Many of our sages have discussed how we face loss and tragedy in our personal and communal life.
Many of our sages have discussed how we face loss and tragedy in our personal and communal life.
This week’s Parshat Shmini contains a horrific incident that introduces this subject. It is the story of Nadav and Avihu, two sons of Aaron, who seize an opportunity to enter the newly constructed Mishkan, come before the altar and present “alien” fire before God. We sense that they were inspired, excited and overly fired up with the dedication of the Mishkan and their special role in the sacrificial cult. They also, as we learn, were intoxicated. God, not pleased at all, sends a fire and consumes them! Let it be noted that their bodies and robes are not consumed. One might say they burned up from within. Their souls were consumed.
Aaron and his family are instructed by Moses and God not to mourn. Aaron is instructed to be silent. Aaron is also told not to use any intoxicants when entering the Tent of Meeting, “ for you shall distinguish between the sacred and the profane.” And this lesson shall be “for all the generation.”
Many of our sages and commentators have wondered about Aaron’s silence at the death of his sons and the lack of a mourning period. I tried to make sense out of this.
A few commentators, including Rabbi Manachem Mendel Schneerson Zt’l, have noted how important silence is when confronted with an incomprehensible loss or tragedy.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe offers:
“The power to be silent at certain moments of life and of history is an important strength. It expresses the awareness that God is infinite, and cannot be encapsulated in our human conceptions of what should take place.
This is not to say that the Torah advocates a fatalistic approach to life. Before the event, one must do everything possible to prevent tragedy. But once it has happened, God forbid, through the acceptance and the silence we reach a special closeness to the Divine. Our sages tell us that because Aaron was silent, he was rewarded by God speaking directly to him.
In our generation, too, there is a need for this power of silence. It is not a passive power, but one that leads to vigorous and joyous action. The Jewish response to the harrowing events of the Shoah is the determined and energetic action to rebuild Jewish family life and Jewish knowledge.”
As we witness the horrific displacement, destruction and loss of human life in Ukraine, we may, perhaps , better understand the meaning of Aaron’s silence and the incredible resilience of our own people after the Holocaust to rebuild and renew our faith in life.
May such death and suffering cease, may the people of Ukraine, a people of deep faith, find the strength to absorb such loss, and ultimately rebuild their lives, an example to all humanity of how precious freedom is.
Come for Shabbes, Be Shabbes,
Reb David