Dear Friends,
Sometimes we just must differ.
And, sometimes, we just must differ from the Torah. This week is one of those times.
For me, this week’s section is one of the most painful portions in the Torah. Aaron and his sons are about to be consecrated as the High Priests, and there is a rich pageant about to be witnessed by all of the Israelites, including a special sacrifice. Then unexpectedly, two of Aaron’s sons, his eldest children, come forward with their fire-pans, and God sends forth a bolt of fire which consumes and immolates them immediately. Their lifeless bodies would be carried out of the encampment before their silent father.
Why did this happen?
Some commentaries suggest it was because the sons were impudent, or drunk, or one-upping their honored father. Others suggest the sons were super-righteous, and God only takes such perfect souls.
I have found every explanation wanting. Rather, I am angered and I grieve the loss of these young, eager souls. I cannot intuit whether the sons were wrongful or righteous; the text offers insufficient evidence. All I know is that two sons of Aaron, at the pinnacle of their dad’s life, and at the prime of their own, were stricken by God summarily, and without explanation.
Capricious hurt and loss is upsetting. COVID-19 has demonstrated that this year. So, too, have deaths due to police violence, or hostility upon Asian-Americans, or the spike in recent anti-Semitic incidents.
Sure, one can proffer explanations or rationalizations – but at least for me – I find them wanting. Wanton violence is simply wanton violence, and irrespective of any explanations, sometimes we just must differ.
I do not accept the hollow explanations offered to justify the Torah and the deaths of Aaron’s sons, and nor do I accept unsatisfactory explanations for violence in our own society.
Pain is pain and wrong is wrong, and on that I won’t differ.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Sometimes we just must differ.
And, sometimes, we just must differ from the Torah. This week is one of those times.
For me, this week’s section is one of the most painful portions in the Torah. Aaron and his sons are about to be consecrated as the High Priests, and there is a rich pageant about to be witnessed by all of the Israelites, including a special sacrifice. Then unexpectedly, two of Aaron’s sons, his eldest children, come forward with their fire-pans, and God sends forth a bolt of fire which consumes and immolates them immediately. Their lifeless bodies would be carried out of the encampment before their silent father.
Why did this happen?
Some commentaries suggest it was because the sons were impudent, or drunk, or one-upping their honored father. Others suggest the sons were super-righteous, and God only takes such perfect souls.
I have found every explanation wanting. Rather, I am angered and I grieve the loss of these young, eager souls. I cannot intuit whether the sons were wrongful or righteous; the text offers insufficient evidence. All I know is that two sons of Aaron, at the pinnacle of their dad’s life, and at the prime of their own, were stricken by God summarily, and without explanation.
Capricious hurt and loss is upsetting. COVID-19 has demonstrated that this year. So, too, have deaths due to police violence, or hostility upon Asian-Americans, or the spike in recent anti-Semitic incidents.
Sure, one can proffer explanations or rationalizations – but at least for me – I find them wanting. Wanton violence is simply wanton violence, and irrespective of any explanations, sometimes we just must differ.
I do not accept the hollow explanations offered to justify the Torah and the deaths of Aaron’s sons, and nor do I accept unsatisfactory explanations for violence in our own society.
Pain is pain and wrong is wrong, and on that I won’t differ.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
