An apparent inconsistency in the verses of our Parasha brings up to mind some thoughts about current happenings...
"וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת אַהֲרֹן וּמשֶׁה בְּיוֹם דִּבֶּר יְהוָֹה אֶת משֶׁה בְּהַר סִינָי"
"And these are the chronicles of Aharon and Moshe on the day when Hashem spoke to Mishw on Mount Sinai."
Reading the next verses shows us no hint as to offsprings of Moshe - just those of Aharon.
And as "Toldot" in the Tora does not really mean "The Chronicles of " but rather "The Lineage of" (there are many examples to this) this is strange.
What about the children of Moshe?
Rashi says here (relying on Midrash) that this is where we learn the rule that "whomever teaches a friend's son, Scripture regards it as if he gave birth to him".
That is to say that between Rav & pupil, father - son relationship is created.
Moshe taught the sons of Aharon Torah, therefore he counts now as their father.
But this does not end here.
The Praguer Maharal asks in his commentary on Rashi, in Gur Arye:
If so, why is it that the entire Nation of Israel is never referred to as Moshe's children?
The Children of Yaacov-Yisrael - yes.
The Children of Moshe - no.
Maharal answers that as Moshe's teaching Torah the people of Israel was ordained by Hashem, and not his own initiative (as was the case with Aharon's sons) the relationship of father-son could not be formed between them.
As Moshe is but the Messenger for teaching Hashem's Torah to Israel, The People are here the main issue, not their messenger.
Therefore Moshe can never count as "father", because Father is never secondary.
If it weren't for Israel Moshe would have never been given the Torah, because his whole entity is to be Giver of Torah to Israel.
Thus, anybody (including Moshe) teaching Torah to any o n e person in Israel, becomes like a father to that person; but when we're dealing with the Nation as a whole, one can only dismiss or "annul" one's ego.
And it's only fit - one can't do otherwise facing an entity which is sacred.
"כי חלק ה׳ עמו"
Knesset Yisrael is, as it were, a part of Him.
This was actually Moshe's special attribute - being able to totally negate his ego, for Hashem and Yisrael.
As he said once himself:
"ונחנו מה"
All this is in Judaism.
In other religions it would only be natural that the head of Religion, being the Teacher of God's Laws, be called Father, Papa, Pope.
It's quite understandable, but what about Ego?
Long live small differences...
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