Biblical portraits: Aaron

“Setting out from Kadesh, the Israelites arrived in a body at Mount Hor. At Mount Hor, on teh boundary of the land of Edom, the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Let Aaron be gathered to his kin: he is not to enter the land that I have assigned to the Israelite people, because you [Moses] disobeyed my command about the waters of Meribah. Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up on Mount Hor. Strip Aaron of his vestments and put them on his son Eleazar. There Aaron shall be gathered unto the dead.’

“Moses did as the Lord had commanded. They ascended Mount Hor in the sight of the whole community. Moses stripped Aaron of his vestments and put them on his son Eleazar, and Aaron died there on the summit of the mountain. When Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain, the whole community knew that Aaron had breathed his last. All the house of Israel bewailed Aaron thirty days.”  Numbers 20:22–29

In the very same chapter that records Miriam’s death, Aaron’s passing is described in more detail but with no less mystery. Indeed, of the three deaths, Aaron’s is the most complete narrative depiction: He has time to prepare for the moment; he dies among his family; and he is mourned by the whole community.

The story begins in similar fashion to Miriam’s death scene, as an interruption of the sojourn of the children of Israel. But from the start, the presence of the whole community is emphasized. The passage begins with the group’s arrival “in a body” at Mount Hor and closes with the mourning of “all the house of Israel.” In the middle we are twice reminded that the event takes place in the sight and with the knowledge of the “whole community.” That the whole congregation would mourn for one of its leaders would come as no surprise—if the community had not been so noticeably absent at the deaths of Miriam and (to a lesser degree) Moses. Equally curious is the legacy of the clothing. Perhaps by examining Aaron’s life, we can explain both the public aspect of his death and the import of the garments that he bequeaths to his son.

Aaron is a man of the people. He serves as their spokesman and orchestrates the plan for the golden calf in consonance with their wishes, despite his attempts to stall and redirect their intentions. Indeed, his mistake seems to be loving the congregation too much. In rabbinic literature he is lauded as a mediator, devoted to his constituents. The Midrash, asking why Moses was not accorded the same public mourning as his brother, concludes that “he [Moses] judged strictly and criticized whereas Aaron never said a negative word to any man.” For this, the Midrash concludes, Aaron was awarded the appellation “pursuer of peace.” It is no coincidence then that his death is marked by the presence of the people he loved unconditionally.

As a public leader and priest, Aaron wears special clothing. An entire chapter of Exodus (28) is devoted to the creation of his priestly vestments: “And thou shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother for honor and for beauty” (Exodus 28:2). The priest had to be properly clothed to perform his holy task, both to garner respect for his position as a divine emissary and to enhance the divine image. Aaron’s disposition makes him literally well-suited to the wearing of such garments. Whereas Moses recognizes his own deficiencies as a leader (“Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh?” [Exodus 3:11]; “I have never been a man of words…I am slow of speech and slow of tongue…Please, O Lord, make someone else Your agent” [Exodus 4:10–13]), Aaron knows how to act and dress the part of a public persona. Whereas Moses covers his face with a veil when bringing the commandments off the mount (Exodus 34:33), Aaron appears before the congregation in the full splendor of his vestments. Because Moses feels he cannot fulfill the public duties of his leadership, God selects Aaron as his spokesman (Exodus 4:13–16).

At his death, Aaron symbolically bequeaths leadership to his son, Eleazar, by passing on his priestly vestments. Aaron is so obedient, so enmeshed in the responsibility symbolized by his clothing, that passing the vestments on to his son is enough to signal his death. According to the Midrash, the fabric of Aaron’s life is so intertwined with the fabric of his clothing that Moses is unsure how to disrobe his dying brother. In the Midrash, God interjects and tells Moses that he should do his task and the heavens will do theirs. As Aaron is dying, Moses asks him, “Tell me what you see?” He responds, “I see nought but the clouds of honor clothing me as you disrobe me.”Even in death, Aaron moves from one wardrobe to another.

Aaron meets his death with equanimity. In the biblical text, Aaron is forewarned of his death. In the Midrash it is Moses who must inform his brother that he is about to die. Unsure how to broach the subject, Moses awakens Aaron early in the morning, confessing difficulty with a matter of study and asking for his brother’s advice. Moses is disturbed that in Genesis the first man introduces mortality to the world. Aaron responds, “Moses, my brother, do not speak thus, are we also not to accept the divine decree?” When Moses sees that Aaron accepts the inevitability of death, Moses tells him the disturbing news. The Midrash conveys a sense of peace: Death is a gentle transition from this world to the next. Death, for Aaron, is as simple as removing clothing, as if the outer shell is a reflection of the inner life. Aaron’s death is a fitting parallel to his life: A death surrounded by people, a death of acceptance, of bequeathing a legacy of leadership without murmur.