Life is uncertain. Tragedy can strike at any moment. Two mass shootings in the last week, the most recent at a bank in Louisville and last week at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, remind us that tragedy can reach out and touch any of us at any moment. These are human created disasters. Natural disasters too can destroy lives in an instant. We go about our lives as usual and suddenly everything changes and nothing is ever the same again. How can we make sense of this? Is it even possible? In this week’s Torah portion, the Mishnah, the Tabernacle is initiated into service with it’s first sacrifice. It is a moment of awe, wonder, and joy for the entire Community of Israel. Then, almost immediately after Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, are killed when they bring “strange fire” into the Mishnah without permission. (Leviticus 10:1-2) Joy followed by tragedy and Aaron’s reaction is silence (Leviticus 10:3) The Hebrew word for his silence is yadom — ידום, which means to be struck dumb. In the face of the death of his children, Aaron is stunned into silence. But then something else happens, Moses and Aaron discuss what they could have done differently, how they might have prevented the tragedy (Leviticus 10:19-20). In the face of the continuing wave of mass shootings sweeping across our country, leaving behind the bodies of children and adults, shattered families, communities, and those who have had their loved ones torn from them, it is not enough to be stunned into silence. We, all of us, must examine what we can do differently to prevent future mass killings and end this plague of gun violence.
Shmini, Leviticus 9:1-11:47, Parshat Hashavua for Shabbat, April 15, 2023
April 13, 2023 by Dean Kertesz • Drashot
Life is uncertain. Tragedy can strike at any moment. Two mass shootings in the last week, the most recent at a bank in Louisville and last week at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, remind us that tragedy can reach out and touch any of us at any moment. These are human created disasters. Natural disasters too can destroy lives in an instant. We go about our lives as usual and suddenly everything changes and nothing is ever the same again. How can we make sense of this? Is it even possible? In this week’s Torah portion, the Mishnah, the Tabernacle is initiated into service with it’s first sacrifice. It is a moment of awe, wonder, and joy for the entire Community of Israel. Then, almost immediately after Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, are killed when they bring “strange fire” into the Mishnah without permission. (Leviticus 10:1-2) Joy followed by tragedy and Aaron’s reaction is silence (Leviticus 10:3) The Hebrew word for his silence is yadom — ידום, which means to be struck dumb. In the face of the death of his children, Aaron is stunned into silence. But then something else happens, Moses and Aaron discuss what they could have done differently, how they might have prevented the tragedy (Leviticus 10:19-20). In the face of the continuing wave of mass shootings sweeping across our country, leaving behind the bodies of children and adults, shattered families, communities, and those who have had their loved ones torn from them, it is not enough to be stunned into silence. We, all of us, must examine what we can do differently to prevent future mass killings and end this plague of gun violence.