Shemini: Caution:Holy

Shemini: Caution: Holy

This week, in daf yomi, we had this famous and strange  passage: 

מַעֲשֶׂה בְּכֹהֵן אֶחָד שֶׁהָיָה מִתְעַסֵּק וְרָאָה הָרִיצְפָּה שֶׁהִיא מְשׁוּנָּה מֵחֲבֵרוֹתֶיהָ. בָּא וְאָמַר לַחֲיבֵרוֹ. לֹא הִסְפִּיק לִגְמֹר אֶת הַדָּבָר עַד שֶׁיָּֽצְתָה נִשְׁמָתוֹ, וְיָדְעוּ בְיִיחוּד שֶׁשָּׁם הָאָרוֹן גָּנוּז: 

there was an incident involving a certain priest who was going about his duties and saw a certain flagstone that was different from the others. He came and said to his fellow that he had noticed this deviation in the floor. He did not manage to conclude relating the incident before his soul left him,  Following this event, they knew with certainty that the Ark was sequestered there  (Shekalim 6:1)

The Haftorah contains this passage: 

  וַיָּבֹ֖אוּ עַד־גֹּ֣רֶן נָכ֑וֹן וַיִּשְׁלַ֨ח עֻזָּ֜א אֶל־אֲר֤וֹן הָֽ  וַיֹּ֣אחֶז בּ֔וֹ כִּ֥י שָׁמְט֖וּ הַבָּקָֽר   וַיִּֽחַר־אַ֤ף  בְּעֻזָּ֔ה וַיַּכֵּ֥הוּ שָׁ֛ם הָ עַל־הַשַּׁ֑ל וַיָּ֣מָת שָׁ֔ם עִ֖ם אֲר֥וֹן הָ

But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out for the Ark of God and grasped it, for the oxen had stumbled.

The LORD was incensed at Uzzah. And God struck him down on the spot for his indiscretion, and he died there beside the Ark of God.

The dramatic climax of our parsha,  Shemini : 

Fire came forth from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. And all the people saw, and shouted, and fell on their faces.

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 LORD alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them.

And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the LORD.

Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: Through those near to Me I show Myself holy, And gain glory before all the people.” And Aaron was silent.

These stories  are the basis of  Raiders of the Lost Ark. Demonstrations of the deadly power of the tablets that Moses brought down from Sinai, as the emanation of Gd. Any approach to the ark and its contents must be through the correct ritual and only by the purified designee. Deviation - regardless of motive - results in sudden death. 

The priest who stumbled upon the ark was guilty of  noticing something he should not have known.  " I can tell you, but then I will have to kill you."   The toxicity of approaching Gd through kabbalah  (death or madness)  involves some volition by the violator. Tripping over the flagstone is the act of an innocent  - punishable by death. 

The case of Uzzah  is especially horrible.  The holy, holy, holy ark is about to topple from the oxcart. Uzzah just wants to help.  He wants to avoid the damage and  indignity of the fall and spillage . He is instinctively  trying to prevent a disaster.  He is struck dead, presumably for touching the sacred object in the wrong way, at the wrong time, without purification. The rules abide. 

In the context of the subsequent stories ( Uzzah, the priest, Raiders of the Lost ark), the purpose of the story of the sons of Aaron is clear as a warning against unauthorized visitation of the ark. The motive  of Nadav and Avihu is not specified.  Did they want to curry favor from the Almighty? Did they want to generate another phantasmagoria, like the one brought by the prescribed ritual? Did they want to modify the ritual? Were they intoxicated?  All unknown. To me, there is an aspect of adultery in their actions.  In the proper context, their actions would be loving; uninvited - it was a violation. 

The  silence of Aaron is an important prototype for the "approved"  Jewish response to tragedy.  Yesterday was Yom Hashoah, the day when the holocaust is remembered by  two minutes of ... silence.  I.L. Peretz's Bonshke Shweig ( the silent) describes the most uncomplaining  person who , when he goes to his reward has lost the ability to ask ( for justice).  Job, the model of the silent scream, does receive some recompense, but it is not necessarily a reward for silence, it seems more a compensation for injustice. 

The ark is not silent. It enforces its privacy and privilege with actions, lethal actions. 

Ultimately, Aaron was not entirely silent about the death of his sons.  Perhaps his initial mute response was prompted by his memory of his participation in the Golden Calf.  Maybe the death of his sons, engaged in some kind of alternative service, was punishment for his similar acts.  Perhaps he had modeled this unacceptable creative behavior.

 

And Aaron spoke to Moses, “See, this day they brought their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and such things have befallen me! Had I eaten sin offering today, would the LORD have approved?”

 

Aaron could not eat the sacrificial meat, as he was commanded.  The tragedy that had befallen him forced him to deviate from the ritual, now knowing that such a breech could have fatal consequences.  Aaron allows his feelings to guide him. This is not silence.  Silence would have been inappropriate.  Moses agreed.

וַיִּשְׁמַ֣ע מֹשֶׁ֔ה וַיִּיטַ֖ב בְּעֵינָֽיו׃ (פ) And when Moses heard this, he approved.

 

Gd does not comment. 

I am the fourth child at the Seder: I do not know how to ask.  Our history has made it hard.