<b>Another comment upon the verse And the Lord said to Aaron: “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses” (Exod. 4:27).</b> Scripture says elsewhere in reference to this verse: <i>O that thou wert as my brother</i> (Song 8:1). The Israelites said to the Holy One, blessed be He:, <i>O that thou wert as my brother</i>, yet you find that all brothers hated each other. Cain hated Abel, as it is said: <i>And Cain rose up against Abel his brother</i> (Gen. 4:8). Ishmael hated Isaac, as is said: <i>And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, making sport</i> (Gen. 21:9). <i>Making sport</i> implies, in this instance, that he wanted to kill him, as it is said: <i>Let the young men, I pray thee, arise and make sport before us</i> (II Sam. 2:14). Esau hated Jacob, as is said: <i>And Esau said in his heart</i>, etc. (Gen. 27:41). And the tribes hated Joseph, as it is said: <i>And they hated him</i> (Gen. 37:4). But in this instance the Israelites asked of the Holy One, blessed be He: Do you mean like Moses and Aaron, of whom it is said: <i>Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity</i> (Ps. 133:1)? They loved and cherished each other. At the time that Moses took the kingship and Aaron the priesthood, they bore no resentment toward each other. In fact, they rejoiced in each other’s exalted role.
A proof of this is that when the Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses to go to Pharaoh as His messenger, he replied: <i>O Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom Thou wilt sent</i> (Exod. 4:13). Put out of your mind the thought that Moses was distressed because he was not willing to go. That is not so. He actually was concerned about Aaron’s prestige. Moses said: Before I was designated (to go), my brother Aaron prophesied in Egypt for them for eighty years,<sup class="footnote-marker">33</sup><i class="footnote">Aaron was the elder brother and had prophesied in Egypt for many years.</i> as it is written: <i>And I made known to them in the land of Egypt</i> (Exod. 20:5). How do we know that Aaron prophesied for them in Egypt? We know this from the verse: <i>And there came a man of God unto Eli and said unto him: “Thus saith the Lord: Did I reveal Myself unto the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt?”</i> (I Sam. 2:27). It was for this reason that Moses said: Throughout all these years my brother prophesied, and if I should now intrude into his area (of service) he will be deeply distressed. That is why Moses did not wish to go. The Holy One, blessed be He, replied to Moses: Aaron will not be offended. In fact, not only will he not be displeased, but he will rejoice. You know this is so, for He said to him: <i>And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee; when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart</i> (Exod. 4:14). It does not say “he will be glad with his mouth” or simply “he will be glad,” but rather, he will glad to see him, <i>in his heart</i>.
R. Simeon the son of Yohai said: The heart that rejoices in the importance of his brother will ultimately rejoice in his own role, and as it is said: <i>And thou shalt put on the breastplate of judgment, the Urim and Thummin; and they shall be put upon Aaron’s heart</i> (ibid. 28:13). Therefore, <i>Behold, he cometh forth to meet thee</i> implies that when he told him that (Aaron would be glad) he agreed to go. Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself unto Aaron and said to him: <i>Go into the wilderness to meet Moses</i>. Hence, <i>O that thou wert as my brother</i> refers to the kind of brothers Moses and Aaron were to each other. <i>When I would find thee without, I would kiss thee</i> (Song 8:1) indicates that he met him at the mountain of the Holy One, blessed be He, and kissed him.