TORAH SPARKS Parashat Shemini – Shabbat Parah April 1-2, 2016 – 23 Adar II 5776
Annual (Leviticus 9:1-11:47): Etz Hayim p. 630; Hertz p. 443
Triennial (Leviticus 11:1-47): Etz Hayim p. 636; Hertz p. 449
Maftir (Numbers 19:1-22): Etz Hayim p. 880; Hertz p. 652
Haftarah (Ezekiel 36:16-38): Etz Hayim p. 1287; Hertz p. 999
Tennis for Two
Rabbi Roni Tabick is a UK-based Masorti rabbi. He is rabbi of New Stoke Newington Shul and the assistant rabbi of New North London Synagogue, and works as well for Noam and Marom. Rabbi Tabick and his wife Shoshana are both CY alumni.
Edwin Friedman, rabbi turned Family Therapist, tells in his book
‘Friedman’s Fables’ of a man who wanted to teach his wife to play
tennis. He bought her the best racquet and shoes that money could
buy; he hired the greatest coaches. But somehow, she just didn’t get it.
Finally, despairing, the husband decided to teach her himself. It still didn’t work; whatever he served to her, she did not hit back – she was barely even trying! Then he had an idea – he started serving the ball very, very gently, so that he could rush around the net, take her hand and hit the ball back with her. This worked so well that eventually his wife just left the court, and the man continued to run backwards and forwards, playing tennis with himself.
This image of one partner in a relationship ignoring the other is potent and troubling – how often do we just assume we know what the other person is thinking? How often do we really listen to them? Or are we instead playing tennis alone?
After the death of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, consumed by Divine fire, Moses is in danger of crossing that line with his brother. In Leviticus 10:3, just after the sons have died, Moses speaks to Aaron: "This is what God said, ‘Through those close to Me will I be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ "And Aaron was silent.”
Moses presumes to find meaning in what just happened; he tries to explain the tragic deaths of Nadav and Avihu to their grieving father. But whatever the reason for their death, whether they sinned or not (and the commentators have much to say on both sides of that question), surely this is not the moment to try to give a rationale. As Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says in Pirkei Avot 4:18: “Don’t appease your fellow in the moment of their anger; don’t comfort them while their dead still lies before them…” Aaron completely shuts down. He has no words to say; he is no mood for tennis.
When we try and tell people what to feel, what to think, what their suffering means, we end up playing alone, turning dialogue into monologue. Real relationships require acknowledging a viewpoint that isn’t necessarily your own and recognizing that the other person may be in a different place than you are.
Only at the end of the chapter is the situation resolved. After having just instructed Aaron and his remaining sons that the chatat, the sin- offering, must be consumed, Moses rebukes them for not doing so. Finally Aaron finds his voice (v. 19): “Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering before God, but when such things have happened to me, would God have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering?” When Moses heard this, וייטב בעיניו it was good in his eyes (v 20). Rashi says that Moshe realized his error and was not afraid to admit it.
Moses now understands that his brother and nephews are grieving their loss, and that eating the sin-offering is not the most important thing at the moment. Acknowledging that he had erred enabled the tennis to become a game for two, once again. וייטב בעיניו – and Moses felt good about that.
A Vort for Parashat Shemini
By Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb, CY Faculty
Rashi explains that the distinction between pure and impure in the last verse of the parasha (11:47) refers to the difference between a ritually slaughtered animal whose windpipe has been cut through only half- way (forbidden) and one where the greater part of the windpipe was cut through (permitted). R’ Baruch of Mezhibuzh (1753–1811, Ukraine), grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, said there is a fine line, thin as a hair, between the impure (half) and the pure (half plus). A person is headed to Gan Eden (“Heaven”), but one small misstep can lead to Gehenom (“Hell”). “Gan Eden and Gehenom,” he concluded, “are separated by the thinnest of walls, the thickness of a dinar zahav, a gold coin.”
Table Talk
By Vered Hollander-Goldfarb, CY Faculty
After 7 days of preparations, Aaron and his sons arrive at the Eighth (Shmini) Day – the final stage of becoming Kohanim. In the later part of the Parasha we will learn about pure animals that we may eat.
1) After preparing the Korbanot (sacrifices) Aaron raises his hands and blesses the people. Where does he seem to be standing (9:22)? Why does he bless the people? What do you think that he might have said?
2) Two of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, bring fire and incense before God, a thing that they had not been instructed to do (10:1). Why do you think that they did so, even though they had not been told to? What happens to them (10:2)?
3) Following the story of the death of Nadav and Avihu, God instructs Aaron that he and his sons, and all their future generations (being a Kohen passes down from generation to generation) shall not drink wine before entering the Tabernacle (10:8-9). What might be the reason for this prohibition? Could there be a link to the events with Nadav and Avihu?
4) Purity is a significant theme in the book of Vayikra (Leviticus). In our Parasha we see it in the realm of meat, as we are instructed to eat only pure animals. (Today we call it Kosher meat.) What are the signs of a pure (‘kosher’) animal (11:1-3)? In 11:4-7 there is a list of specific animals. What do they have in common?
5) The Torah offers some explanation for the reason that we are restricted in what animals we eat or come in contact with. What is the explanation (11:45)? Why do you think that the Torah opens the explanation with a reminder that God took us out of Egypt?