Dear TBZ Community,
The Holiday of Passover has ended and now, our calendar invites us to
count the forty nine days of Omer.
This counting, between Pesach and Shavuot, marks the journey from Egypt to Sinai and Torah.
I find the ritual of counting the Omer, stopping for a moment each evening to say the blessing and count, to be fulfilling and meaningful. Although the journey for the Israelites in the desert might have not been cerain, the counting experience for us holds certainty. It is forty nine days, seven weeks. Not a day more or less. It is concrete with a beginning and an end.
This year, though, the counting feels different. Besides counting the Omer, we are counting the days in this reality of physical distancing, of working from home, of not being able to live our lives as we normally do. And we do not know how long our counting will be or what is at the end of this journey.
Still, this time has brought a new kind of closeness -- online Passover seders with far-flung family members, the ability to attend services through streaming, and the immense kindness and generosity of our community. It has connected our community and brought us closer in countless ways.
This week, as we return to the weekly Torah reading, we read parshat
Shmini
. This parsha focuses on the inauguration of the altar and the beginning of the officiation of the Kohanim, led by Aaron and his sons.
Leviticus Chapter 9, verse 5 reads:
וַיִּקְח֗וּ אֵ֚ת אֲשֶׁ֣ר צִוָּ֣ה מֹשֶׁ֔ה אֶל־פְּנֵ֖י אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד וַֽיִּקְרְבוּ֙ כָּל־הָ֣עֵדָ֔ה וַיַּֽעַמְד֖וּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃
They brought to the front of the Tent of Meeting the things that Moses had commanded, and the whole community came forward and stood before the LORD.
וַֽיִּקְרְבוּ֙
כָּל־הָ֣עֵדָ֔ה
and the
whole community
came forward
The description is of a community that experiences together this ritual, almost as one.
And the entire congregation approached. Every place that the Torah mentions ‘approaching’ it implies becoming closer than usual. Toras Kohanim interprets this way as well: “They all approached in rejoicing”
A way to understand this, is that the community, as one, experienced closeness -- perhaps to the Divine presence in the Altar or perhaps to each other. It implies a unified experience, in this case an expression of rejoicing and of joy.
But I wonder how is it possible to have one chapter, Chapter 9 of the parsha, describe this unifying experience followed by Chapter 10, that describes the story of Aaron’s, Nadav and Avihu, who seem to not to be part of this communal experience and bring a “strange fire” that God has not commanded them.
Chapter 10, verse 1 reads:
וַ
יִּקְח֣וּ בְנֵֽי־אַ֠הֲרֹן נָדָ֨ב וַאֲבִיה֜וּא אִ֣ישׁ מַחְתָּת֗וֹ וַיִּתְּנ֤וּ בָהֵן֙ אֵ֔שׁ וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ עָלֶ֖יהָ קְטֹ֑רֶת וַיַּקְרִ֜בוּ לִפְנֵ֤י יְהוָה֙ אֵ֣שׁ זָרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹ֦א צִוָּ֖ה אֹתָֽם׃
Now Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before the LORD alien fire, which God had not enjoined upon them.
In Chapter 9, we read about a communal experience of joy and immediately following, we read a different story, a different experience which ends with the deaths of Nadav and Avihu.
I would like to use this framing as a way to challenge the notion that in this pandemic we are living a fully shared experience and that “we are in this together.”
As time passes and we walk in this uncertain journey, it is important to recognize that this journey as hard as it is and without diminishing whatever challenging experiences we are going through, is much more certain than the journeys of many others particularly the most in need, the underserved, people of color, and immigrants. There is much written about this, one article that speaks to this on Forbes, written by
Lisa Fitzpatrick
called “Coronavirus And The Underserved: We Are Not All In This Together” can be found
HERE
.
This past week I joined a meeting with the Clergy of
Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO)
to discuss the ways we will continue our fight for those most in need. Over 75 Greater Boston clergy signed and then a delegation presented a letter to Governor Baker at a virtual meeting declaring that at this time of crisis, we are called by our faith to honor the sanctity of life and exercise our prophetic voice by protecting the vulnerable. We urged the Governor to take decisive action on providing mortgage and rent relief, decarceration, and affordable, accessible health care.
We Are All in this Together and We Are Not.
And because we are not, we will commit ourselves to be in this together
by caring for the most vulnerable and protecting those most in need, in our own community and beyond.
May this Shabbat bring blessings to all of you and your loved ones.
May we find strength, courage, patience and open our heart with generosity.
May all those who are ill find healing.
May we have a joyful Shabbat!
Shabbat Shalom,
