“Vayivku et Aharon shloshim yom, kol beit Yisrael.” And they cried over Aaron (mourned his passing) for 30 days, the entire house of Israel.

This text from Parshat Chukat tells us that all the people — men and women, even children — mourned the death of Aaron HaKohen. In contrast, only the men mourned Moshe Rabbeinu’s death, as later reported in Deut. 34:8, “Vayivku B’nai Yisrael.” The text continues that no one ever reached Moshe’s level of holiness and prophecy.

What was so special about Aaron that all loved him so deeply? Didn’t Moshe teach Torah to the entire nation? He was, after all, the person in whose merit God provided the manna to the generation in the desert.