Post by Rabbi Neil on Apr 23, 2020 17:44:35 GMT
THIS WEEK THE TORAH PORTION IS SH’MINI. IT BEGINS BY DESCRIBING THE EIGHTH AND LAST DAY OF THE CEREMONY THAT CULMINATES WITH AARON AND HIS SONS ASSUMING THE DUTIES OF THE PRIESTHOOD. THEIR SERVICE IS CROWNED BY THE VISIBLE APPEARANCE OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE. A MIRACULOUS FLAME CONSUMES THE SACRIFICES ON THE ALTAR. THIS IS MEANT TO BE A PROFOUNDLY JOYOUS AND MEMORABLE OCCASION IN THE LIFE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AFTER ALL, THE OVERRIDING PURPOSE OF THE FEEING OF THE SLAVES AND EXODUS FROM EGYPT IS TO GIVE US THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORSHIP GOD IN PEACE AND FREEDOM, AND THE PRIESTLY PROTOCOL IS THE ESSENTIAL LINK BETWEEN GOD AND THE PEOPLE.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IS A JARRING AND APPARENTLY UNEXPLAINABLE TRAGEDY. AARON’S TWO SONS COMMIT SOME SORT OF CEREMONIAL OFFENSE. IT IS DESCRIBED IN LEVITICUS CHAPTER 10, VERSES 1-3 AS FOLLOWS: “NOW AARON’S SONS NADAB AND ABIHU EACH TOOK HIS FIRE PAN, PUT FIRE IN IT, AND LAID INCENSE ON IT: AND THEY OFFERED BEFORE THE ETERNAL ALIEN FIRE, WHICH HAD NOT BEEN ENJOINED UPON THEM. AND FIRE CAME FORTH FROM THE ETERNAL AND CONSUMED THEM; THUS THEY DIED AT THE INSTANCE OF THE ETERNAL. THEN MOSES SAID TO AARON, ‘THIS IS WHAT THE ETERNAL MEANT BY SAYING: THROUGH THOSE NEAR TO ME I SHOW MYSELF HOLY, AND GAIN GLORY BEFORE ALL THE PEOPLE.
AND AARON WAS SILENT.
WHAT DID NADAB AND ABIHU DO THAT WAS SO WRONG THAT THEY DESERVED DEATH? AND WHY DOES THEIR DEATH GIVE INSIGHT TO MOSES ABOUT A DECLARATION THAT HE HAD PREVIOUSLY HEARD FROM GOD BUT THAT HE HAD NOT UNDERSTOOD UNTIL THIS MOMENT?
WHAT OCCURS TO ME AFTER READING THE SUBSEQUENT PASSAGES OF SH’MINI IS THAT WE ARE, IN A SENSE, PLAYING A DIFFERENT GAME NOW. WE ARE LIVING IN A WORLD WHERE PRECISE AND STRINGENT CONDITIONS OF CONDUCT ARE MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH, BECAUSE THEY ARE INTIMATELY TIED TO NEARNESS TO GOD. THE EXAMPLES OF SUCH STRINGENCY ARE NUMEROUS:
HERE ARE JUST SOME IN SH’MINI: MOSES WARNS AARON AND HIS SURVIVING SONS THAT THEY ARE FORBIDDEN TO BARE THEIR HEADS AND TEAR THEIR CLOTHES DURING THE MOURNING CEREMONIES OF NADAB AND ABIHU, OR THEY WILL DIE. AARON IS PROHIBITED FROM DRINKING WINE BEFORE ENTERING THE TENT OF MEETING. MOSES ANGRILY CHASTISES AARON’S SURVIVING SONS FOR ALLOWING THE GOAT OF PURGATION OFFERING TO BE BURNED BEFORE IT WAS EATEN.
THEN COMES THE FAMOUS PASSAGES ABOUT KASHRUT: NO ANIMAL THAT DOES NOT BOTH CHEW CUD AND HAVE A SPLIT HOOF MAY BE EATEN. WHAT JUMPS OUT AT ME READING THIS NOW IS STATED IN CHAPTER 11 VERSE 8 “YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF THEIR FLESH NOR TOUCH THEIR CARCASSES; THEY ARE IMPURE FOR YOU.” HERE IS A DIRECT COMMANDMENT CONCERNING WHAT THE PEOPLE ARE PROHIBITED FROM EVEN TOUCHING. FOLLOWING ARE THE FISH AND BIRDS, THE UNACCEPTABLE ONES ARE “ABOMINATIONS”.
THEN FOLLOWS THE QUARANTINE FOR TOUCHING IMPURE ANIMALS, CHAPTER 11 VERSE 24: “AND THE FOLLOWING SHALL MAKE YOU IMPURE – WHOEVER TOUCHES THEIR CARCASSES SHALL BE IMPURE UNTIL EVENING, AND WHOEVER CARRIES THE CARCASSES OF ANY OF THEM SHALL WASH THOSE CLOTHES AND BE IMPURE UNTIL EVENING. OVER AND OVER UNTIL THE END OF THE CHAPTER THE HEBREWS ARE INSTRUCTED THAT TOUCHING CERTAIN ANIMALS, TOUCHING DEAD ANIMALS, CAUSES ONE TO BE IMPURE UNTIL EVENING. IF ONE OF THE IMPURE ANIMALS FALLS IN AN EARTHEN VESSEL, THE VESSEL MUST BE BROKEN AND DISCARDED, EVEN OVENS AND STOVES MUST BE SMASHED IF THEY HAVE COME INTO CONTACT WITH ANY FOOD THAT HAD BECOME IMPURE DUE TO COMING INTO CONTACT WITH STANDING WATER.
THROUGHOUT MOST OF OUR LIVES IT HAS BEEN HARD FOR MOST OF US AS REFORM JEWS, MOST OF WHOM DO NOT HAVE TO WORK AND LIVE IN STERILE ENVIRONMENTS, TO TAKE TO HEART THE LESSONS THESE ARCANE AND OBSCURE LAWS ABOUT PRIESTLY PRECISION IN CONDUCTING SACRIFICES AND THE REPETITIVE WARNINGS ABOUT EATING, HANDLING AND TOUCHING THE WRONG ANIMALS, FOLLOWED IN THE NEXT CHAPTERS WITH SIMILAR PROHIBITIONS AGAINST TOUCHING INFECTED PEOPLE, GARMENTS AND BUILDINGS.
BUT WE CAN LEARN FROM OUR HISTORY THAT THE WORLD HAS OFTEN CHANGED ABRUPTLY FOR US. THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, THE CENTER OF OUR SPRITUAL LIFE, WAS DESTROYED, WE WERE SCATTERED AND DEVISED AN ENTIRELY NEW WAY TO COME AND STAY CLOSE TO GOD. WE’VE BEEN EXILED, PERSECUTED, DISPERSED, KILLED IN SITUATIONS WHERE WE MAY HAVE BECOME USED TO LIVING IN RELATIVE COMFORT. NOW, AFTER A PERIOD OF RELATIVE CALM AND COMFORT, OUR WORLD IS BEING UPENDED AGAIN, THIS TIME GLOBALLY. AND THE PANDEMIC MAY REALLY BE ONLY A WARNING OF THE WORST YET TO COME, WHEN THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE REACH A TIPPING POINT FOR THE FUTURE OF THE LIVING WORLD.
OUR ABILITY TO ADAPT AND SURVIVE, BEFORE AND NOW, HAS DEPENDED IN LARGE PART IN PAYING VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE THINGS WE DO, THE SINGS WE SAY, THE THINGS WE EAT, THE THINGS WE TOUCH. AND OUR ADHERENCE TO A STRICT CODE OF CONDUCT IS NOW A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. OUR FAITH IN GOD, THE JEWISH PEOPLE, OUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS REMAINS STRONG. WE PRAY THAT WE ACT IN A WAY TO JUSTIFY GOD’S FAITH IN US.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IS A JARRING AND APPARENTLY UNEXPLAINABLE TRAGEDY. AARON’S TWO SONS COMMIT SOME SORT OF CEREMONIAL OFFENSE. IT IS DESCRIBED IN LEVITICUS CHAPTER 10, VERSES 1-3 AS FOLLOWS: “NOW AARON’S SONS NADAB AND ABIHU EACH TOOK HIS FIRE PAN, PUT FIRE IN IT, AND LAID INCENSE ON IT: AND THEY OFFERED BEFORE THE ETERNAL ALIEN FIRE, WHICH HAD NOT BEEN ENJOINED UPON THEM. AND FIRE CAME FORTH FROM THE ETERNAL AND CONSUMED THEM; THUS THEY DIED AT THE INSTANCE OF THE ETERNAL. THEN MOSES SAID TO AARON, ‘THIS IS WHAT THE ETERNAL MEANT BY SAYING: THROUGH THOSE NEAR TO ME I SHOW MYSELF HOLY, AND GAIN GLORY BEFORE ALL THE PEOPLE.
AND AARON WAS SILENT.
WHAT DID NADAB AND ABIHU DO THAT WAS SO WRONG THAT THEY DESERVED DEATH? AND WHY DOES THEIR DEATH GIVE INSIGHT TO MOSES ABOUT A DECLARATION THAT HE HAD PREVIOUSLY HEARD FROM GOD BUT THAT HE HAD NOT UNDERSTOOD UNTIL THIS MOMENT?
WHAT OCCURS TO ME AFTER READING THE SUBSEQUENT PASSAGES OF SH’MINI IS THAT WE ARE, IN A SENSE, PLAYING A DIFFERENT GAME NOW. WE ARE LIVING IN A WORLD WHERE PRECISE AND STRINGENT CONDITIONS OF CONDUCT ARE MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH, BECAUSE THEY ARE INTIMATELY TIED TO NEARNESS TO GOD. THE EXAMPLES OF SUCH STRINGENCY ARE NUMEROUS:
HERE ARE JUST SOME IN SH’MINI: MOSES WARNS AARON AND HIS SURVIVING SONS THAT THEY ARE FORBIDDEN TO BARE THEIR HEADS AND TEAR THEIR CLOTHES DURING THE MOURNING CEREMONIES OF NADAB AND ABIHU, OR THEY WILL DIE. AARON IS PROHIBITED FROM DRINKING WINE BEFORE ENTERING THE TENT OF MEETING. MOSES ANGRILY CHASTISES AARON’S SURVIVING SONS FOR ALLOWING THE GOAT OF PURGATION OFFERING TO BE BURNED BEFORE IT WAS EATEN.
THEN COMES THE FAMOUS PASSAGES ABOUT KASHRUT: NO ANIMAL THAT DOES NOT BOTH CHEW CUD AND HAVE A SPLIT HOOF MAY BE EATEN. WHAT JUMPS OUT AT ME READING THIS NOW IS STATED IN CHAPTER 11 VERSE 8 “YOU SHALL NOT EAT OF THEIR FLESH NOR TOUCH THEIR CARCASSES; THEY ARE IMPURE FOR YOU.” HERE IS A DIRECT COMMANDMENT CONCERNING WHAT THE PEOPLE ARE PROHIBITED FROM EVEN TOUCHING. FOLLOWING ARE THE FISH AND BIRDS, THE UNACCEPTABLE ONES ARE “ABOMINATIONS”.
THEN FOLLOWS THE QUARANTINE FOR TOUCHING IMPURE ANIMALS, CHAPTER 11 VERSE 24: “AND THE FOLLOWING SHALL MAKE YOU IMPURE – WHOEVER TOUCHES THEIR CARCASSES SHALL BE IMPURE UNTIL EVENING, AND WHOEVER CARRIES THE CARCASSES OF ANY OF THEM SHALL WASH THOSE CLOTHES AND BE IMPURE UNTIL EVENING. OVER AND OVER UNTIL THE END OF THE CHAPTER THE HEBREWS ARE INSTRUCTED THAT TOUCHING CERTAIN ANIMALS, TOUCHING DEAD ANIMALS, CAUSES ONE TO BE IMPURE UNTIL EVENING. IF ONE OF THE IMPURE ANIMALS FALLS IN AN EARTHEN VESSEL, THE VESSEL MUST BE BROKEN AND DISCARDED, EVEN OVENS AND STOVES MUST BE SMASHED IF THEY HAVE COME INTO CONTACT WITH ANY FOOD THAT HAD BECOME IMPURE DUE TO COMING INTO CONTACT WITH STANDING WATER.
THROUGHOUT MOST OF OUR LIVES IT HAS BEEN HARD FOR MOST OF US AS REFORM JEWS, MOST OF WHOM DO NOT HAVE TO WORK AND LIVE IN STERILE ENVIRONMENTS, TO TAKE TO HEART THE LESSONS THESE ARCANE AND OBSCURE LAWS ABOUT PRIESTLY PRECISION IN CONDUCTING SACRIFICES AND THE REPETITIVE WARNINGS ABOUT EATING, HANDLING AND TOUCHING THE WRONG ANIMALS, FOLLOWED IN THE NEXT CHAPTERS WITH SIMILAR PROHIBITIONS AGAINST TOUCHING INFECTED PEOPLE, GARMENTS AND BUILDINGS.
BUT WE CAN LEARN FROM OUR HISTORY THAT THE WORLD HAS OFTEN CHANGED ABRUPTLY FOR US. THE TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM, THE CENTER OF OUR SPRITUAL LIFE, WAS DESTROYED, WE WERE SCATTERED AND DEVISED AN ENTIRELY NEW WAY TO COME AND STAY CLOSE TO GOD. WE’VE BEEN EXILED, PERSECUTED, DISPERSED, KILLED IN SITUATIONS WHERE WE MAY HAVE BECOME USED TO LIVING IN RELATIVE COMFORT. NOW, AFTER A PERIOD OF RELATIVE CALM AND COMFORT, OUR WORLD IS BEING UPENDED AGAIN, THIS TIME GLOBALLY. AND THE PANDEMIC MAY REALLY BE ONLY A WARNING OF THE WORST YET TO COME, WHEN THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE REACH A TIPPING POINT FOR THE FUTURE OF THE LIVING WORLD.
OUR ABILITY TO ADAPT AND SURVIVE, BEFORE AND NOW, HAS DEPENDED IN LARGE PART IN PAYING VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE THINGS WE DO, THE SINGS WE SAY, THE THINGS WE EAT, THE THINGS WE TOUCH. AND OUR ADHERENCE TO A STRICT CODE OF CONDUCT IS NOW A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH. OUR FAITH IN GOD, THE JEWISH PEOPLE, OUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS REMAINS STRONG. WE PRAY THAT WE ACT IN A WAY TO JUSTIFY GOD’S FAITH IN US.