Photo by Anna Vander Stel on Unsplash
By Rachel Dubowe, Jewish Life Specialist
Parashat Vaera, “And I Appeared”
In this week’s Torah portion, Vaera, Moses and his brother, Aaron, receive God’s command to appear before Pharaoh to demand the freedom of the Jews. After discussing the conversation between the brothers and God, the Torah records that “Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, when they made their demand on Pharaoh.” According to Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, this reference to advanced age is unique, “We don’t find prophets anywhere else in Scripture for whom the text points out that they prophesied while elderly, except here.” Age is a funny thing, as we know. And there’s an incredibly layered connotation of what it means to get old in our society. Not only are there endless jokes about getting older, there’s also the underlying fear of the unknown and what happens next.
It is unusual for the Torah to say the age of the prophets, so we can’t help but wonder why is the age of Moses and Aaron mentioned? Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra’s explanation is, “Because it attributes greatness [to Moses and Aaron] beyond all other prophets, for only to them did God appear…for only to them was the Torah given, and thus through their hands do the righteous inherit the Coming World, while all other prophets either chastise or predict the future.” Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra lifts up Moses and Aaron’s accomplishments as prophets and attributes their greatness to the reason why their age is shared. Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson’s response to this is, “While Rabbi ibn Ezra’s insight is itself remarkable, for our purposes what stands out is his evaluation of age. He sees the statement of Moses and Aaron’s old age as highly complementary. Not only do they not hide their age, but it is a source of pride.” We often talk about old age as a sign of wisdom, and the Torah and rabbis seem to agree.
