The Blogs: The Holocaust and Parshat Shemini

We almost always read parshat shemini during the period of tragedy and transition from Passover to Yom Hashoah, and Yom Hazikaron. We often ask ourselves what is the “right” reaction to unfair tragedy. We usually try to assign meaning to what has happened, or to blame someone else or even the entire system (e.g., the hospital, government, teachers). Fortunately, today, we have usually stopped blaming the victim (he smoked; he was fat; they went like sheep to the gas chambers; they didn’t see the writing on the wall; they were driving in the territories; she dressed provocatively; it’s dangerous to travel when it’s raining; they went to a party on Simchat Torah instead of going to the synagogue). We try to ‘understand’; to make sense of what is totally incomprehensible as a way to keep ourselves sane. But the truth of the matter is that bad happens to good people and good to bad people and that is the way of the world. There are those who say in the liturgy “al het” –we have sinned–for things that are beyond our control and beat their breasts as they pray. This approach will not result in salvation, nor in safety from evil or disease, since there is no absolute protection from the inevitable, the crazy person, disease, terrorism, and the arbitrary whim of God towards those who are close to him.

But what if God, the creator of both good and evil, is behind it all. What if He has not made clear what He wants. What if the sacrifice of animals, as a substitute for human beings, is something that He considers proper, yet not enough. I have a very strange reading of this week’s parsha which will make some people (and maybe everyone) very angry. I will be leading up to it. But first a bit of background.

HOLOCAUST AND OLAH—SHOAH

The word Shoah comes from the prophet Tzefaniah 1:15: It will “be a day of wrath, trouble and distress, calamity and desolation [יום שואה ומשואה] darkness and deep gloom…” The word Holocaust, the early translation of olah, comes from the Greek word, olos (whole) kaustos (completely burnt) which means burnt entirely or went up in flames as a whole, and probably derived from the Septuagint, the translation of the Bible into Greek. In Early English bibles (like the King James Version, translated by William Tyndale), the word olah עלה, the burnt offering was translated as holocaust.

In the first chapter of parshat Shemini (the eighth day) the word olah appears 8 times. In Chapter 10 it appears only once, at the end of the chapter. It has been translated variously as “burnt offering of” (most translations); “offering up” (Schocken Bible) “ascent offering” (Kehot Humash) and in two 19^th century French translations as “holocaust”.

Prends un veau adulte pour expiatoire et un bélier pour holocauste, tous deux sans défaut, et amène-les devant l’Éternel.

Il dit à Aharone: prends un veau, bétail pour (victime du) péché et un bélier pour holocauste, sans défaut, et présente (les) devant l’Éternel.

THE AKEDAH

As a prelude to the story of Nadav and Avihu, I should point out that a reference to their death is in the parsha of Aharei Mot, which is also read on Yom Kippur. We should keep in mind that the High Holiday season begins with the “akedah” stories of the two sons of Abraham, Ishmael and Isaac, the former being sent off to die in the desert. He is miraculously saved by an angel who tells Hagar where there is water. The latter, Isaac is miraculously saved by Abraham seeing a ram which turns out to be a substitute for his son Isaac. The eternal question: was Abraham meant to actually sacrifice his two beloved sons? In the Akedah story, the word olah appears a few times. God tells Abraham to:

“Take your son, your favored one, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering וְהַעֲלֵ֤הוּ שָׁם֙ לְעֹלָ֔ה on one of the heights that I will point out to you.”

Later on, Isaac points out to his father:

Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he answered, “Yes, my son.” And he said, “Here are the firestone and the wood; but where is the sheep for the burnt offering? אַיֵּ֥ה הַשֶּׂ֖ה לְעֹלָֽה ”

And in the end Isaac is saved for:

When Abraham looked up, his eye fell upon a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son וַיִּקַּ֣ח אֶת־הָאַ֔יִל וַיַּעֲלֵ֥הוּ לְעֹלָ֖ה תַּ֥חַת בְּנֽוֹ.

Note that on the eighth day Aaron is told by Moses:

“Take a calf of the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering וְאַ֥יִל לְעֹלָ֖ה, without blemish, and bring them before God.

In this chapter, besides the appearance of the word olah eight times, variations of the root קרב k-r-v appear many times. Mostly it appears in connection with the sacrifice, korban, but occasionally in the form of drawing near — וַֽיִּקְרְבוּ֙ כׇּל־הָ֣עֵדָ֔ה וַיַּֽעַמְד֖וּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה or bringing forward וַיַּקְרֵ֕ב אֵ֖ת קׇרְבַּ֣ן הָעָ֑ם

THE INEXPLICABLE DEATHS OF NADAV AND AVIHU

Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before God alien fire, which had not been enjoined upon them. And fire came forth from God and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of God. Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what God meant by saying: Through those near to Me I show Myself holy, And gain glory before all the people.” And Aaron was silent( Leviticus 10: 1-3).

וַיִּקְח֣וּ בְנֵֽי־אַ֠הֲרֹ֠ן נָדָ֨ב וַאֲבִיה֜וּא אִ֣ישׁ מַחְתָּת֗וֹ וַיִּתְּנ֤וּ בָהֵן֙ אֵ֔שׁ וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ עָלֶ֖יהָ קְטֹ֑רֶת וַיַּקְרִ֜יבוּ לִפְנֵ֤י יְהֹוָה֙ אֵ֣שׁ זָרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹ֦א צִוָּ֖ה אֹתָֽם׃ וַתֵּ֥צֵא אֵ֛שׁ מִלִּפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה וַתֹּ֣אכַל אוֹתָ֑ם וַיָּמֻ֖תוּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן הוּא֩ אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֤ה ׀ לֵאמֹר֙ בִּקְרֹבַ֣י אֶקָּדֵ֔שׁ וְעַל־פְּנֵ֥י כׇל־הָעָ֖ם אֶכָּבֵ֑ד וַיִּדֹּ֖ם אַהֲרֹֽן׃

In reading this (for the hundredth time), I recently wondered whether Nadav and Avihu were meant to be a continuation of the story of the olah—but this time God does not save them, but brings them to Him. Remember the angels saved Ishmael and Isaac (the intended olah). To support this reading there are the commentaries of Sforno and Rashi:

The Italian biblical commentator Ovadiah ben Yakov Sforno (1474-1549) writes:

וידום אהרן, seeing he consoled himself after having been told that the death of his sons represented a sanctification of the name of the Lord.

In other words, Aaron is consoling himself that his sons died al kiddush hashem, as martyrs, not sinners!

Rashi writes:

‎וידם אהרן AND AARON WAS SILENT — He received a reward for his silence…

בקרבי IN THEM THAT COME NEAR UNTO ME — i. e. in My chosen ones.

ועל פני כל העם אכבד AND BEFORE ALL THE PEOPLE I WILL BE HONOURED — When the Holy One, blessed be He, executes judgment upon the righteous He becomes feared, and exalted and praised.

So Rashi is making clear that Nadav and Avihu are both chosen and righteous. *

The chapter ends with Aaron speaking up at the end of the chapter, for the first time against Moses, whereas before he was inexplicably silent:

And Aaron spoke to Moses, “See, this day they brought their sin offering and their burnt offering עֹֽלָתָם֙ before God, and such things have befallen me! Had I eaten sin offering today, would God have approved?” And when Moses heard this, he approved (Leviticus 10: 19-20).

This serves as both a critique of Moses, but implicitly of God as well.

A NEW READING

Keeping in mind that Nadav and Avihu were innocent, chosen, and close (karov) to God, is there a different way of re-reading the verse?

Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before God alien fire, which had not (lo לֹ֦א ) been enjoined upon them.

I read a fascinating commentary by Eli Garfinkel, and came to a different conclusion to what he wrote:

Regarding the alien fire, the Torah says it was “such as God had not commanded them.” Indeed, that is the literal translation of the words אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹ֦א צִוָּ֖ה אֹתָֽם (asher lo tzivah otam.)…[I]t’s not that God said nothing about offering alien fire. It’s that God specifically said NOT to do it. The word לֹ֦א (lo, no) in Lev. 10:1 is so important in the verse that the Masoretes gave it a rare and emphatic cantillation mark, the merkha-kefulah, which directs the reader to sing it with an extended series of notes. Here’s an audio sample.

CHANGING NO (LO– לֹ֦א) TO HIM (LO– לֹ֦ו)

R. Garfinkel’s reading is the traditional understanding. However, what if we take the same emphasis on the word lo, with the rare cantillation mark, keep the pronunciation, but change the spelling from לֹ֦א (no) to לֹ֦ו (Him). In other words, they brought near to God a strange fire, that God commanded them to bring to Him. If so, it all makes sense: God has chosen his closest ones בִּקְרֹבַ֣י אֶקָּדֵ֔שׁ to sanctify, by bringing them to Him. This also completes the unfinished cycle of Isaac not being sacrificed (becoming an olah) because of the intervention of the angels.

Before taking me to task about changing an aleph (א) to a vav (ו), see below some of the many examples of this in the bible. ** I actually have my late husband Rabbi Michael Graetz to thank. He brought this possibility to my attention when I wrote a different article. In his siddur eretz yisraeli, המאיר לארץ, he changed the original exclusive negative aspects of the aleynu leshabeach prayer to an inclusive one:

It is our obligation to praise the Master of all, … that He has not made us like the nations of the lands, and has not positioned us like the families of the earth; that He has not assigned our portion like theirs, nor our lot like that of all their multitudes.

His change was as follows—with the change in parentheses:

עלינו לשבח לאדון הכל…שלא (שלו) עשנו כגויי הארצות ולא (לו) שמנו כמשפחות האדמה שלא (שלו) שם חלקנו כהם וגורלנו ככל המונם.

We should praise the Master of all…who made us for His sake like the nations and for His sake to be like the families of the earth; and He assigned us for His sake a portion like theirs and a fate like all the masses.

AARON’S SILENCE: SHOULD WE COPY IT TODAY

Rabbi Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth (1927-2013) wrote towards the end of his commentary on Aaron’s silence, a note connecting Aaron’s response to the Holocaust:

And now I remember that during the great debate on the issue of the Holocaust (shoah) and the response of those who were murdered, Rabbi David Ochs, z”l, wrote an article (he wrote only a little) about the merits of silence as the correct and desired response before Him, may He be blessed. And thus, the Sages interpreted (Midrash Tehillim 29): “Come to the Lord, you sons of the gods elim” – sons of the mute ilmim, sons of the deaf, sons who have something to respond to God (makom) yet do not respond (P. Shemini 5761).

If I understand R. Neuwirth correctly, we should not remain silent, even if our parents were mute and deaf. We have a responsibility to stand up to God and if we think he is doing us wrong, we should not be silent. God was wrong to test Abraham, and he was wrong to punish Nadav and Avihu, especially if he chose to bring them up to him because they were special. God as the supreme leader has set poor examples for too many leaders in the world and it is timely that we continue to protest their, and His, actions when they are destructive and unfair.

NOTES

*Disclaimer: To be fair I am only focusing on the positive and not the negative comments that our sages have to say about the two brothers. You can read my previous blogs for more on the negative.

** Examples of Switches

No changes to Him or His or He

Acknowledge that the LORD is God; He made us and we are His ולא וְל֣וֹ people, the flock He tends (Psalms 100:3).

Talk no more with lofty pride, Let no arrogance cross your lips! For the LORD is an all-knowing God; By Him ולא וְל֥וֹ actions are measured (1 Samuel 2:3)..

They approached Zerubbabel and the chiefs of the clans and said to them, “Let us build with you, since we too worship your God, having offered sacrifices to Him לו לֹא֙ since the time of King Esarhaddon of Assyria, who brought us here” (Ezra 4:2).

Abishai, the brother of Joab, was head of another three. He once wielded his spear against three hundred and slew them. He ולא־וְלוֹ had a name among the three (1 Chronicles 11:20).

He or Him changed to No

And if the man said to him, “Let them first turn the suet into smoke, and then take as much as you want,” he would reply, “No, לו לֹא֙ hand it over at once or I’ll take it by force” (1 Samuel 2:16).

Congratulations to all of you who reached the end. Shabbat shalom.