{"id":61564,"date":"2019-02-12T16:22:24","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T21:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=61564"},"modified":"2019-02-12T16:23:12","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T21:23:12","slug":"cc-family-edition-brothers-a-drama-in-five-acts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/cc-family-edition-brothers-a-drama-in-five-acts\/","title":{"rendered":"C&C Family Edition: Brothers – A Drama in Five Acts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition<\/em>\u00a0is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Sacks for 5779.\u00a0 Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks\u2019 weekly\u00a0Covenant & Conversation<\/em>\u00a0essay, the\u00a0Family Edition<\/em>is aimed at connecting older children and teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the\u00a0parsha<\/em>. Each element of the\u00a0Family Edition<\/em>\u00a0is progressively more advanced;\u00a0The Core Idea\u00a0<\/em>is appropriate for all ages and the final element,\u00a0From The Thought of Rabbi Sacks<\/em>, is the most advanced section. Each section includes\u00a0Questions to Ponder<\/em>, aimed at encouraging discussion between family members in a way most appropriate to them. We have also included a section called\u00a0Around the Shabbat Table<\/em>\u00a0with a few further questions on the\u00a0parsha<\/em>\u00a0to think about. The final section is an\u00a0Educational Companion<\/em>\u00a0which includes suggested talking points in response to the questions found throughout the\u00a0Family Edition<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Download as PDF<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Covenant and Conversation on OU Torah<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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The Parsha in a Nutshell<\/strong><\/p>\n

In\u00a0Tetzaveh<\/em>, the role of the priests in the service of the Tabernacle takes centre stage. For once the limelight is no longer turned on Moses, but on his brother Aaron, the High Priest. We read about the tasks of the priesthood, their robes of office and their consecration, as well as further details about the Tabernacle itself.<\/p>\n

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The Core Idea<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tetzaveh\u00a0<\/em>is the only\u00a0parsha<\/em>\u00a0where the name of Moses is not mentioned at all since the first parsha of the book of Shemot (in which he is born). Here, just this once, Moses, our hero, the leader, the liberator, the lawgiver, is off-stage. Instead our focus is on his elder brother Aaron who, elsewhere, is often in the background. Indeed, virtually the whole\u00a0parsha\u00a0<\/em>is devoted to the role Moses did\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0occupy, \u2013 that of Priest in general, High Priest in particular.<\/p>\n

The question is, why is Moses removed from the passage entirely? The commentators offered various suggestions. One given in the Talmud refers to an event at the beginning of Moses\u2019 leadership: his encounter with God at the burning bush. Moses repeatedly expressed reluctance to undertake the mission of leading the people out of Egypt. Finally we read: But Moses said, \u201cO Lord, please send someone else to do it.\u201d Then the Lord\u2019s anger burned against Moses and He said, \u201cWhat about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.\u201d (Exodus 4:13-15)<\/p>\n

There is a debate in the Talmud about the lasting impact of that moment when Moses, as it were, refused one time too many. To turn down the challenge of leadership once or twice is a sign of humility. To continue to do so, especially when it is God issuing the challenge, may bring about God\u2019s anger, as happened here. According to Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in the Talmud, the lasting effect of Moses\u2019 reluctance to lead was that one vital leadership role \u2013 priesthood \u2013 was eventually granted to Aaron rather than to Moses himself. Rabbi Jacob ben Asher (1270-1340) suggests that Moses\u2019 name is missing from\u00a0Tetzaveh<\/em>, which deals with the priestly garments, \u201cto spare him distress\u201d upon seeing Aaron acquire the uniform of priesthood that might have been Moses\u2019 own.<\/p>\n

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  1. Do you think Moses\u2019 name was removed from this\u00a0parsha<\/em>\u00a0for his benefit, or for Aaron\u2019s benefit?<\/li>\n
  2. Who do you think is more likely to be jealous of his brother, Aaron or Moses?<\/li>\n
  3. Do you have siblings? Are you sometimes jealous of them or they of you? Why do you think this is?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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    It Once Happened…<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The day the Nazis liquidated the ghetto of Piotrk\u00f3w, the Rabbi of the Polish town, Reb Moshe Chaim Lau, grabbed his eldest son Tulek, looked him in the eye with burning passion and love, and said, \u201cYou are the eldest of the children. It is your responsibility to ensure they continue to follow in our ways.\u201d Tulek knew exactly what he meant. \u201cTake special care of Lulek,\u201d his father implored. Tulek believed his father had deep faith that Lulek, the youngest of the family, then aged just 7, would somehow survive and continue the legacy of the family. Finally he added, \u201cIf you come safely through this hell, you will know how to find your home. Not here, not on any alien hostile soil. Your home is Eretz Yisrael.\u201d This mission gave Tulek an amazing drive to survive. His father\u2019s words gave him extraordinary strength beyond what could possibly have been expected, himself just a boy aged 16.<\/p>\n

    As the Nazis forced the men and women into two separate lines, Lulek held on to his mother tightly. But she understood that he had a greater chance of survival if he was with the men, so she pushed him away from her into the arms of Tulek. Tulek emptied the bag he had with him, wrapped Lulek in a blanket, and placed him in the bag. Their parents were sent directly to Treblinka and perished on that day. Tulek was sent to Buchenwald with Lulek hidden on his back.<\/p>\n

    Time and time again Tulek gambled his life to save his younger brother, all the while fighting to survive himself. In the Czestochowa labour camp he bribed a German officer with a diamond hidden in his teeth to buy Lulek\u2019s life, and again in Buchenwald with his father\u2019s gold watch, hidden in his shoe. This was the last of his resources and after this he had to rely on his wits alone.<\/p>\n

    As the Allied forces closed in, the Jewish inmates were deported on a train, but Lulek, in hiding, remained in the camp. Tulek managed to jump from the train with two other survivors. \u201cWhere do we head now\u201d they ask. \u201cBack to Buchenwald,\u201d Tulek answered, \u201cI have to go back for the child!\u201d<\/p>\n

    On 11th<\/sup>\u00a0April 1945, Buchenwald was liberated by American troops. Against all odds, and against all reason, the two brothers had survived, and after travelling through Europe, they found their way on to a Jewish Agency \u201cillegal immigrant\u201d ship headed for Palestine. They arrived in pre-state Israel in July 1945, less than three years after Tulek had taken his oath to their father, the Rabbi of Piotrkow.<\/p>\n

    This story has a postscript. Almost fifty years later, the two brothers stood side by side at the Kotel. The elder brother, Naftali Lau-Lavie, himself a dedicated public servant of many years, beamed with pride as his little brother, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, was inaugurated as the beloved Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel.<\/p>\n

    QUESTIONS TO PONDER:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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    1. Are there any similarities between these two brothers and the brothers in our\u00a0parsha<\/em>\u00a0(Moses and Aaron)?<\/li>\n
    2. Do you think the love between these siblings is normal, or something beyond the everyday?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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      Thinking More Deeply<\/strong><\/p>\n

      One of the recurring themes of Genesis is sibling rivalry, hostility between brothers. This story is told four times: between Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and his brothers.<\/p>\n

      There is a noticeable pattern to this set of narratives, best seen in the way each story ends. The tale of Cain and Abel ends with murder \u2013 fratricide (killing a sibling). Isaac and Ishmael, though they grow up apart, are together at Abraham\u2019s funeral. Evidently there has been a reconciliation between them. Jacob and Esau meet, embrace and go their separate ways. Joseph and his brothers are reconciled and live together in peace, Joseph providing them with food, land, and protection.<\/p>\n

      Genesis is telling us a story of great consequence. Fraternity \u2013 one of the key words of the French revolution \u2013 is not simple or straightforward. It is often fraught with conflict and contention. Yet slowly, brothers can learn that there is another way. On this note Genesis ends. But it is not the end of the story.<\/p>\n

      The drama has a fifth act: the relationship between Moses and Aaron. Here, for the first time, there is no hint of sibling rivalry. The brothers work together from the very outset of their mission to lead the Israelites to freedom. They address the people together. They stand united when confronting Pharaoh. They perform signs and wonders together. They share leadership of the people in the wilderness. At last, we see two brothers functioning as a team, with different gifts, different talents, different roles, but without hostility, each complementing the other.<\/p>\n

      Their partnership is a constant feature of the narrative. But there are certain moments where it is particularly noteworthy. The first occurs in the passage already cited above. God tells Moses that Aaron \u201cis already on his way to meet you, and\u00a0his heart will be glad when he sees you<\/em>.\u201d How different this is from the tense encounters between brothers in Genesis!<\/p>\n

      Aaron, we may have thought, might have many reasons not to rejoice on seeing Moses return. The brothers had not grown up together. Moses had been adopted by Pharaoh\u2019s daughter and raised in an Egyptian palace, while Aaron remained with the Israelites. Nor had they been together during the Israelites\u2019 sufferings. Moses, fearing for his life after his assault on an Egyptian taskmaster, had fled to Midian.<\/p>\n

      Besides this, Moses was Aaron\u2019s younger brother, and yet it was he who was about to become the leader of the people. Always in the past, when the younger had taken something the elder might have believed belonged naturally to him, there was jealousy, animosity. Yet God assures Moses: \u201cwhen Aaron sees you, he will rejoice.\u201d<\/p>\n

      The second fascinating clue is contained in a strange passage that traces the descent of Moses and Aaron: \u201cAmram married his father\u2019s sister Yocheved, who bore him Aaron and Moses\u2026\u00a0It was this same Aaron and Moses\u00a0<\/em>to whom the Lord said, \u201cBring the Israelites out of Egypt by their divisions.\u201d They were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt about bringing the Israelites out of Egypt.\u00a0It was this same Moses and Aaron<\/em>. (Exodus 6:20, 26-27). Why the repeated phrase, \u201cIt was this same\u201d? There are two other peculiarities in the phrases. The first is that the names of the brothers are placed in a different order: the first says \u201cAaron and Moses,\u201d the second, \u201cMoses and Aaron.\u201d Even stranger is the grammatical oddity of the phrase. Both times, the third person singular is used, literally translating to: \u201cHe was Aaron and Moses\u201d, \u201cHe was Moses and Aaron.\u201d The text should have said, \u201cThey\u201d \u2013 all the more so since the pronoun \u201cthey\u201d is used in the middle of the passage: \u201cThey were the ones who spoke to Pharaoh.\u201d The unmistakable implication is that they were like a single individual; they were as one. There was no hierarchy between them: sometimes Aaron appears first, sometimes Moses.<\/p>\n

      It was precisely the fact that Aaron did not envy his younger brother but instead rejoiced in his greatness that made him worthy to be High Priest. So it came to pass \u2013 measure for measure \u2013 that just as Aaron made space for his younger brother to lead, so the Torah makes space for Aaron to lead. That is why Aaron is the hero of\u00a0Tetzaveh<\/em>: for once, not overshadowed by Moses.<\/p>\n

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      From the Thought of Rabbi Sacks<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Judaism, Christianity and Islam have been locked in a violent, sometimes fatal embrace for so long. Their relationship is sibling rivalry, fraught with mimetic desire: the desire for the same thing, Abraham\u2019s promise.<\/p>\n

      \u2026At the heart of all three faiths is the idea that within humanity there is one privileged position \u2013 one favoured son, a chosen people, guardian of the truth, gatekeeper of salvation \u2013 for which more than one candidate competes. The result is conflict of the most existential kind, for what is at stake is the most precious gift of all: God\u2019s paternal love. One group\u2019s victory means another\u2019s defeat, and since this is a humiliation, a dethronement, it leads to revenge. So the strife is perpetuated.<\/p>\n

      \u00a0 \u00a0Not in God\u2019s Name, p.98-99<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

      QUESTIONS TO PONDER:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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      1. Do you think we can learn from the sibling rivalries in the Torah to help us understand the world?<\/li>\n
      2. Do you think God has favourites? Is it possible God loves all nations and people equally?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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        Around the Shabbat Table<\/strong><\/p>\n

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