Parshat Tetzaveh5 min read

Moses Rejoiced When Aaron Received the Anointing Oil

When Aaron was anointed as High Priest, Moses felt no jealousy. The midrash says the oil on Aaron was joy for Moses too.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Cheeks Were Made for Speech
  2. The Ornaments Were Two Torahs
  3. God Measured the Brothers Together
  4. The Oil Did Not Create Jealousy
  5. The Brothers Became One Face

The oil ran down Aaron's beard, and Moses felt it as if it had touched his own.

That is the tenderness hidden inside a verse from Song of Songs. The beloved's cheeks are lovely with ornaments. Shir HaShirim Rabbah turns the love song toward the brothers who carried Israel out of Egypt. Moses and Aaron become the two cheeks, made for speech, matched in service, joined by a love that did not collapse under honor.

Aaron received the priesthood. Moses rejoiced.

The Cheeks Were Made for Speech

Cheeks frame the mouth.

The midrash reads them as Moses and Aaron because both were created for speech. Moses carried the word of God. Aaron carried that word into Pharaoh's court and into Israel's ears. One brother received revelation with terrifying clarity. The other translated leadership into voice, ceremony, blessing, and service.

They were not duplicates. They were paired instruments. Israel needed the prophet who ascended the mountain and the priest who stood among the people. The face needed both cheeks for the mouth to speak fully.

The Ornaments Were Two Torahs

The verse speaks of ornaments, and the rabbis hear Torah inside the word.

It can mean two Torahs, the written Torah and the oral Torah. It can mean many Torahs, the laws of offerings, impurity, vows, judgments, and all the separate chambers of instruction that fill Leviticus and beyond. Moses and Aaron are adorned not with vanity but with teachings. Their beauty is the beauty of a people given law in forms the world can practice.

Speech becomes lovely when it carries Torah rather than appetite, flattery, or command for its own sake.

God Measured the Brothers Together

The midrash presses deeper into their equality.

God tells Moses that the reverence resting on Moses will also rest on Aaron, and the reverence resting on Aaron will also rest on Moses. Neither brother's honor requires the diminishment of the other. In ordinary courts, one appointment can poison a family. One crown can make every brother count what he did not receive.

In this house, the honor moves differently. Aaron's elevation does not reduce Moses. Moses' prophecy does not erase Aaron.

The Oil Did Not Create Jealousy

The day of anointing could have been dangerous.

Aaron stood robed as High Priest. Oil descended over his head and beard. The priesthood, with its garments, offerings, and entry into holy service, belonged to him and his sons. Moses had led the people, split the sea by God's command, ascended Sinai, and carried the tablets. A smaller man would have felt robbed.

Moses felt joy. The midrash says the oil on Aaron was as beloved to Moses as if it had flowed onto Moses himself.

The Brothers Became One Face

That is why Song of Songs could hold them.

The verse is intimate because the brotherhood is intimate. Moses and Aaron do not stand as rival institutions, prophet against priest. They form one face turned toward Israel. The mouth speaks through both. The ornaments shine on both. The oil blesses one and gladdens the other.

Israel's first leaders were not spared conflict, fatigue, or failure. But in this scene the midrash preserves a rare thing: power received without envy and honor shared without calculation.

The scene also answers a quiet fear about sacred office. If holiness is distributed, someone might imagine that a gift given to one person has been taken from another. Priesthood for Aaron could have looked like exclusion for Moses. Prophecy for Moses could have looked like diminishment for Aaron. The midrash refuses that arithmetic.

God's service is not a narrow cup from which only one brother can drink. Moses has his mountain, tablets, and face-to-face speech. Aaron has his garments, altar, incense, and blessing. Israel needs both forms of nearness. One brings the word down from the height. The other tends the holy work among the people day after day. The oil on Aaron's beard does not mark a loss for Moses. It marks the completion of a shared calling.

That is why joy, not envy, becomes the proof of Moses' greatness.

The Song of Songs frame matters because affection is doing theological work. The rabbis could have described the brothers with legal categories alone, prophet and priest, command and service. Instead they choose the language of beauty and nearness. Moses and Aaron are not merely offices beside one another. They are beloved features of one covenantal face.

MosesTorahHumilityDivine Presence
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From the tradition

Sources

2 sources

The texts this telling draws on, in full. Open a card to read inline, or expand it for a wider, quieter read.

Shir HaShirim Rabbah 10:1Shir HaShirim Rabbah

Take the verse, “Your cheeks are lovely with ornaments, your neck with beads” (Song of Songs 1:10). Simple enough. But as Shir HaShirim Rabbah, the Midrashic (rabbinic interpretive commentary) commentary on Song of Songs shows us, there’s so much more.

"Your cheeks are lovely" – the Rabbis see a parallel here. Just as cheeks are made for speech, so too were Moses and Aaron created for speech, for communication, for leadership. They were the voice of the Jewish people. And the phrase "with ornaments [batorim]"? That can be interpreted in multiple ways, one being "with two Torahs": the Written Torah (Torah Shebichtav) and the Oral Torah (Torah Shebe'al Peh) – the written law and its interpretations.

The Midrash doesn't stop there. Another understanding of batorim is "many Torahs," referencing the numerous laws outlined in Leviticus: the law of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the guilt offering, the peace offering, and even the law concerning death in a tent, as we find in (Numbers 19:14). Each one a facet of God's teaching.

There's still more! The word batorim can also mean "with two countenances [te’arim]," bringing us back to Moses and Aaron. The Midrash emphasizes the beautiful relationship between these two brothers, whose faces shone with mutual respect and admiration. This one rejoiced in the other's greatness.

Rabbi Pinḥas highlights this dynamic, referencing (Exodus 4:16): “He will speak to the people on your behalf, and he will be a mouth for you, and you will be an elohim for him.” The Rabbis ask, did Moses actually become a god for Aaron? Of course not! Rather, God was saying to Moses, "Just as fear of Me is upon you, so too, your fear will be upon your brother." In other words, Aaron would hold Moses in the highest esteem.

But the Midrash points out that Moses took it a step further. He didn't just accept Aaron's respect; he reciprocated it fully. As (Exodus 4:29-30) tells us, Moses and Aaron "assembled all the elders of the children of Israel; Aaron spoke all the matters.” Moses equated his shoulder to Aaron's shoulder, standing shoulder to shoulder, treating each other as equals. They worked together, each celebrating the other's role.

How do we know Aaron rejoiced in Moses's prominence? (Exodus 4:14) states, "He will see you and he will rejoice in his heart." Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai adds that the heart that rejoiced in Moses’s greatness would be worthy to wear the Urim and Tumim, the oracular objects placed in the breastplate of judgment, as described in (Exodus 28:30): "You shall place the Urim and the Tumim in the breastplate of judgment and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart.”

And how do we know Moses rejoiced in Aaron's prominence? Here, the Midrash brings a beautiful image from (Psalms 133:2): “It is like fine oil on the head, descending onto the beard, the beard of Aaron.” Rabbi Aḥa asks, why does it say "the beard" twice? Was Aaron sporting two beards? The explanation is that when Moses saw the anointing oil descending onto Aaron’s beard, it was as if it were descending onto his own. He rejoiced in his brother's honor.

What can we take from this? It's more than just a clever interpretation of scripture. It's a lesson in humility, respect, and the power of celebrating others' successes. Moses, despite his own incredible stature, recognized and rejoiced in Aaron's unique gifts. In a world that often encourages competition and self-promotion, the story of Moses and Aaron reminds us of the beauty and strength that come from genuine, mutual appreciation. Can we, too, learn to see the "ornaments" on the faces of those around us and celebrate their unique contributions?

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Shemot Rabbah 9:2Shemot Rabbah

In the story of the Exodus, a staff becomes a symbol of divine power, a tool for liberation, and, surprisingly, a way to deal with really stubborn people.

The book of Shemot Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Exodus, sheds some light on this. It begins with the verse, “Then you shall say to Aaron: Take your staff” (Exodus 7:19). The rabbis connect this to another verse, "The staff of Your strength the Lord will send from Zion" (Psalms 110:2). But what does it mean?

The Midrash (rabbinic commentary) suggests that God uses the staff to subdue the wicked. But why a staff?

The Midrash draws a rather unflattering comparison. It says the wicked are likened to dogs, quoting, “They return in the evening, they howl like a dog” (Psalms 59:15). And how do you deal with a pesky dog? Well, back then, apparently, the answer was with a stick. Just as a dog might be corrected with a staff, so too, the wicked are "beaten" – metaphorically, of course – into submission.

Now, before we get too caught up in the imagery, let’s remember what's at stake. This isn't about literal violence, but about the struggle between good and evil, between freedom and oppression. Pharaoh, in this context, represents the ultimate oppressor. He’s stubborn, resistant to reason, and deaf to the cries of the Israelites.

So, God tells Moses, through the Midrash, that if Pharaoh demands a sign, a wonder to prove God's power, the response should be to strike with the staff. “Say to Aaron: Take your staff” (Exodus 7:19). It's a direct, assertive act. It's saying, "Enough is enough. I will show you my power". The staff becomes a symbol of divine authority, of God’s unwavering commitment to justice.

Is it a bit harsh? Maybe. But consider the context. The Israelites had suffered generations of slavery. Pharaoh had repeatedly refused to let them go. Sometimes, the Midrash suggests, you need a clear, decisive action to break through the stubbornness of injustice. The staff, in this case, isn't just a tool; it’s a statement.

What does this all mean for us today? Perhaps it’s a reminder that sometimes, confronting injustice requires more than just polite conversation. It requires a firm stance, a clear voice, and a willingness to challenge the status quo, even when it's uncomfortable. Maybe our "staff" isn't a literal object, but our conviction, our voice, our commitment to doing what's right, even when it's difficult.

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