Where Heaven Meets Earth
Parshas
Shemini
Purim is an intensely
spiritual twenty-four hours, occupying a higher spiritual realm than even Yom
Kippur The elevated frame of mind that is meant to accompany this holy day is
unparalleled in the Jewish calendar.
The challenge of embracing the spiritual while satisfying the
physical is a reflection of the delicate tightrope we are expected to walk
throughout our lives-finding a harmonious balance between body and soul.
This is one of the
major themes of this week’s Torah portion.
The first half of the
Parsha describes the inauguration of the mishkan in which Nadav and Avihu, the
two sons of Aharon, meet an untimely, tragic end. In their great zeal to serve
their Creator, they rushed into the Temple with an offering which they were not
commanded to bring-an act that invoked immediate Divine retribution.
The second major theme
of this week’s portion revolves around the various foods that are prohibited.
The Torah calls the ingestion of crawling, creeping insects an abomination that
defiles the body and forms a barrier between the soul and its heavenly source.
The juxtaposition of
these two themes tells us much about our mission in life. We are not to live an
ascetic life, denying basic human needs to enable the soul to transcend the
body. Nor are we to indulge the body in its every physical whim. Instead, we
are taught to achieve a singular marriage of body and soul that has the power
to forge a wholesome relationship with our Divine Source.
All of this is summed
up in the last verse of the Torah portion in which Hashem instructs us to
create a havdala, separation, between the pure and the impure, between what we
are permitted to eat and what we are not.
The great Torah sage,
Rabbi Meir Shapiro, was once asked his impression of American Jewry after his
visit to the United States. In his incisive style he responded, “Here, they
know how to make kiddush but they do not know how to make havdala.”
Yes, we are quick to
embrace that which is sanctified, yet we are not as ready to abstain from that
which is profane. To make the division between right and wrong, pure and
impure, is indeed one of the greatest challenges of our time.
The current worship
of “moral equivalence” and humanistic values that try to erase the distinctions
between moral and immoral, holy and profane, clears the way for all kinds of
degenerate behavior. These hollow rationalizations cannot stand the test of
time.
The litmus of one’s true humanity is the ability to create the
wholesome marriage of body and soul where one first makes “havdala,”
differentiating between that which is illusory and transitory and that which is
real, solid and eternal. Only then, will we be capable of making Kiddush and
becoming a truly holy people.
Wishing you a
wonderful Shabbos
Sincerely
Rabbi Naftali Reich
Reality Of Consequence
Parshas
Shemini
Posted on March 19, 2014 (5774) By
Rabbi Yochanan Zweig | Series: Rabbi Zweig on
the Parsha | Level: Beginner
“…and they died before Hashem” (10:2)
The Zohar relates that
both Nadav and Avihu were under the age of twenty when they died.1 Since their deaths were a punishment
ohnahshc – by heavenly means, a difficulty arises; their deaths violate the
accepted rule that the heavenly court does not mete out punishment to anyone
under twenty years of age.2 Some of the later commentaries respond to this difficulty based
upon the opinion of the Tzelach that if a child exhibits superior intellect, he
can be held responsible for his actions, even at a young age.3
Perhaps we can offer a
different answer. In the beginning of Parshas Acharei Mos, Rashi explains the
juxtaposition between the deaths of Aharon’s sons and the prohibition of
entering the Holy of Holies. Rashi says that just as a doctor’s warning is more
effective when he points out to his patient the fate of someone who failed to
heed his directives, Hashem warns Aharon that if he enters the Holy of Holies
indiscriminately, he will die in the same manner as his sons.4 Why does Rashi use a doctor-patient
scenario as a parable? Would it not have been more appropriate to compare
Hashem and Aharon to a king and his subject?
If Rashi would have
used a king-subject scenario, the message would be that if the subject does not
follow the king’s directions, he will die as a punishment. However, if a person fails to follow the instructions of a doctor and
dies as a result, we consider this to be a logical consequence, not a
punishment; the patient brought upon himself his own demise. Entering the
Holy of Holies without permission is the same concept; the result is the death
of the individual as a logical consequence of being in a place so holy that his
soul cannot tolerate it. His death is not a punishment. Therefore, Rashi
compares Hashem and Aharon to a doctor and his patient, for if Aharon would die
as a result of not adhering to Hashem’s warning, this would be an inevitable consequence.
There is no question as to how the
heavenly court could have punished Aharon’s sons; their deaths were not a
punishment, rather a consequence of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,
to which even minors are not impervious.
1.Begining of Parshas
Achrei Mos see Sefer Drash V’iyun 2.Bamidbar Rabbah 18:4 See Pardeis Yoseif
Parshas Chayei Sarah 3.Tzelach Berachos 31b 4.16:14.
Fools Rush in Where Angels Fear to Tread
Parshas
Shemini
Posted on April 20, 2017 (5777) By
Rabbi Label Lam | Series: Dvar Torah
| Level: Beginner
The sons of Aaron,
Nadav and Avihu, each took his fire-pan, they put fire in the them and placed
them. A fire came forth from before HASHEM an alien fire that He had not
commanded them. A fire came forth from before HASHEM and consumed them, and
they died before HASHEM. (Vayikra 10:1-2)
You shall not make
yourselves abominable with any creeping creature that creeps, and you shall not
defile yourselves with them, that you should become unclean through them. For I
am HASHEM your G-d, and you shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, because I am
holy, and you shall not defile yourselves through any creeping creature that
crawls on the ground. For I am HASHEM Who has brought you up from the land of
Egypt to be your G-d. Thus, you shall be holy, because I am holy. (Vayikra
11:43-45)
What is the
connection between these two giant themes? They seem universes apart and
unlikely neighbors to be packed by The Creator into the same Torah portion.
Maybe they are close because they are so far away from each other. How so?
When the Megilla of
Esther wishes to express how wide spread the kingdom of Achashveirosh was we
are told he ruled over 127 provinces from Hodu to Kush. The Talmud presents a
dispute about the proximity of Hodu and Kush. One opinion is that they were
from one end of the world to the other. The other says they were right next to
each other. How does that approach make sense? Which opinion is true?
I heard an
explanation that they were juxtaposed and contiguous but if you measure around
the world in the other direction they were at the extreme ends of the world one
from the other.
Here we have a case of
Nadav and Avihu, two holy brothers, sons on Aaron the Kohain, rushing into a
realm of holiness, at a time of extreme spiritual elevation, but without with
permission. They died on the spot. On the other end of the spectrum we find
strict instructions about which animals we are and are not allowed to eat.
From the loftiest
levels of holiness to the most physical and animalistic appetite we are
expected to navigate and proceed with precise rules. There is no room for
extremism in either domain. Every move is carefully calibrated.
You might think extreme
zealousness is tolerable and praiseworthy in spiritual matters but in truth the
exposed wires are highly and dangerously charged there. You also might think
there is an excuse when the blood of passion is rushing through our veins.
However, there too we are warned strongly to slow down and proceed with extreme
caution.
Maybe for this reason
we pray every evening that HASHEM should remove the opposing force from in
front of us and in back of us. In front of us is easier to understand but what
harm can this negative force afflict from behind us?!
Getting too holy too
quickly is as dangerous as yielding to raw animalism. Both are departures from
true holiness. In either case life is filled with highly charged electric wires
and we must navigate cautiously. Food is
unavoidable. Spirituality is inevitable. I would feel comfortable changing a light
bulb but not a fixture. I tried once and suddenly all the lights in the house
went out. I feel fortunate my beard was not burnt off or worse. Now I defer to
an expert, a licensed electrician because fools rush in where angels fear to
tread.
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