Parashat Shimini | The Role of Mitzvot

“Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on the fire and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, “It is what the Lord spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.’ So Aaron, therefore, kept silent.[1]”

This week’s Torah portion is “Shmini” and the festival is great. The eight day has arrived and another cycle of sacrifices begins. Now no other than the sons of the high priest Aaron arrive at the Mishkan, the tabernacle, and they do not abide by the set protocol for sacrifices. Punishment is immediate, punishment is swift, and punishment is cruel.

Many, even I, have spoken about Aaron’s silence after the words spoken by Moses. This time I would like to suggest a different point of view. We will start with the address of God to Aaron, “The Lord then spoke to Aaron, saying, ‘Do not drink wine or strong drink, neither you nor your sons with you, when you come into the tent of meeting, so that you do not die—it is a permanent statute throughout your generations— and to make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean,and so as to teach the sons of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.’[2]” It looks like a potential explanation to differentiate between that which is pure (טהור) and that which is not pure (טמא), which is upon the priest to lead the way of.

Possibly we should not wonder that this week’s reading from the Torah also includes some strict laws regarding animals and foods which may be consumed. “These are the creatures which you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth. Whatever has a divided hoof, showing split hoofs, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these, among those which chew the cud, or among those which have a divided hoof: the camel, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you. Likewise, the rock hyrax, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you. The rabbit also, for though it chews cud, it does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean to you. And the pig, for though it has a divided hoof, and so it shows a split hoof, it does not chew cud; it is unclean to you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.[3]” We further read at the end the following, “This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.[4]” These detailed instructions of what may or may not be eaten, are targeted to remind us what is pure and what is impure. It seems not to be really about the actual food or sacrifice but rather in a deeper sense, the need to remember the importance of leading a pure life rather than lives which are impure, or unclean.

Following the horrific deaths of the sons of Aaron and the words of God to him, “Then Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his surviving sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, ‘Take the grain offering that is left over from the Lord’s offerings by fire and eat it as unleavened bread beside the altar, for it is most holy.’[5]” Nonetheless, without some drama the story is incomplete. “But Moses searched carefully for the goat of the sin offering and behold, it had been burned! So he was angry with Aaron’s surviving sons Eleazar and Ithamar, saying, ‘Why did you not eat the sin offering at the holy place? For it is most holy, and He gave it to you to take away the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord. Behold, since its blood had not been brought inside, into the sanctuary, you certainly should have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded!’[6]” As if we needed the deaths of the remaining live sons of Aaron who have departed from the established procedure. This time Aaron intervenes, “But Aaron said to Moses, ‘Behold, this very day they presented their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord. When things like these happened to me, if I had eaten a sin offering today, would it have been good in the sight of the Lord?’ When Moses heard that, it was good in his sight.[7]” It seems that this digression from protocol was forgivable.

The Avodah, the practices of the holly priests in the tabernacle has long gone many generations ago. On the other hand the need to “make a distinction between the unclean and the clean”, the impure and the pure, is as valid today as it ever was. We must do that regardless of whether we keep all of the Mitzvot or just some. We must not get confused about this: the Mitzvot, important as they may be, mean nothing if we do not build an exemplary society to live in, as we learned from generations of our prophets. Simply and deliberately practicing Mitzvot that way are no different than an offering of a strange fire. However, if by keeping some, or all of the Mitzvot we are able to brave the everyday challenges and hardships, striving towards a just, humble, compassionate and accepting society, then we have passed this test. We must always remember though that it is essential to continue to do so and there are many options for that.

Shabbat Shalom and wishes for Good Health.

Reuven Marko, 25 March 2022, 23 Adar B, 5782

[1] Leviticus 10 1-3 [2] Leviticus 10 8-10 [3] Leviticus 11 2-8 [4] Leviticus 11 46-47 [5] Leviticus 10 12 [6] Leviticus 10 16-18 [7] Leviticus 10 19-20