Parashat Shemini

Shabbat Shalom! This week's Torah portion is Parashat Shemini, a portion which I feel deeply connected to yet also continuously troubled by. It tells the stories of the sacrifices in the Mishkan. Aaron and his sons being freshly ordained, Moses walks them through the first official sacrifices, one of each sort described in Parashat Vayikra. After Aaron officiates all the correct korbanot, then two of his sons bring forth a “strange fire” and make an offering that was not commanded to the Lord. A different fire comes forth from the Lord and kills them.

Some years I feel very sympathetic toward Nadav and Avihu. The Haftarah especially draws the emotion toward sympathy for the characters. The haftarah comes from II Samuel and it tells us of Uzzah, son of Avinadav (I don't think the similarities in the names is a coincidence), who reaches out and grasps the Ark of the Covenant to steady it as it the wobbly oxen transport it to King David's tower in the newly established capital of Jerusalem. Uzzah too is killed instantly by God for disobeying the commandment forbidding contact with the Ark, but if he hadn't the Ark would have fallen and the tablets may have been broken again. His death seems cruel and unfair, and so the deaths in the connecting Torah portion also seem extreme.

However, in light of recent events, this year I am reading Nadav and Avihu as the extremists. Bringing an offering of unprescribed incense may not sound all that extremist, but the fact that they took it upon themselves to bring a gift for the Lord that was not asked for, instead of offering any of the number of sacrifices that were explicitly asked for, points toward zealotry. The jump from zealotry and presumptive over-enthusiasm in worship to religious extremism is not a far leap. In fact, 13th century French rabbi Chizkuni comments on Leviticus 10:1 that not only was this strange fire not asked for, God specifically commanded them not to bring it. Yet in their arrogance, they presumed to know the secret desire of God and brought this forbidden fire anyway.

This calls to mind those who kill in the name of religion. If they kill because they believe their idea of God and faith to be the correct one, does that not violate one of the 10 commandments, “Thou shalt not murder”? If they kill because they believe those whom they target are members of a violent and dangerous religion, does that not violate laws of logic and country? These terrorists too act only out of their own arrogance, a presumption of knowing some deeper truth than the one that tells us we are all made in the Divine image and have an equal right to live with dignity and to worship freely without fear.

I don’t wish death upon anyone else. But I hope that akin to the fire of the Lord that went forth and struck down Nadav and Avihu in their tracks, a Divine spark might strike people inclined to extremism such that they might awaken to the harmful reality of their rhetoric and actions and turn them from their paths before more they incite more violence.  As human stewards of this earth, we can aid in this by spreading our own messages of peace and solidarity. May we stand together against hate and bigotry, and usher in a new world of acceptance and love. Amen and Shabbat Shalom.