![]() ![]() Aaron even goes so far as to invite the idolatrous masses to a feast the next day. It is Aaron who collects the golden jewelry it is he who builds the altar and lights the flame it is he who makes the idol. True, the idea of making the golden calf comes from the people, but it is Aaron who gives it life. That Aaron played an important role in this episode is clearly indicated in the text. If the first arises out of his public persona, the second is strictly personal. ![]() At least two disconcerting episodes cast a shadow over his life. Nevertheless, Aaron’s balance sheet is not completely clean. One gets the impression that as soon as there was danger, Aaron slipped away from the scene. In the desert, again it was Moses who had to strike the rock to find a source of water. ![]() While the Hebrews were still in Egypt, enslaved and suffering under Pharaoh’s harsh laws, it was Moses who defended them, going so far as to kill an Egyptian guard who was beating a Jewish slave. Is this because Moses, the great political and military leader, represented civil authority, while his brother Aaron, the high priest, embodied spiritual authority? One would say that providence seemed to smile more on Aaron than on Moses. Likewise, when God became angry at the people for their lack of faith, most of the time his anger was directed at Moses alone. When the Hebrews became impatient and restless in the desert, demanding food and drink, they did not rise up against Aaron, but against Moses. Moses is often torn between two passions, two obligations: the demands of God and those of his people. But not Aaron, who passes through difficulties unscathed. More than once, Moses’ life has been threatened and his reputation questioned. His younger brother Moses must overcome obstacles and dangers. He too has his moments of weakness and his crises. Whatever he does, he is well regarded.īut is it possible that Aaron is without fault? Like all biblical characters, he must be imperfect. Whether great or small, they need him, his understanding and his mediation. I have a problem with Aaron, number two in the great and glorious epic that recounts the liberation of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. Photo: British Library MSADD 28162, Folio 2V. Later, when the Lord punishes “the people who through Aaron made the bull-calf” (Exodus 32:35), Aaron remains unharmed-a mystery Wiesel raises but cannot solve. When Moses returns and sees the people worshiping the calf, he is angered by their idolatrous sin and throws down the stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments. He then constructs an altar and begins to worship. In Exodus 32, Aaron instructs the Israelites, who had grown restless during Moses’ long sojourn at Mount Sinai, to gather their jewelry and fashion a golden calf. Elie Wiesel points out that this incident, which had disastrous consequences for the Israelites fleeing Egypt, cast a shadow over Aaron. Aaron, the first high priest and brother to Moses, worships the golden calf, in an illumination from the late-13th-century manuscript La Somme le Ray. ![]()
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