Why did the Torah specify the ages of Moshe & Aaron? The משך חכמה explains, the Torah wanted to stress to us that they were older men who were established, upstanding & honored. Hashem wasn't sending the Jews out into the desert like sheep without a shepherd, but rather with strong, experienced leaders so there would be no wavering in their commitment.
Even so, the people still checked everything that Moshe did. For forty years, the people that Moshe led & taught were free of all worldly concerns. This presented them with the time to evaluate & examine every action that Moshe did; they would talk about him, and scrutinize every move and decision he made. However, no matter how much they tried, they could never find anything that he did wrong. Since he was so carefully observed and came up one hundred percent clean, his teachings were etched in the hearts of the Jews forever.
The Chasam Sofer had to travel for medical reasons to far-away places during which he usually stayed in the home of a non-Jew. One time, when he had to stay for an extended time, a respected Jew invited him to stay at his home. The Chasam Sofer accepted & was given a nice apartment to stay in. After a week went by, the Chasam Sofer heard that his host was talking bad about him around town.
The Chasam Sofer asked his Shamash if this was true. Tthe Shamash didn't want to say anything but finally admitted that it was true that their host was talking bad about him. The Chasam Sofer called the town rabbi & the host together & asked the host in front of the rabbi to tell him if it was true that he was spreading rumors about him? The host unabashedly said, “yes it's true”. The Chasam Sofer asked the man to detail what he had seen that would cause him to spread these rumors. The man told him that on Shabbos day he had seen the Chasam Sofer eat the seudah without making kiddush! What kind of Jew doesn't make kiddush before he eats on Shabbos?! (the custom of the Chasam Sofer was to make kiddush on challah on Shabbos morning).
After hearing this, the Chasam Sofer was quite troubled, wondering what he had done wrong that in his old age, he had people spreading rumors about him?
Nothing could consoled him until he finally realized why this happened to him & he was elated.
A source of constant concern to him was what if the leaders of klal yisroel would become corrupt, untrustworthy people who tried to entice the people to sin? What would become of the people? Would the nation be lost?
Now, however, the Chasam Sofer realized he was worried for nothing. Hashem had given the Torah to the toughest of the nations. As a respected Rav and leader of the community for many, many years, one would think he was above speculation. Yet, he was still badmouthed. Why was this so? This man had seen in his parents’ house that one makes kiddush Shabbos morning. Since the Chasam Sofer didn't, he was vulnerable to criticism and rumors. Therefore, if there were to be truly bad leaders, the people wouldn’t listen for the main thing that they know & trust is what they saw growing up in their parents’ house. With this realization, the Chasam Sofer was relieved.
We must be so careful in what we do & how we act, for that's where the next generation will draw their strength from. That's where they will learn from, from us. We have to make sure that what we’re doing is what we want future generations to look to as the truth!
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