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Our Rabbi's Message
February 15th 2008
By Rabbi Aaron KriegelThe Torah portion, which we read this week, speaks about the dangers of power in a most hidden way. At the very beginning of the Parasha, God commands Moses to appoint his brother to be in charge of all Temple service. By that one act, Moses is cut from the very heart of institutional power in that early Jewish state. For the rest of the generation, Moses continues to be a prophet and the one who receives Torah from God, which will direct how the people Israel live. However, the power of his position will not pass through his family.
Upon his death Moses had to prepare to find a new leader to take his place. That leader, Joshua, was chosen more because he was charismatic and a trusted confident of Moses than because he had the right genes. In time, power passed from him to the elders and to the charismatic leaders we read about in the book of Judges. From there, power passed to Samuel, who was the High Priest, and then to several stuttering attempts at kingship. The line of royalty soon split and our people were left with two royal lines.
However, during all that time the House of Aaron remained and real power was collecting in those who were the priests. For centuries, power rested with Kohanim and with their party, called the Sadducees. They became rich with power and drunk with wealth. They over played their power (just as the Vanderbilt's did in America). But more than one thousand years had to pass before the Pharisees displaced the House of Aaron from its position of leadership.
The concept of division of power, which began with Moses and Aaron in a sense, saved our people. When one group acted immorally or unethically, there was always another to take its place. In time the same concept of division of power allowed our country, the United States, to become great. You see, for the Jew and for the American, unbridled power was always a threat to the existence of the nation.
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