Download Sh`mini - Temple Beth El

1
March 26, 2011
PARASHAT SH’MINI
(“EIGHTH DAY”)
1ST Aliyah 1 (P. 443, verse 1)
This section is entitled, “The Eighth Day or Sh’mini”. The seven-day
week symbolizes a complete unit; an eighth day represents starting
over at a new, higher level. Thus, a baby boy is circumcised and
brought into the Covenant on the eighth day, beginning the second
week of his life as a member of the Covenant. The Talmud compares
the first seven days of celebrating the construction of the Tabernacle
to the seven days of Creation. On the eighth day, we are challenged
to begin living in the day-to-day world of ordinary events. This is what
is happening here. This section is initiating the every-day sacrifices
needed to keep God’s plan for the world in harmony. It is sort of like
the opening day at Fenway Park. The people, in the wilderness,
hoped the presence of Adonai (nigh) would appear or, in Boston, the
people hoped for a Red Sox victory. The whole community came
forward for this spectacular event. Before the climatic moment, the
preliminary activities, which, of course, were the various sacrifices,
began. There was the burnt offering or “Olah”, which is a gift to God
with no strings attached. Next was the purification or sin offering, also
called the “Chatat”. Its purpose was to decontaminate or purify the
person giving the offering. The offering of “Sh’lamin” or thanksgiving
offering was given to God. The Priests then sacrificed the people’s
offering, which must have enlivened the gathering crowd.
2
Expectations were high. The people were about to come in contact
with the Deity. Excitement filled the air, along with the smoke from the
sacrificial offerings.
2nd Aliyah (Sha ne) (P. 444, verse 17)
After concluding the offerings of all the sacrifices, Aaron lifted his
hands toward the people and blessed them. There is an expectation
that Adonai (nigh) will make His presence known to the Israelite
community. In the Christian Pentecostal faith, a religious service is an
outpouring of emotional feelings in an effort to reach God. It is done
through song, emotions and personal prayers. The church is not a
quiet place but it is a place of ecstasy in which individuals believe they
are receiving the spirit of God. Pastor Daniel Ajayi-Adeniran believes
that the Holy Spirit is working through him and the worshippers. This,
however, is not the method used by mainstream Judaism, although
the Chasidic movement sought to reform, in the 18th century, the
Jewish religion of their world. They tried to capture the spirit of God
through dancing, song and emotional fever. Since the destruction of
the Temple, Adonai (nigh) can no longer reached through animal and
grain offerings. How is God’s presence known to us the Jews of
Quincy? We have available to us, the Torah with its beautiful stories,
outstanding prayers and its metaphorical meanings. The Rabbis
interpreted the Torah and we use their interpretations, as written in
the Mishna and Talmud as our guide. It is through study and
interpretation that we can learn about Adonai (nigh). With the
destruction of the Temple, Jews developed a prayer service that can
be both intellectual and emotional. The songs can be very moving.
The Torah portion can get us thinking and the prayers reach out to the
3
Divine and fulfill our human needs. There is, in Judaism, a mistrust of
people who claim to speak in the name of God. God has already
spoken. His words and ideas are in the Torah. Countless Jewish
philosophers and religious leaders have illuminated the Torah through
their writings. The Jewish method is to become God’s partner by
following the mitzvoth and by trying to repair the world. This is why
we are here at Temple Beth El today. God calls upon us to honor the
Sabbath. Do you hear Adonai (nigh) calling you?
3rd Aliyah (Shileshe) (P. 445, verse 24)
After the blessing of the people by Moses and Aaron, the “Presence
of the Lord” appeared to all the people. Fire came forth from before
the Lord and consumed the burnt offering on the altar. And all the
people saw, shouted and fell on their faces. This joyous occasion,
however, was suddenly disrupted by tragedy. Two of Aaron’s sons
committed a ceremonial offense; and again a miraculous flame
appeared, this time to take the lives of the offenders. The exact nature
of the young men’s offense, however, is obscure. Commentators,
over the generations, have used their imaginations to speculate about
what grave sin they might have committed. One explanation is that
they brought instruments for making a fire into the Tent, not realizing
that on this special occasion, God was going to send fire miraculously
from heaven. Some commentators find Nadab and Abihu guilty of
egotism, each taking his own fire pan, without consulting with each
other or with their father, Aaron. Another explanation was that they
entered the Sanctuary drunk, for which reason Priests are told in
Verse 9 not to drink wine before entering the Sanctuary. Perhaps the
strange fire they bore was the fire of ambition, which prompted the
4
brothers to say, “When will these old men die, our father and our
uncle, so that we can take their place?”
Like good tragedy
everywhere, the story is intended to elicit pity and fear for Nadab,
Abihu, their father, mother and siblings; and fear that God’s terrifying
power may burst forth again. The tragic death of Nadab and Abihu
elicited a strong emotional reaction from poet Robin Fox. Perhaps she
experienced a recent tragedy, in her life. In her poem “For the Last
Time”, Fox wrote:
How do you know
when it’s the last time?
The last time to ask
How are you?
How was your day?
The last time to say
“I love you.
Good night…sweet dreams.”
You don’t.
And so you must reach out
With love and compassion
At every opportunity
To show those who love you
That you care
You love
And need to be needed…
5
In a world where you suddenly find yourself
Alone once again
In an aching painful way
Because someone you love
has left you behind
to seek your own paths
and truths
in an uncertain place.
The only thing certain
Is that you’re not truly alone
Because of those who do love you
And for that be thankful
And grateful
And feel blessed
That you were able to say
“Good night…I love you
One last time.
4th Aliyah (Rive-e) (P. 447, verse 12)
6
Moses addresses Aaron and his remaining sons, instructing them to
continue with the ceremonies—despite the deaths of their next of kin.
In the previous section, it states, “And Aaron was silent”. In Rive-e,
Moses gives the Priests instructions without regard to Aaron’s loss.
Why isn’t there any emotion being shown? Where is Aaron’s anger?
Should it be directed against God? his sons? or himself? Why didn’t
Aaron monitor his sons more closely? Why didn’t Moses comfort his
brother? How could God do such a deed? Aaron wasn’t killed by
God for his sin of the Golden Calf. Were his sons’ actions more
grievous than his own misdeeds? The Torah usually does not call
attention to someone’s not speaking. What then is the unusual
significance of Aaron’s silence? Silence cries out in this portion!
There is no sympathy from Moses. He remains silent. There is no
pleading from Aaron asking how could this happen. He remains
silent. There was no added explanation from God. He remains silent.
Did Aaron accept God’s decree without protest? Was his anguish too
great for him to put into words? Did he resist temptation to express
his emotion? If he had, would it have served any positive purpose?
Perhaps the text is saying that there is more power in silence than in
any words. Actually, according to Rabbi Navah Levine, after the initial
inauguration of the Tabernacle there would be time for mourning,
anger and sadness but now was not the time. First, community needs
had to be met and personal sadness had to be temporarily put aside.
But for now, there was silence, the eighth day!
5th Aliyah (Ha meshe) (P. 447, verse 16)
7
Moses becomes aware that one of the purification or sin offerings
(“chatat”) had been burnt rather than eaten. When he expressed his
displeasure, Aaron explains his reason for ordering the burning of that
particular offering. Moses accepts Aaron’s explanation. In this
section, it states that Moses was angry. The Midrash teaches—Look
at what anger can do, even to a person as wise as Moses. When
Moses became angry, his knowledge of the law left him and he forgot
that a Priest in mourning was not permitted to eat of the sacrifice.
What Aaron needed at that moment, however, were not words of
rebuke but words of comfort. The lesson for us is to control our
emotions, for not to do so will lead to many problems, not only for
ourselves but for the individuals with whom we are angry. Control
and self-discipline lead to self-respect and respect for others. By
controlling our anger we can remember the mitzvoth and the proper
way to act. Once Moses displayed his anger, according to Rashi, he
was not too proud to admit that he was wrong. This is something we
all must remember. Once we wrongly offend a family member, friend,
business associate or just an acquaintance, an apology should be
forthcoming. We should not be too proud. Our strength and courage
are displayed just by saying, “Sorry”. This is what the Israelite
offerings on the altar teach us. If it is good enough for God, it is good
enough for us. We must apologize and make amends for our
improper behavior. The person wronged must be able to swallow
his/her pride and accept the apology. This is the basis of our
relationship with God. That should be our model.
6th Aliyah (She she) (P. 449, verse 2)
8
In this section, God gives the commandments of keeping Kosher. It
presents a Priestly world view in which God’s earthly realm must be
kept in purity. Part of this purity involves what goes into the body as
expressed through forbidden and allowed food. The Priests
developed a system of avoidance and purification. It stressed
boundaries and order. As in many of the Priestly writings, the idea of
separateness is developed. The explanation for keeping Kosher or
upholding the dietary code is explicit: “You shall sanctify yourselves
and be Holy, for I am Holy.” The dietary laws constitute a way of
sanctifying the act of eating. The eating of meat requires killing a
living creature, and is seen by the Torah as a compromise. These
laws elevate the eating of meat to a level of sanctity by introducing
categories of permitted and forbidden foods. For animals, eating is a
matter of instinct—only humans can choose on moral or religious
grounds not to eat something otherwise available. According to Philo,
of Alexandria, the dietary laws are intended to teach us to control our
bodily appetites. Maimonides stated that all commandments aim at
human perfection. The Pharisees sought to give a priestly character
to all Jewish life. They regarded the family table as a kind of altar.
The Reform Rabbinic Assembly adopted, in 1885, the famous
Pittsburg Platform. It contained the statement, “We hold that all such
Mosaic and rabbinical laws regulating diet, priestly purity and dress
originated in an age and under the influence of ideas entirely foreign
to our present mental and spiritual state.” For others, however,
Kashrut helps to create a Jewish lifestyle so that Jewish identity can
be maintained. It offers Jews a fence of protection to guard against
assimilation. Still others feel that Kashrut helps the Jew to maintain a
moral sense of purity and purpose. It allows Jews to be a nation of
Priests. Most Jews, however, do not keep kosher and most Jews do
not attend Shabbat services on a regular basis either. Choice,
however, is available to each of us. What kind of life style do we
9
want? How intense should our observance of Jewish law be? Where
do we find sanctity, Holiness and, for that matter, God? Could
keeping Kashrut offer us a unique spiritual experience and increase
our level of holiness? Does keeping kosher create a unique Jewish
lifestyle? The choice of following the dietary laws belongs to each one
of us.
7th Aliyah (Shive e) (P. 452, verse 33)
This section discusses the possibility of foods and utensils contracting
ritual impurity. The Torah then mentions, in particular, the impurity
contracted through coming in contact with the carcass of a kosher
animal which was not ritually slaughtered. In this discussion of ritual
purity, Leviticus 11:36 mentions the term, “mikvei-mayim”, which is a
Biblical phrase meaning a cistern in which water is collected. It
provides the foundation for rabbinic justifications for required
immersion in the mikvah or the ritual bathing pool. There have been
no ritual baths found from the time of the First Temple. In Biblical
times, however, ritual washing could have been achieved, instead, by
splashing, pouring or rinsing. When Rabbinic Judaism eventually
emerged as the dominant form of Jewish practice the mikvah would
become the only acceptable method for ritual immersion.
Archaeologists have found numerous ritual bathing pools that Jews
constructed during the Second Temple times. The most common use
of such mikva’ot, during this era, was purification prior to entering the
area of the Temple. Most Biblical laws of ritual purity lapsed with the
destruction of the Second Temple. Since that time, the mikvah has
been used most frequently by women. They immerse on a variety of
occasions—prior to marriage, at a specified time in each menstrual
10
cycle and following the birth of children. Traditionally, mikvah
immersion is part of conversion to Judaism. Some authorities have
encouraged men to immerse in a mikvah on the eve of the Sabbath
and festivals. Nowadays, Mayyim Hayim, the nondenominational
mikvah, encourages the use of the mikvah for important celebrations,
events and milestones. In their own words: “Mayyim Hayim is a
resource for learning, spiritual discovery, and creativity where women
and men of all ages can celebrate milestones like weddings and b’nei
mitzvah; where conversion to Judaism is accorded honor and dignity
it deserves; where survivors of trauma, illness or loss find solace; and
where women can explore the ritual of monthly immersion on their
own terms.” When is the last time you used an important life event to
immerse in the mikvah? Using the mikvah could become another way
to help communicate with your inner self and with God.
Maftir (P.652 v.1-22)
Haftarah—“Shabbat Parah (P.999)
“Ya-a-mode, Ya-a-mode, Ele-e-ezar ben Daveed v’Shrona, Maftir
Chazak”
or:
“Ya-a-mode, Ya-a-mode ben Ben Moshe, Maftir Chazak”