Shmini :Survival and Eight

This week's Sidra contains the painful elements of surviving a catastrophe.  Aaron mourned the death of his two sons, Nadav and Avihu.  Aaron's response to the horrific event was to fall into a dark quietude.  He was silent.  He did not weep, rip his hair and bemoan his pain.  He remained resolutely silent.

The word the Torah uses to describe Aaron’s affect is “Vayidom.”  The Hafetz Hayim notes that the word is akin to “dumam,” meaning something more than silent.  The word conveys the idea of feeling like a stone.  Aaron’s pain was so great, the Hafetz Hayim implies, that he was beyond reaction.  So overwhelming was his pain that he was stone-like.

Death is like that.  There are times when we weep and tear at our hair and other times when the pain ruins so deep that it transcends reaction.  We are blank, almost unfeeling.

In the Psalm we know as the Ashray, God is depicted as being “erech apayim,” of “long face.”  A ”long face” is one that is responding to the afflictions of life.  God reacts.  What we do makes an impact on the Holy One.

Most people when they are afflicted are similar; their face betrays their emotions.  In those instances we have clue on how to respond to their needs.

People respond to life's challenges in an infinite number of ways.  Each person is unique and their reaction to what life throws at them is also unique.  

Maybe the powerful lesson of this Torah reading is to learn to respect the differences that inhere in us all.  Perhaps if we each were to treat one another with deference and respect for their difference there would be an end to hatred.  

May God help us achieve this goal.


D'var Acher.

Shmini means eight.  That so the name of this week’s Torah portion.  

Why is a week seven days?  Because God created the world in seven days.  Is there any culture, anywhere on earth that does not observe a seven day week?  A more natural or obvious number would be five or ten.  Seven only makes sense coming from the Creation story.  And every place, religion, nationality, and ethnicity on earth observes the same week!

Remember the tale from Genesis: God created a universe that was fully formed and then left mankind with a single task, “to till and tend it.”  In other words, our task began on the eighth day.  Seven are also the days of shivah.  When they are completed we rise up to begin life anew.  This too is the eighth day.

In the mystic tradition it is said that we are now living in the eighth day.  This is humanity’s time and opportunity to perfect the world for us.  God gave us all the necessary tools and then left us to make what we will of our lives and the world.

Our parsha opens with: “It came to pass on the eighth day . . . today, the Lord will appear to you.”  And He has.

He has crafted a world that has all the necessary ingredients to perfect ourselves and help one another achieve that same goal.  God has given us the blueprint for life, Torah.  

Today is the eighth day of creation.  Celebrate Torah.  Let it and you merge.

Tetsaveh: Holy, Holy, Holy

Tetsaveh contains all the elements of kedusha (holiness) that B'nai Israel needed to become a nation standing in awe of the Almighty.

The Kohen Gadol exuded kedusha, holiness.  It emanated from his being, his carriage.  Robed in a great white tunic he appeared almost as an apparition in the glinting sunlight before the people.  Breastplate splayed over his chest there were twelve stones, one representing each tribe.  Then there was the Urim and Tumim, detectors of truth that glowed bright indicating the direction of the Israelite nation.

“You shall be a Holy Nation, a Nation of Kohanim,” declares God in the sacred text.  It was almost as if the very luminescence that radiated out of the Kohen Gadol attached itself to every Jew standing awed before Him. 

Following God’s mitzvot (commandments) leads to inner and external transformation.  When we act in harmony with God we become sparks of His Holy Essence.  Holiness is catching.

 Question: Whom would you call “kodesh”?

At the center of the world rests a rock.  It is where Abraham nearly drove a knife into the heart of Isaac.  That is the same place where Solomon built his Temple to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, God.  We call it the Beit HaMikdash (note the root word, kodesh).  Massive walls of limestone glow a hue of gold in the sunlight around the Kodesh Kodashim (Holy of Holies).  Only the Kohen Gadol could enter that sacred space, and then, only after purifying himself in the quiescent waters of the Mikveh.

 Question: If places can also be holy, how do they become that way?

God’s gift to His people is Shabbat.  As the Torah declares, Shabbat is called Yom Shabbat l’kodsho (The Day of Shabbat to His Holiness).  When we pray we endow the Shabbat with holiness.  We consider who we are and whom we can become.  Further, we study on Shabbat to craft an even greater crown on this day.  We declare Shabbat holy when we make Kiddush (again, there is that root word, kodesh), studying and praying.  Implicit in these actions is when we ignore Shabbat we strip it of kedusha.  “My children are abandoning My holy gift,” the Master weeps when we turn our backs in favor the mundane.  On the other hand, God says, “When you, My children, light the Shabbat wicks, I will provide the sacred fire for the Holy Altar in Jerusalem.”

Thought: The marriage ceremony is called kedushin, See Leviticus 19:23, 36.  Can you guess why?

Kedusha happens whenever we bind ourselves to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.  Another example is kashrut.  When we eat in accord with His wishes we draw closer to Him.

“If you make yourselves holy, distinct, from other peoples, then you belong to Me.  If not, you belong to Nebuchadnezzar and his lot.”  -Sifra 93D