Shabbat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
Written by Student Rabbi Danny Burkeman Thursday, 26 April 2007
The episode of Nadav and Avihu, is one of those passages in Torah which I always find hard to understand. When I read it I always imagine that these young boys were simply over enthusiastic in their dedication to God – they were too eager. And I always wonder about the strain that this must have placed upon their father Aaron. After seeing his sons die how did he feel about his obligations to God, and the Mishkan, the site of their death.
It is for this reason that I find it fascinating that the first of this week’s parashiot is named as a reminder of the death of these two boys, which took place six chapters previously.
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָֹה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה אַֽחֲרֵי מוֹת שְׁנֵי בְּנֵי אַֽהֲרֹן בְּקָרְבָתָם לִפְנֵֽי־יְהוָֹה וַיָּמֻֽתוּ: וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל־מֹשֶׁה דַּבֵּר אֶל־אַֽהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ
And Adonai spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, who drew close before God and died. And Adonai said to Moses speak to Aaron your brother.
Six chapters is quite a long time in a book of just 27 chapters, and yet here we are harking back to an event from the past.
It is at times like these that we look for help.
Rashi offers one solution to this conundrum of why we are now remembering the deaths of these boys; he suggests that this passage presents the solution for Aaron and his remaining sons to avoid being consumed by fire in the way that Nadav and Avihu were.
It is an interesting suggestion, but in the immediate aftermath of the event God warned Aaron, directly, against intoxication so that he would not die. Why didn’t God offer all of the warnings in one go?
Nachmanides suggests that it is still the day after the death of Aaron’s sons. It would have been inappropriate for God to have conveyed this message on the day of their death, because then Aaron was a mourner. Obviously 24 hours after losing two of his sons Aaron was ready to get back down to the business of serving God, there was no shiva for him.
I am therefore left wondering: Why אַֽחֲרֵי מוֹת שְׁנֵי בְּנֵי אַֽהֲרֹן?
In trying to understand this I am very interested in the designation אַֽהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ Aaron your brother. This designation of Aaron and his familial connection to Moses occurs only six times in the Torah. Once it is as a question, asking ‘Is Aaron your brother?’ Twice it is in connection to the placing of garments on Aaron as the priest, and twice it is with reference to Aaron’s death. Only here does God instruct Moses ‘speak to Aaron your brother’ everywhere else he is simply Aaron.
In some ways I think that God did this to remind Moses, that it was not just anyone, but his own brother who had suffered such a terrible loss, and that it was Moses’ familial responsibility to support him in his time of mourning. After the death of Nadav and Avihu, God and Moses had focused on the task at hand and they had ignored Aaron’s need to grieve and mourn for his sons. In saying אַֽהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ God was reminding Moses of his brotherly responsibilities. Even a leader such as Moses needed to find the time to take care of his familial responsibilities.
It is interesting that the order of sacrifices which immediately follows is for Aaron, then his family, and only then for the Children of Israel. There is a recognition that Aaron needs to take care of his own needs and then his family before being expected to return to the needs of the wider community.
When we read Acharei Mot in the period of Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzma’ut, it is inevitable that we draw parallels between the death of Aaron’s sons and the death of thousands of Israeli sons and daughters in defense of the Jewish state. In the immediacy of war and conflict there is often not enough time to grieve. But Yom HaZikaron offers each individual a day to step outside the routine of life and mourn. However, more than this, as Moses was reminded אַֽהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ, we too have an obligation to offer support and comfort to our brothers and sisters in Israel who suffered loss in defense of the Jewish people and the Jewish state.
In the context of the Torah the death of Aaron’s sons occurred six chapters ago, and yet the pain is still so real as to name a parasha for it. In the context of Israel our brothers and sisters have been dying for almost sixty years defending the Jewish state. In many ways after a bereavement, no matter how long ago, we forever live in its shadow. In some ways we are always אַֽחֲרֵי מוֹת. It is through the support of friends and family that we are able to move forward.
In his commentary on the Bible, Richard Elliot Friedman draws our attention to the merger of this week’s two parashiot: Acharei Mot – Kedoshim, after death – holiness. This transition can be likened to the one we make from Yom HaZikaron to Yom HaAtzma’ut. We remember those we have lost, and we mourn with those who grieve, but we move forward into holiness and celebrate our freedom, for we stand on the shoulders of giants.
