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Aide to understanding Parsha
Parshat Shmini 5769Rabbi Ari KahnSilenceConsecration[1]After months of preparation, the Mishkan is consecrated; the excitement was surely palpable. In themiddle of the celebration, tragedy strikes: two sons of Aharon are swallowed by a fire which emanated“from before God”[2].
י קרפ ארקיו
(
שֵא ’ה יֵנְפִל בִרקְַַו תֶרֹטקְ ָהיֶלעָ מיִַָו שֵא ןֵהָב נְִַו תָחְַמ שיִא אהיִבֲאַו בדָָנ ןֹרֲה יֵנְב חקְִַו )א
ה יֵנְפִל תֻמַָו םָתא לַכאַֹו ’ה יֵנְפִִמ שֵא אֵצֵַו )ב(:םָתֹא הִָצ אֹל רשֲֶא הָרָז’
:And Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon, took each of them his censer, and put fire in it, and putincense on it, and offered strange fire before God, which He had not commanded them. 2. And therewent out fire from God and devoured them, and they died before God. Vayikra 10:1,2While the commentaries offer numerous opinions as to the nature of the indiscretion which broughtabout their sudden demise[3], it is the words of Moshe which immediately follow that catch our attention:
י קרפ ארקיו
(
םִַֹו דֵבֶָא םעָָה לָכ יֵנְ לעְַו שדֵֶָא יַבֹרקְִ רֹמאֵל ’ה רִֶ רשֲֶא אה ןֹרֲה לֶא השֶֹמ רֶמאַֹו )ג
ןֹרֲה
:3. Then Moshe said to Aharon, This is what God spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in them that comenear to me, and before all the People I will be glorified. And Aharon was still[4]. Vayikra 10:3Moshe seems unsurprised by the tragedy; he tells Aharon that God had spoken previously about thissituation. God would be honored by those who are near or close to Him. Rashi explains that Moshehere refers to a passage, recorded in Sh’mot, in which God spoke to him regarding the consecration of the Mishkan:
טכ קרפ תומ רפס
(
ידִֹבְכִ שָקְִנְו לֵאָרְ יֵנְבִל הָשָ יִדְעַֹנְו )גמ
:43. And there I will meet with the People of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by My glory. Sh’mot 29:43Rashi[5]suggests that the verse should not be read as “
ידִֹבְכִ
bchvodi – My glory”, rather as “
ידַֹבְכִ
bchvodai – those who honor Me”; thus, the consecration of the Mishkan would be carried out by thoseclosest to God. Moshe explains this concept to Aharon, adding that he had assumed that the Mishkanwould be consecrated with the sacrifice of Moshe himself or Aharon. Now that it has become apparentthat it was in fact Nadav and Avihu who were to bring about the consecration of the Mishkan, this is proof that they were in fact closest to God, on a higher level than either Moshe or Aharon.[6]Moshe is a man of truth; he does not strike us as the type to make small talk, finesse his words, or stretch the truth – even to comfort his mourning brother.[7]Aharon, for his part, accepts Moshe’swords; as the Torah attests, he was silent. He accepted God’s decision. He accepted the tragedy. In thisexplanation there is nothing sinister about the deaths; quite the opposite. Nadav and Avihu were closer than any other mortals to God. Their departure from this world was sublime and elevated. They broughtan offering in before God – and were soon taken before God, permanently.
There is, however, a question that haunts us: If Moshe is correct, if the two holiest people were taken asa consecrating sacrifice, what was the purpose of this Kiddush Hashem, this sanctification of God’sname? Why did the Mishkan necessitate human sacrifice?The Torah Temimah raises this question, and suggests that the existence of a Temple bears an inherentspiritual danger: Once the Temple exists, people may develop a cavalier attitude toward sin. If sin can be healed, fixed, eliminated – it need no longer be avoided.[8]As an aside to this insight, the TorahTemimah suggests that Nadav and Avihu had indeed sinned, an approach which is absent in the wordsof Moshe. Moshe’s comments to Aharon seem to portray their deaths as a result of their elevatedspiritual level. Perhaps Aharon’s reaction can help us better understand what transpired.The Meaning of SilenceAharon was still; he was silent. Silence is considered precious by the Sages:
זי הנמ א קרפ תובא תכסמ הנמהקית אלא בוט ףוגל יתאצמ אלו םימכחה ןיב יתלדג ימי לכ רמוא ונב ןומ …
…Shimon his son said; All my life I have been raised among scholars and I never found anything asgood for the body as silence…Pirkei Avot 1:16The version of this teaching found in Avot d’Rabbi Natan adds that if this is the case for scholars, it isall the more so for the ignorant (stupid).[9]Elsewhere in Avot, Rabbi Akiva lauds silence and calls it a fence for wisdom.[10]Biblical charactersare praised and awarded for there silence, such as Lot[11], Rachel[12], and Esther [13].
The Zohar teaches that silence builds the Beit Hamikdash[14].What is the power of silence? The Baal
Shem Tov is quoted[15]as teaching that when one is silent he can then cling to the world of thoughtwhich is (real) wisdom.The person who more than any other attempted to build a theology of silence was a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov – Rav Nachman of Breslov. His writings contain numerous examinations of silence,and he often stresses its importance.Commenting on the biblical description of the battle against Egypt, Rav Nachman points out thatMoshe speaks of silence. The people were terrified, screaming in fear; Moshe calms and instructs them:[16]
די קרפ תומ רפס
(
ןשִרחֲַ םְֶו םֶכָל םחֵָ ’ה )די
God shall fight for you, and you shall be silent. (Sh’mot 14:14)Rav Nachman explains that through silence man can be victorious in battle; due to our silence we arevictorious.
אנר ןמיס אמק ארודהמ - ן"רהומ יטוקיל רפסקתל ךירצ וניה ,הקית תניחב הזו .ל"נכ המחלמה םחלי 'ה 'הל המחלמה רסמל הזל ןוקתהוםתאו םכל םחלי 'ה" :)ד"י תומ( תניחב הזו ,ונליבב םחלי אוה 'ה ל ךמסל קר םהלהזו ,ל"נכ תוריפכ ל תור תובחמ ןילטבתנ יכ ,הבחמה הלתנ וז הקיתה ידי לו ."ןוירחתל"נכ הבחמה הלתנ הקיתה ידי - ל .)טכ תוחנמ( 'הבחמב הל ךכ ,קת' תניחב
:
This is the aspect of silence; one should be silent and trust only in God,[17]He will fight for us. That isthe meaning of the verse, ‘God shall fight for you, and you shall be silent”. (Sh’mot 14:14) By virtue of silence you will rise in your thought, for spurious heretical thoughts will be eradicated; that is themeaning of the charge “be silent-thus arise in thought”(Menachot 29b)[18]-- by virtue of silence,thoughts are elevated.Silence frees us from extraneous, hindering thoughts and allows our minds to be elevated; therefore, byvirtue of silence, one can understand God. Silence is greater than speech, for silence leads tounderstanding.
דס ןמיס אמק ארודהמ - ן"רהומ יטוקיל רפס
[
תיסרוקיפאה ןמ תומנה תא הלמ אוה ,המ תניחב אוה ,קידצה ל ןוגנה ידי ל ,דו ]הדחימ ןוגנו רמז הל י ,םלוב המכחו המכח לכ ,ד יכ .םל ולפנ יונפה ללחה ל תאזה
The Niggun (tune) of the Tzaddik – which is an aspect of Moshe, raises the souls from heresy… andknow that every type of wisdom in the world has a unique song , a unique tune. Liqutey MaharanMahadura Kamma section 64Moshe, by his own description, was not a great orator. He is on the level of “non-speech”, the level of niggun – a tune devoid of words. This is the highest level, as it connects to the world of pure thought.Rav Nachman explains that the world was created by speech,[19]therefore there must be a level higher
than speech, a level which preceded speech, a level not limited by speech – rather something loftier,holier and purer. That level is – silence.[20]The Silence of AvrahamThere is someone who did remain silent, though had he spoken we would have understood his protest:Avraham. Rabbi Akiva teaches that when God instructed him to offer his son, Avraham could have protested: Had not God Himself already said that Avraham’s progeny would be through Yitchak? Howcan he now be bidden to slaughter Yitzchak?[21] Yet Avraham remained silent.[22]
The Binding of Yitzchak is recalled in the liturgy of Rosh Hashana. We must note that on RoshHashana, in distinction to the other Ten Days of Teshuva, we do not articulate our guilt, rather we use atool – a shofar, a horn that made its first appearance on the sacred mountain when Yitzchak was sparedand the ram was taken in his stead.
בכ קרפ תיארב רפס
(
לָה תֶא חִַַו םָהָרְב ְךֶלֵַו ויָנְרקְַ ְךַבְַ זחֱַאֶנ רחַ ל הִֵהְו אְרַַו ויָניעֵ תֶא םָהָרְב אִַָו )גינְ תחַַ הָלְֹל הֵלעֲַַו
:13. And Avraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by hishorns; and Avraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering in place of his son.
י הקספ טכ הרפ ארקיו הבר רדמ
(
אוה ךורב ודקה הארה דמלמ וינרקב ךבסב זחאנ רחא ליא הנהו אריו ויני תא םהרבא איו )יךכ םהרבאל אוה ךורב ודקה רמא רחא רוחב ךבסנו הז רוחמ תינ ליאה תא וניבא םהרבאל)ט הירכז( ד"הה ליא ל וינרקב לאגיל ןפוסו תורצב םיכבסנו תונוב םיזחאנ תויהל ךינב ןידיתקתי רפוב םיהלא 'הו
10. And Avraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in the thicket byits horns (Bereishit 22, 13). This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, showed our father Avraham
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