In the beginning of this week’s Parsha, Hashem says to Moshe: “And you shall draw close to you, your brother Aharon... from among Bnei Yisrael to serve Me as Kohanim...” (Shemos 28:1)
The Midrash (Shemos Rabbah 37:2) explains the need for Hashem to tell Moshe to draw Aharon close to him. The Midrash states: “When Moshe descended from Sinai and saw Bnei Yisrael engaged in that act [with the golden calf], he looked at Aharon striking it [the golden calf] with a hammer. Aharon intended to delay the worship of the golden calf (by working on it himself to slow the process) until Moshe would descend the mountain. However, Moshe believed that Aharon was a partner with them [assisting them to worship the golden calf] and he was upset with him. Hashem said to him: ‘Moshe, I know that Aharon’s intentions were for the best.’”
This Midrash is telling us that Moshe was upset with Aharon initially. He had believed that Aharon was assisting Bnei Yisrael in their acts of idol worship. Moshe was corrected and told of Aharon’s true intent, but nevertheless, some feelings of displeasure towards Aharon remained. Accordingly, Hashem commanded Moshe to draw Aharon near to him and mend his relationship with him.
We may be familiar with Pirkei Avos (1:6) that states, “Appoint a teacher for yourself, acquire a companion and judge all men favorably.” We also see in the Gemorah (Shevuos 30a): “Our Rabbis taught: In righteousness shall you judge your neighbor - judge your neighbor toward the scale of merit.”
Further, the Chofetz Chaim writes in the introduction of Sefer Chofetz Chaim, that judging your neighbor favorably is more than advice, but is an actual Torah commandment.
That being the case, how could Moshe have become upset with Aharon. Shouldn’t Moshe have given him the benefit of the doubt and assumed that Aharon was trying to delay, and not assist, the worship of the golden calf? Surely someone as righteous as Aharon was worthy of being judged favorably.
We must therefore assume, that Moshe did in fact give Aharon the benefit of the doubt and judged him favorably. However, he did not do so completely. On some small level, he didn’t completely believe that Aharon was not involved in helping Bnei Yisrael serve the golden calf. And because of that, on some small level, Moshe was “upset” with Aharon. And that is why Hashem had to tell Moshe to draw Aharon close to him – do not be upset with Aharon, even on a small level.
An additional point that we see from this incident, is the persistence of first impressions. On some level, Moshe initially believed that Aharon was complicit in serving the golden calf and was upset. Even after being corrected, that initial impression persisted and that is why Hashem felt the need to tell Moshe to draw Aharon close.
We see that first impressions can linger and affect a person’s judgment or emotions even after those impressions have been proven wrong or corrected as was the case with Moshe. If this is true regarding someone as great as Moshe Rabbeinu, how much more so is it true with us. Accordingly, we should be vigilant when we form our first impressions and ensure that our perceptions of situations change as warranted and do not persist unnecessarily.
