses'
chosen successor was Joshua, son of Nun (Deut. 34:9).
Moses was 120 years old at the time that he died
(Deut. 34:7). That lifespan is considered to be ideal, and has become
proverbial: one way to wish a person well in Jewish tradition is to say,
"May you live to be 120!"
As important as Moses was to the Children of
Israel, it is always important to remember that Moses himself was not the
deliverer or redeemer of Israel. It was G-d who redeemed Israel, not Moses.
Moses was merely G-d's prophet, His spokesman. The traditional text of the
Pesach haggadah does not even mention Moses' name. In order to prevent people
from idolatrously worshipping Moses, his grave was left unmarked (Deut. 34:6).
Aaron
Aaron was Moses' older brother. He was born in
2365, three years before Moses, before the Pharaoh's edict requiring the death
of male Hebrew children. He was the ancestor of all koheins, the founder of the
priesthood, and the first Kohein Gadol (High Priest). Aaron and his descendants
tended the altar and offered sacrifices. Aaron's role, unlike Moses', was
inherited; his sons continued the priesthood after him (Num. 20:26).
Aaron served as Moses' spokesman. As discussed
above, Moses was not eloquent and had a speech impediment, so Aaron spoke for
him (Ex. 4:10-16). Contrary to popular belief, it was Aaron, not Moses, who
cast down the staff that became a snake before Pharaoh (Ex. 7:10-12). It was
Aaron, not Moses, who held out his staff to trigger the first three plagues
against Egypt (Ex. 7:19-20; Ex. 8:1-2 or 8:5-6; Ex. 8:12-13 or 8:16-17).
According to Jewish tradition, it was also Aaron who performed the signs for
the elders before they went to Pharaoh (Ex. 4:30).
Aaron's most notable personal quality is that he
was a peacemaker. His love of peace is proverbial; Rabbi Hillel said, "Be
disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and drawing
them near the Torah." According to tradition, when Aaron heard that two
people were arguing, he would go to each of them and tell them how much the
other regretted his actions, until the two people agreed to face each other as
friends.
In fact, Aaron loved peace so much that he
participated in the incident of the Golden Calf (Ex. 32), constructing the idol
in order to prevent dissension among the people. Aaron intended to buy time
until Moses returned from Mount Sinai (he was late, and the people were
worried), to discourage the people by asking them to give up their precious
jewelry in order to make the idol, and to teach them the error of their ways in
time (Ex. 32:22).
Aaron, like Moses, died in the desert shortly
before the people entered the Promised Land (Num. 20).
Miriam
Miriam was Aaron and Moses' older sister.
According to some sources, she was seven years older than Moses, but other
sources seem to indicate that she was older than that. Some sources indicate
that Miriam was Puah, one of the midwives who rescued Hebrew babies from
Pharaoh's edict against them (Ex. 1:15-19).
Miriam was a prophetess in her own right (Ex.
15:20), the first woman described that way in scripture (although Sarah is also
considered to be a prophetess, that word is not applied to her in scripture).
According to tradition, she prophesied before Moses' birth that her parents
would give birth to the person who would bring about their people's redemption.
Miriam waited among the bulrushes while Moses' ark
was in the river, watching over him to make sure he was all right (Ex. 2:4).
When the Pharaoh's daughter drew Moses out of the water, Miriam arranged for
their mother, Yocheved, to nurse Moses and raise him until he was weaned (Ex.
2:7-9).
Miriam led the women of Israel in a song and dance
of celebration after the Pharaoh's men were drowned in the sea (Ex. 15:20-21).
She is said to be the ancestress of other creative geniuses in Israel's
history: Bezalel, the architect of the mishkan (the portable sanctuary used in
the desert) (Ex. 31:1-3) and King David.
According to tradition, because of Miriam's
righteousness, a well followed the people through the desert throughout their
wanderings, and that well remained with them until the day of Miriam's death.
Like her brothers, Miriam was not perfect. She led
her brother Aaron to speak against Moses over a matter involving a Cushite
woman he had married (Zipporah, or possibly a second wife) (Num. 12:1). They
also objected to his leadership, noting that he had no monopoly on Divine Communication
(Num 12:2). For this, Miriam was punished with tzaaras (an affliction generally
translated as leprosy) (Num. 12:10). However, Aaron pled on her behalf, and she
was cured (Num. 12:11).
Like her brothers, Miriam died in the desert
before the people reached the Promised Land (Num. 20:1).
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Hashem is bringing and restoring Yehuda first….. [GENESIS 44:18] THEN JUDAH CAME NEAR UNTO HIM, AND SAID, OH MY LORD, LET THY SERVANT, I PRAY THEE, SPEAK A WORD IN MY LORD'S EARS, AND LET NOT THINE ANGER BURN AGAINST THY SERVANT: FOR THOU ART EVEN AS PHARAOH. Commentary: On the verse: “FOR THOU ART EVEN AS PHARAOH”: Rabbi Schneerson quotes the source saying that Judah meant to say that Joseph is as powerful as Pharaoh and that Judah acknowledges his authority. Judah acknowledged the authority of Joseph. Because of this Judah merited the Promise in Ezekiel 37, “MY SERVANT DAVID SHALL BE THEIR PRINCE FOR EVER”. The Rabbi says that in order for Judah to bring on the Messiah, to help the Messiah come, and realize the promise given to his seed (“MY SERVANT DAVID SHALL BE THEIR PRINCE FOR EVER) Judah must first do as the Patriarch Judah did when he CAME NEAR UNTO Joseph and he acknowledged the authority of Joseph and initially was influenced from Joseph.' | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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