Mute/Unmute: Parashat Sh’mini/Pesach

Perspective
Parashat Sh’mini/Pesach (5780 – 2020)
Leviticus 9:1 – 11:47

This week the festival of Freedom, Passover, concludes and then we read the Torah portion of Sh’mini on Shabbat. Passover is a holiday of talking and of song. Our seder is meant to be a time of active conversation. On the seventh day of Passover (- the last day of the holiday in Israel) we celebrate the explosion of jubilant national singing at the banks of the Red Sea.
But the Torah reading on Shabbat, concerning the consecration of the new Tabernacle, will give us moments of silence, instead – different kinds of silence.

The first moment of silence is Aaron’s in the face of the tragic death of two of his sons. The Torah records his response to this catastrophe simply: “Va-yidom Aharon – and Aaron kept silent.” (Lev. 10:3) Did Aaron wish to be silent or did he wish to speak or shout or cry, but found it impossible? The Torah does not tell us. It is silent.

But we may bring some of our own humanity to bear in trying to imagine some possible significances of that silence. As we continue coping with this time of pandemic, we struggle with contradictory aspects of our new reality. We are immersed, as never before, in a virtual world of communication. We connect with people we have not talked to in ages. We share articles and messages. We have discovered new powers of and new needs for speaking.

But just as we learn to “chat,” we also learn to “mute” and “unmute” ourselves. We are pulled between experiences of loquaciousness and of silence. And sometimes these silences are imposed upon us, and sometimes they are silences we dearly miss.

It happens as we sustain losses of loved ones, friends, co-workers and neighbors. If we are one of the few who are allowed and able to attend a burial, we are struck by the vast, empty silence of our cemeteries, and our words at the graveside are hurried and few. Our shivah observances are curtailed; the bustle of life that so often fills the shivah house is now stilled. Such silence can be unwelcome. Yet, we also find ourselves prevented from expressing ourselves through physical touch. To embrace and communicate in silence is now impossible. Such silence can be sorely missed.

And how was Aaron’s silence experienced by Moses? It appears that Moses was too preoccupied with keeping the consecration ceremonies going to fully take it in. Soon he becomes angry that his brother seems not to have completed a prescribed ritual. Perhaps his angry words mask other emotions about which he has kept silent. But now Aaron speaks up and explains that, in consideration of his loss, God surely would not have wanted Aaron to dismiss his own mourning. And here we encounter the second moment of silence in our story. Moses hears his brother’s explanation and it “finds favor in his eyes.” (Lev. 10:20) He silently accepts it. His silence is one of reconciliation and assent.

May we endure our burden of imposed silences – whether of sorrow, anxiety, loneliness, pain or outrage – and merit to see the blessed day when we will be able to accept a silence of tranquility and peace.

Hag Same`ah v’Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi David Greenstein

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Thank you to John Lasiter for suggesting the title and selecting an image for this Torah Sparks – Rabbi Greenstein

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