This week’s Torah portion begins with God speaking to Moshe but here God addresses Moshe in an uncommon way, with the words “V’Ata,”  “And You.”  One verse later, we have this opening again, and then a few verses later we have this phrase repeated a third time, after which it disappears as quickly as it came and we return to the Torah’s regular language of commandments without the address to Moshe of, “And you”.   Why the unique phrasing of, “And you” in the three verses at the beginning of our Torah portion?

Until now God has been commanding Moshe about the building of the Tabernacle, but our parsha turns to something else, the role of Aaron, the Kohen Godol, the High Priest.   Until now Moses has acted as the high priest and the leader, he brought the sacrifice at Mount Sinai and sprinkled blood on the altar and on the people, he has received the laws of building the Tabernacle, and he has been the recipient and transmitter of the Torah.   But when we turn to the functioning of the Temple, a new role emerges, that of the Kohanim, the priesthood, with Aaron at its head.   Now Moshe’s role will change.  He no longer will be the leader of the people and also bring the sacrifices, now he will teach Torah and lead the people through the desert, but Aaron will take on the role of the High Priest.

Transition such as this can be difficult.   Moshe must make room for Aaron, he must appreciate that for the good of the Jewish people one person cannot perform all the roles.    He must now concentrate on leading the Jewish people on their journey while Aaron will focus on the service of the Temple.   One can imagine that Moshe might be worried about his own role.  Will Aaron eclipse him?   Will the Jewish people still need him?   Will his spiritual voice be heard?

I think this is why God uniquely addresses Moshe in these three verses, the first of which is about the Menorah which Aaron exclusively will light, the next about appointing Aaron as the high priest and the third regarding making the special uniform for Aaron.  Though Moshe is not a Kohen he must facilitate the appointment of Aaron and the Kohanim.  This is vital.  Without Moshe’s support and partnership, the division of labor can not work.   But with it, the Jewish people will benefit greatly from two leaders who take up different spaces, lead in different ways and facilitate jewish life and holiness over a wider field.

We must learn a lesson from Moshe for today’s communities also.  One person does not bring everything that everyone in the community needs.  Leaders of different backgrounds, genders, knowledge bases, and talents are required to ensure that a Jewish community is as inspired, as learned and as engaged as it can possibly be.