Oy or Joy

There is a fascinating albeit disconcerting discourse brought in the Midrash Esther Rabbah. The lengthy discourse relates to the use of the word וַֽיְהִי – And it was;

רַבִּי תַּנְחוּמָא וְרַבִּי בֶּרֶכְיָה וְרַבִּי חִיָּיא רַבָּה בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר פָּתְרִין, הַמִּדְרָשׁ הַזֶּה עָלָה בְּיָדֵינוּ מִן הַגּוֹלָה, כָּל מָקוֹם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַיְהִי אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא צָרָה. וְרַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי יוֹנָתָן פָּתַר מִדְרָשׁ זֶה עָלָה בְּיָדֵינוּ, כָּל מָקוֹם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַיְהִי בִּימֵי, אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא צָרָה

Rabbi Tanḥuma, Rabbi Berekhya, and Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great interpreted in the name of Rabbi Elazar: This midrash came up with us from the Exile. Every occasion that the term vayhi is stated, it means nothing but tragedy or misfortune. Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman interpreted in the name of Rabbi Yonatan: This midrash came into our possession. Every place that “vayhi bimei” – and it was in the days of..is stated, it means nothing but misfortune.

The midrash brings a myriad of proof texts to substantiate their claim. Most pertinent perhaps in the context of Esther and the story of Purim is the opening of the Megillah which tells or more foretells the distressing tale; “It was during the days of vayhi bimei Aḥashverosh; that Aḥashverosh who reigned from India to Kush, one hundred and twenty-seven provinces” (Esther 1:1). The rabbis argue that these ominous opening bars forewarn of…the plan or ‘solution’  “to destroy, to kill, and to eliminate, young and old, children and women, on a single day…” (Esther 3:13). 

The portion of Shmini, read this week, opens with the same forbidding phrase, Vayikra 9:1;

וַֽיְהִי֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁמִינִ֔י קָרָ֣א מֹשֶׁ֔ה לְאַהֲרֹ֖ן וּלְבָנָ֑יו וּלְזִקְנֵ֖י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

And it was on the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel.

Some context, which makes the looming distress all the more bewildering is the fact that we are marking if not celebrating the completion of the Tabernacle and what follows are the instructions for the sacrifices that will and indeed did ‘Please’ God. The same Midrash enlightens us as to the distress of this Vayehi;

וַיְהִי בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁמִינִי קָרָא משֶׁה לְאַהֲרֹן וּלְבָנָיו, אֲמַר לוֹן אַף הֲדָא אֵינוֹ טוֹב, שֶׁבְּאוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם מֵתוּ נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא וּבָכוּ לָהֶם כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ויקרא י, ו): וַאֲחֵיכֶם כָּל בֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל יִבְכּוּ אֶת הַשְֹּׂרֵפָה

It was vayhi on the eighth day, Moses summoned Aaron and his sons” (Leviticus 9:1). He said to them: That, too, is not good, as on that day, Nadav and Avihu died and all of Israel lamented them, as it is stated: “Your brethren, the entire house of Israel, will lament the burning”

There is a strong tradition that sees a parallel between the construction of the Tabernacle and the creation of the world. Similar expressions are used in describing both. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks quotes Rabbi Eli Munk who brings the Talmud (Megillah 10b) which expounds about the completion of the Sanctuary, that “On that day there was joy before the Holy One blessed be He as on the day when Heaven and Earth were created.” The universe is the home God made for humanity. The Sanctuary was the home humans made for God.”

In this setting there is surely all the more reason for joy rather than oy. Of course the concept of the “eighth” day, may also conjure the completion of, or the morning after the creation. Additionally as pointed out in the Midrash Esther Raba, Vayehi is the word that is very much repeated to delineate the acts of creation that occurred each day. You will recall the trope that culminates each creative process;  … וַֽיְהִי־עֶ֥רֶב וַֽיְהִי־בֹ֖קֶר and there was evening and there was morning… The dilemma becomes more pronounced and daunting. Does the actual creation of the world summon this adverse oy, or does our foundational story harbor joy?

It appears that these disquieting potentials, underscore our fate and or fortune of the human condition, living in the Bein, the in-between. Perhaps the role and purpose of  וַֽיְהִי֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁמִינִ֔י living on the eighth day, is to determine how our stories will play out. The non completion of the creation or that potential remains with us. That motif is marked in the remarkable capacity we demonstrate moving from Yom Hazikaron to Yom Ha’atzmaut, as we will next week, in the blink of an eye, tearful but forever resolute and hopeful.