Who was more important for the Exodus:  Moshe or Aharon?

At first, I think that we would all agree that Moshe is the more important figure.  Although Moshe was initially willing to give over some of his authority to Aharon, we see throughout these weeks’ parshiot (Vaera, Bo,  Beshalach) that it is Moshe who clearly has the dominant role.  He directs the action, he speaks to Paro, and he is the one who usually produces the signs and miracles which affected the Egyptians.  No doubt it was Moshe who is leading the people from their slavery in Egypt.

However, a quick look at Rashi indicates that there is another possibility:

“This is Aharon and Moshe to whom Hashem said…” (Exod. 6:26). Rashi teaches: “There are places where the Torah puts Aharon before Moshe, and there are places where it puts Moshe before Aharon, to teach that they are of equal significance.”

This interpretation is based on the Tosefta (end of Massekhet Kritut), which mentions three other cases of questioning who is the more important actor:

1.  Heavens and Earth
2. Avraham and the other Avot
3. Yehoshua and Kalev

In each of these cases we are to understand that there is a certain equality between the two. Although (through Rashi) we understand that the equality is hinted at in the verse, but what is the specific equality between Moshe and Aharon? In what way are they alike and equal?

The Kol Simcha (R. Simcha Bunim of Peshischa) teaches us that Moshe and Aharon split the job of the Exodus.  Aharon, who grew up with the Jewish people, was the one who had to convince the people that the time had come to leave.  Moshe, who had grown up in the house of the Egyptian king, was the one who had to convince him that the time had come for the Jewish exodus.  They are equal in the sense that each could only be effective if they worked together. Their equality was not in each specific achievement, but because neither could succeed without the other’s success. While this is true for the other three examples (consider: what would Avraham’s achievement meant if it hadn’t been matched by success in the successive generations?; what could Yitzhak and Yaakov done without the groundbreaking achievement of Avraham?), it is especially true when considering those two pillars of the Exodus leadership – the brothers Moshe and Aharon.