Parasha Shemini
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.
SAN DIEGO –Filled with loss, economic instability, fear and isolation over the past year or so due to COVID19, we’ve been asked to live up to these “tests” with faith, strength, emunah and bitachon. This week’s parasha, Shemini, follows 8 days of Passover this year that surely gives meaning to the question, “Why is this night, this year, different from all other nights?” Let’s hope our fears have turned to faith, especially as we’ve just read Hallel.
The parasha presents us with the abrupt, heart-rending, seemingly inexplicable loss, the passing of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu. We read in the parasha (10:1-2), “And Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his pan, put fire in them, and placed incense upon it, and they brought before the Lord foreign fire, which He had not commanded them. And fire went forth from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.”
The Torat Kohanim in Acharei Mot says that the sons erred in following their nonprescribed path, and not consulting Moses, or each other, about how proper it was to bring incense. They seemingly challenged an essential delineation of correct Jewish custom by rejecting the preparation rites mandated by Hashem for the priests. Before doing something that may be problematic, do you consult someone who may be wiser? Lesson learned.
And in the very next pasuk, we read, …”And Aaron was silent.” SILENT? Aaron, the boys’ father was SILENT? Research informs us that the average person has 12,000 – 60,000 thoughts per day, 95% of which are the same thoughts as the day’s before, and what’s worse, 80% of our thoughts are generally negative. Silent? With all of that thinking going on?
The Ramban tells us that Aaron, vayidom, “he became silent.” Meaning, according to the Ramban, Aaron cried aloud and then became silent. But the Ramban says that it was a struggling, contemplative silence, while attempting to understand the ways of Hashem. Sounds quite mature, and a harmonious mix of emotion, spirituality, and intellect. We’ve been tangled in a seemingly indiscriminate, unexplained pandemic, one that has killed hundreds of thousands, upended lives, and continues to threaten the financial and emotional wellbeing of so many. What has our “silence” been like? What is our silence like in the face of contemporary injustice?
This week we also commemorate Yom Hashoah, the remembrance of the Holocaust, and of those who were its heroes. Observing this holiday helps us be reminded that silence is not an answer. The light of those who perished, their memories, and the inestimable deeds of those who saved lives, will never go out because we will insure that we are never silent. “We never forget, we never forgive but we are able to tolerate,” as one survivor in the chronicle of the Holocaust that explored stories of survival, tragedy, hope, and resilience, We Shall Not Die Now, said. By not letting our traditions dwindle, by performing mitzvot and acts of kindness, we continue to light the trail to our future Judaism. But never through silence.
We may feel anger, fear, anxiety, and confusion over the mysterious deaths of Aaron’s sons, just as we do when we face personal loss, and as many feel while facing COVID19. Our best response in every circumstance is to see the hand of Hashem in all our days, in every breath we take. Following ritual properly, points us to towards Hashem. No, it’s not always easy to place Hashem in the centermost place in our lives, in our hearts and in our minds, but it is our wisest choice. Wisest that is, if we want to live optimally and cope with hardship in healthy ways.
Perhaps this was the true greatness of Aaron. In the Ohr HaMussar we learn that Aaron was greatly praised for not complaining against Hashem and for accepting His will. The Sages constantly worked on accepting the will of the Almighty. Aaron became silent because he believed clearly that everything Hashem does is with purpose.
I’m reminded of what Rabbi Akiva always said when something negative happened, “All that the Almighty does is for the good.” Nochum, Ish Gam Zu, used to say, “This, too, is for the good.” Indeed, internalizing the concept that whatever He does is positive and good, means you do not have to keep convincing yourself that a specific event is good. It is an automatic belief. Such a person accepts, sometimes with joy, everything that occurs in his life. At the very least, we see life as bearable. Acceptance of His will is a most crucial attitude for living a happy life. The more you learn to accept and bear the will of Hashem, the greater joy you feel in your life.
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Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly D’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family are members. They are also active members of Congregation Adat Yeshurun. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com