We are finally back to the regular cycle of Torah readings this week after two weeks of special readings related to the holiday of Passover. With this week's portion, Shemini, we resume the story of the book of Leviticus where we left off, with Aaron and his sons about to be ordained as priests. 

The portion begins:

It was on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron, his sons, and the elders of Israel. He said to Aaron, “Take a calf of the herd for a sin offering and an unblemished ram for a burnt offering and offer them before Adonai. Tell the Israelites, '…Today Adonai will appear to you.'" They brought the things Moses commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting and the whole community came forward and stood before Adonai. Moses said, “This is the thing that Adonai commanded you to do so that Adonai's Glorgy will appear to you.” (Leviticus 9:1-6)

The great Chasidic commentator, Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (known as the "Kotzker Rebbe"), wonders what is "the thing" is that the Israelites must do to cause God's Glory to appear to them. The Kotzker argues that it cannot be just the sacrifices, because that would be redundant. The Israelites already had brought the required sacrifices. Why, asks the Kotzker Rebbe, does Moses again have to say, "This is the thing that Adonai commanded"? What is "the thing" that will cause God's presence to appear?

Don't pretend that you don't want to know, too. If there was some thing you could do that instantly would cause God's presence to be revealed before you, wouldn't you do it?

I don't think we're talking about a parlor trick here. I don't think the Kotzker Rebbe imagines that there is some abracadabra that will pull a divine revelation out of a hat. I think it actually is something much more simple than that. There are things we can do, simple things, that allow us to experience God in our daily lives. What are they for you?

For me, it can be as simple as holding the hand of my wife or my child and saying what is in my heart in that moment. It can be as simple as taking the time to listen to a friend or a congregant who is going through a difficult time and letting the words enter deeply into me. 

Last Friday evening I had the pleasure of leading the congregation in a Shabbat service on the beach, and that reminded me of another way to make God's presence instantly available. Looking out over the ocean, watching the low angle of the sun's last beams brightening the clouds, made me feel that I could discover the revealed presence of God all around me. 

It is not just that I have the fortune of living in a very beautiful place and that I had a wonderful group of people with whom I can share the moment (although those things don't hurt). It is also that the moment reminded me of how infrequently we give ourselves the luxury of just stopping to notice the beauty that surrounds us all the time. We can allow God's presence to be revealed to us whenever we want, just by taking the time to appreciate the wonders of the world around us, the miracle of our own bodies, the amazing good fortune we have just to be alive in a world filled with wonders.

This is the thing that God has commanded you to do so that God's Presence will appear to you.

I'm on my way home from five amazing days at the Hevraya retreat of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. We spent our time (not enough of it) in mindfulness practice and text study. The focus of this winter's retreat was the story of Nadav and Avihu, the two sons of Aaron who died while offering "alien fire" on the altar of the Tabernacle. We studied classical midrash, Philo, Zohar and chasidic texts that show different sides of the story. 

Nadav and Avihu are sometimes regarded as terrible sinners who died because they usurped their father and desecrated the Tabernacle through improper offering. However, there are also texts that regard the brothers as righteous men whose personal sacrifice was necessary for the initiation of the sacrificial rites. The Zohar, in particular, loves Nadav and Avihu and has an extraordinary description of them "bringing atonement for the sins of Israel" (Zohar III 57b). Great stuff.

As part of the conclusion of our study, our fabulous teacher, Dr. Melila Hellner-Eshed, had us create our own interpretations and midrashim on the story. Here is mine:

NADAV AND AVIHU

There had to be two of them.
Like Eldad and Medad, who would follow them,
The pairing was a necessity
To reflect the two sides of their story.
They needed to be restrained and bound.
They needed to be recognized as prophets.
In them, the faults of Israel were revealed.
In them, the redemption of Israel was achieved.
And neither side could be true without the other.

The fiery brothers who burned
With zealous piety and selfish conceit
Are the twin offspring
Of a people bred to kiss the divine
With the kisses of their mouth
Their lips scorched and tongue howling.

They would be reborn, those two,
As the goats brought before their father
Just after their death.
Before he drew the lots,
Aaron looked into the oblong pupils and wondered,
"Is that you, Avihu? Is that you, Nadav?
My beautiful and cursed boys?
Must you always be marked for holy death?
In you, Israel finds atonement.
In you, broken bones and scorched soul
Will remind them
Of the price for reaching beyond the bounds."


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Acharei Mot: Facing the Direction of Azazel