Lark Sparrows : Brothers and Wingmen

These are Lark Sparrows. Who knows if they’re siblings, but for reasons I can’t pinpoint, that’s how they struck me: a pair of brothers. Physics being what it is, photographers sometimes have to choose between two subjects in the frame. To get just the right depiction of one bird means accepting some blur in the other. This is of course a constraint of the camera rather an imputation that either bird is somehow less than the other. The obvious answer is simply to photograph and then consider each in turn. Our eyes are naturally drawn to the clearer image, but there is meaning - more subtle, more challenging - in the blurred image as well.

The relationship between Moses and Aaron is a fascinating one, but very little of it is made explicit in Torah. Moses, the younger brother, is the greatest prophet of the Jewish people, given the Law personally in the presence of HaShem. But Moses never enters the Promised Land, nor do his sons merit leadership roles. Aaron on the other hand, the older brother, is often seen as a subordinate character, but as the progenitor of the priesthood, his influence extends even to the current day. Few gifts in Tanach exceed being the patriarch of an extended family. Aaron clearly was more richly blessed than Moses in this way.

So the inevitable question for siblings: who is the more successful? Is it Moses? Is it Aaron? Or is that simply a meaningless question? Each clearly made an indelible mark on history. Each clearly fulfilled a vital mission, which only he could accomplish. Each clearly took his turn in the spotlight just as each at times stepped aside. Not only is the comparison needless, but it distracts from the appreciation that each deserves. It is, in fact, fair to question whether we would know of either without the other. So too without its sibling, neither of the Sparrows would likely have drawn my attention. Together they create a captivating image.