TORAH PORTION “Acharei Mot – Shabbat Hagadol
“…until you walk a mile in His shoes”
There are moments in history I wish I was there in the flesh to witness them. This Torah portion: “Acharei Mot” tells about one of them. In chapter 16 of Leviticus, God instructs Moses to tell his brother Aaron – the High Priest – the following: “7 And he shall take the two goats, and set them before the LORD at the door of the tent of meeting.8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for Azazel.9And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for the LORD, and offer him for a sin-offering. 10 But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before the LORD, to make atonement over him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.
And indeed, Aaron followed the instructions to the letter: “21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man into the wilderness. 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.
Seemingly, it appears as a conventional ritual chore of sacrificing animals at the Temple, and sparing the life of other animals — much like the president of the United States acts on Thanks Giving day, when he spares the life of a Turkey by sending him into ”retirement” to a farm, somewhere, to the delight of the onlookers.
Yet, here the ritual, though it was meant to be public, seems to be designated only for Aaron, or the plot line would have not emphasized: “When he goes in to make expiation in the shrine, nobody else should be in the Tent of Meeting, until he comes out” (16:17). The people of Israel were never present or mentioned being present in the vicinity in what supposed to be a mass public purification event. The public had to be uninvolved in order for Aaron to have his heart to heart talk, alone with God, and thus bring his grievances full circle, make amends, and seal it with peace, and with no one listening behind the curtain.
Chapter 16 in Leviticus is the final chapter of God’s Master-plan to teach Aaron a “lesson in making difficult decisions” in light of his lack of response (“Aaron fell silent) to HIS “clarification” why he terminated Aaron’s two sons – Nadav and Avihu.
That conclusion is based on the sequence of the events, and the story points that ensued from Aaron’s silence, until the end of chapter 16.
1.Aaron’s silence was widely interpreted as “Aaron held his peace”, “Aron fell silent”, “Aaron recoiled”, and other similar forms of expressions.* However, in light of the resulting events it would be more appropriate to interpret Aaron’s silence as: “Aaron went on a strike” – He refused to speak on Moses’ behalf – as he had been designated to do by God. As you may remember, Moses expressed to God his inability to speak clearly, and wondered how he would address adequately pharaoh and the Israelite nation while in Egypt.
2. Indeed, Aaron doesn’t speak in the subsequent chapters (10-16), until he verbally “lays” all of Israel’s sins on the head of the poor he-goat, whom he was about to send to Azazel.** Yet, God continues to speak to him and Moses directly, and He also speaks to him through Moses. Aaron doesn’t say a word.
3. God delivers his particulars about the process of the various sacrifices, which include fire, but doesn’t mention the word “Mach’ta’ (Censer- type of vessels made for burning coals and incense) the tools that Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu used improperly, and for which they were consumed by heavenly fire and died.
4. Chapter 16 opens with a written statement to the reader: “And the lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near the Lord and died.” There is no mention of the sons’ names. (Their names will come up a few more times in the future.) Why was that line put in there? It was put in to alert the reader that what they are about to read in regards to Aaron, has a direct relation to the death of his sons. Otherwise, the writer was concern that they will not make the connection.
5. Only then God felt comfortable to use the word “Machta”, again, which He deliberately hadn’t used since he brought death to Nadav and Avihu. God avoided enticing painful memories into Aaron’s mind and heart.
And why did Aaron, only then, break his silence? Because by then, he had already learned and experienced God’s “lesson.” Aron had gone through similar human emotional suffering, much like God must have gone through – in His own way – when He ultimately rendered Nadav and Avihu “a death sentence”.
Aaron recognized that God had given him the “power” to decide “which he-goat shall live and which he-goat shall die by casting a lot without him knowing the outcome. (Meaning, it was God’s decision). However, Aaron was an accessory. The hardest lesson for Aaron was, when he was making the selection among the many he-goats at the Temple’s yard to choose the “best and the blemish-less he-goats fitted for God.” That is when he truly went through his inner painful deliberations in selecting he-goats he knew both had an equal potential to become “victims” because of his choosing. He realized the power, the responsibility, the difficulty and the emotional burden that God has been facing daily – since His Creation. Now he, Aaron was a part of that process, which Darwin will label thousands of years in the future as the “natural selection”***
Yes, I wanted to be there, to witness Aaron’s demeanor and facial expression at the moment when he stuck both his hands in the “Kalpi box” (the lottery box) and moved around the two pieces of cards: one which says: “You Shall Live” and the other “You Shall Die”, and perhaps wondering if God had been also deliberating if one of his two sons was a lesser sinner and deserved to live with some “punishment” – just like the goat bound for Azazel, or like Cain who was cast out of the Garden of Eden.
Letting Aaron “walk in God’s shoes”, gave Aaron the opportunity to grow as a man and as a priest, as a “physician and as a spiritual leader. It also prepared him for the long road that stretched into the vast barren expanse which led to the invisible horizon. There were laws, and nobody was immune from not following it to the letter – including his own sons.
If someone should ask me: “Rabbi, what lesson should I learn from this Torah portion?” I will give that person my simple answer: “You’ll need to walk a mile in His shoes to find out!”
Footnote
* Sources: Various translations of the Bible into English, Hebrew commentaries, and the book: Confrontation – J.B. Soloveitchik).
** Biblical scholars submit to the notion that the “Ish Eeti” (appointed man) who led the “freed” he-goat, to the rugged mountains of Azazel, eventually slaughtered it, to pre it from returning to the encampment of the Israelite… carrying all those sins back.
*** A term, which Darwin would use thousands of years later regarding the potential survival of the creatures on earth.
Los Angeles April 9, 2013
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