Once again, the Torah reading for this Shabbat reflects the world in which we are living. This portion comes in between some important dates in the Jewish calendar. Thursday the 24th was Holocaust Remembrance Day and next week we observe Israel’s Yom Ha Zikaron just prior to Independence Day. So, the Torah bridge this week looks at proper rules of worship and food and sacrifice, and what happens when we, as in the case of Nadav and Avihu, make bad choices. The commentaries of this act have puzzled us for centuries, as has their father Aaron’s response when learning of their death: silence.
But I want to call you attention a verse that comes right after the scene of the so-called “alien fire”. Moses reminds Aaron that when entering the Tent of Meeting one must not drink any wine or intoxicant, “lest you die” and one must “distinguish between the sacred and the profane, between the pure and impure” and must teach the Israelites these laws. (10:10). Now there is an interesting commentary on the death of Aaron’s sons who were killed offering this strange fire. According to a passage in Talmud the bodies of the two sons were not destroyed, rather it was their souls. By making the wrong choices, the souls of these two were destroyed. (see Etz Hayim. P.633) Thus, we are also reminded of the importance of teaching right and wrong, what is sacred and what may be profane to our children and grandchildren.
Rarely in our lifetime, have the implications of the choices we and others must make have had more powerful implications. The society is challenging us with potential choices that will impact our health care. Increasingly families are having to make choices about their own health care and end of life care. The wrong choices can have severe consequences on every level and these choices are, often, family systems choices. We are being called to examine what in our life is “sacred” and what is “profane”. Like the commentary, making the wrong choice can led to a kind of death of the soul. So, this Shabbat, as you examine the text, take a moment to examine the text of your life: what do you consider sacred, what profane? What choices shall each of us make to avoid the death of our soul?
Shabbat shalom
Rabbi Richard F Address
Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min, is the Founder and Director of www.jewishsacredaging.com. Rabbi Address served for over three decades on staff of the Union for Reform Judaism; first as a Regional Director and then, beginning in 1997, as Founder and Director of the URJ’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns and served as a specialist and consultant for the North American Reform Movement in the areas of family related programming. Rabbi Address was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972 and began his rabbinic career in Los Angeles congregations. He also served as a part time rabbi for Beth Hillel in Carmel, NJ while regional director and, after his URJ tenure, served as senior rabbi of Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ from 2011-2014.
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