Dear Friends;

I hope that you will enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;

” Parsha in a Nutshell “

Parshat Shemini begins by discussing the events which occurred on the eighth and final day of the inauguration service in the Mishkan (Tabernacle). After months of preparation and anticipation, Aaron and his sons are finally installed as Kohanim (priests) in an elaborate service. Aaron blesses the people, and the entire nation rejoices as Hashem’s presence rests upon them. However, the excitement comes to an abrupt halt as Aaron’s two elder sons, Nadav and Avihu, offer a “strange fire before G-d, which He commanded them not” and die before G-d. Aaron is silent in face of his tragedy.

Aaron is informed that the Kohanim are forbidden to enter the Mishkan while intoxicated, and the Torah continues to relate the events which occur immediately after Nadav and Avihu’s tragic death. The portion concludes with a listing of the kosher and non-kosher animals, and various laws about tumah, ritual contamination!

“ Dvar Torah “

Tragedy! Oxford dictionary defines it as “a very sad event; a serious drama with an unhappy ending which often involves someone’s death”! Unfortunately, tragedy does not discriminate. It may attack anyone —– the rich, the poor, the religious and the secular. No one is immuned by it! How do we deal with a tragedy? How do we cope with the pain? How can we find comfort? These are the questions that we all pray we would not need to know the answers, but G-d forbid, if a tragedy happens, it’s better to be prepared.

In this week’s Parsha, the Torah also talks about a very sad tragedy. The two elder sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, died together in an instant. The story goes as follows: After the completion of the construction of the “Mishkan” (G-d’s mobile Sanctuary), it was time for it’s inauguration ceremony. The excitement was filled in the air. Everyone came to watch this joyful event, somewhat similar to the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the tallest building built in town — in this case, the house of G-d. The structure of the Mishkan was completed and all the vessels were placed in their right places and the altar was all ready to begin the first sacrifice ceremony. Aaron and his sons have been appointed as the only Priests to do the ceremonies. For seven days Moshe, Aaron and his sons rehearsed the inauguration ceremony procedures, and finally, it was on the eighth day that cloud of glory finally descended upon the Mishkan, which was the sign for the ceremony to start. The congregation were anxiously waiting to watch this fascinating, never-seen-before event.

But, suddenly, the celebration went terribly wrong. The Torah tells us that just before the ceremony started, the two eldest sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, entered the Mishkan without authorization. They decided to offer their own incense, something they assumed would surely bring joy to their Creator. But tragedy struck. A fire came forth from the heaven. And the fire that should have consumed their offerings, consumed them instead, and they both died in an instant! Moshe tried to console Aaron by saying: “of this did Hashem speak, saying ‘I will be sanctified through those who are nearest to Me, thus I will be honored before the entire people.” And how did Aaron react? The Torah tells us:  “And Aaron was silent”. The man who had been Moses’ full-time speaker could no longer speak. The man of speech became speechless!!

The immediate question that comes to mind which has been asked by many Rabbanim also, is as follows. What did Nadav and Avihu do that was so wrong to deserve such a dreadful punishment?! What was their sin?!

Well, the commentators didn’t waste anytime to bombard us with their commentaries. Some say that the reason for their death was that they were intoxicated. They entered the “Holy of the Holies” being drunk!. Others say, they were too eager to exercise leadership, that’s why they took their own initiative which was disrespectful in the eyes of Hashem. Another opinion says that they disrespected their teachers Moshe and Aaron, by not consulting with them first before bringing their own offering. And the commentaries goes on and on and on….

But still, to me and maybe to Aaron too, none of these explanations justifies their tragic death. The punishment does not justify the act! Yes, maybe they had a drink or two before they entered the Holy of the Holies, maybe they were too eager to get to a leadership position, but to die in an instant in front of the whole congregation…. is this justice?! At the end of the day, all they wanted to do was to bring a gift to Hashem!

After searching for a while for the answer, I came across a beautiful explanation given by Rabbi Yissachar Frand. He says that although, all of the explanations for Nadav and Avihu’s death may be true, but none of the explanations should be convincing, because we should never be content with the reason of death! Hashem wants us to feel sorry for the deceased and to feel compassion towards the dead! Every dead person deserves to be mourned for! We are not here to judge people and to find a justified reason for someone’s death!! We are here to love everyone and accept that the only reason that someone dies is because of G-d’s will! Do we have to understand G-d’s will? No! But do we have to accept Hashem’s decisions? The Torah does not specify the reason for Nadav and Avihu’s death because it doesn’t want us to remember them as two drunkard outcasts who committed a sin, but rather, they should be remembered as the high Priests and the loyal servants of G-d who were rightfully given a respectful funeral and mourning period. Aaron kept complete silence after the tragedy, because any show of emotions or any spoken words could have revealed lack of faith in Hashem! His silence shows that although he may not have understood why his sons died, but he still believed in Hashem, wholeheartedly!

Yes my friends, our religion is not a religion of logic; it’s a religion of faith! In times of distress and tragedy, sometimes we search for answers but our efforts seems to be used in vain. We are not content. Nothing seems to make sense. We may even start questioning G-d’s decision, chasbe shalom, but it does not give us the right to lose faith in him. After all, if we believe that G-d is a superpower, then our lack of understanding should not bother us so much, since we believe that G-d has more power of understanding and judgment. If we want to understand everything that G-d does, then we are putting ourselves at the same level of understanding as the G-d Almighty, and that’s wrong. Sometimes, the best thing we can do at the time of tragedy is to keep quiet, just like Aaron.

Oxford dictionary may define a tragedy as a “a very sad event with an unhappy ending”, but in Judaism, a tragedy is defined as “a sad event which is an act of G-d beyond human understanding, but we have complete faith in Him that he surely knows what he is doing!”

Shabbat Shalom & Regards;

Martin