Question the Rules
On this Shabbat of Parashat Shemini, on the week when we commemorate Yom Hashoah, I wanted to talk about thoughtlessness.
Our portion this week, Shemini, gives us the account of the horrific and untimely death of Aaron’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu.
As the Israelites were preparing to finally receive the Shechina, the Divine dwelling in the Mishkan after its laborious construction, the priests were commanded to make sacrifices. Nadav and Avihu, in their enthusiasm, went into the Mishkan and offered fire which they were not instructed to offer and was therefore considered foreign to God. As soon as they did so, fire came out of the altar and consumed them.
You can of course imagine the shock and grief Aaron faced with this unexpected tragedy on what was supposed to be his greatest day, his appointment to become high priest and the celebration which was to follow for the rest of the nation.
To make matters worse, Aaron and his close family were forbidden by Moses to publicly show any signs of grief, for there was no mixing the personal with the public so as to not bring sadness to this day of celebration.
If that is not enough, Moses then came to Aaron and his remaining living sons, angry that they have not eaten from the sin offering.
״וְאֵ֣ת ׀ שְׂעִ֣יר הַֽחַטָּ֗את דָּרֹ֥שׁ דָּרַ֛שׁ מֹשֶׁ֖ה וְהִנֵּ֣ה שֹׂרָ֑ף וַ֠יִּקְצֹ֠ף עַל־אֶלְעָזָ֤ר וְעַל־אִֽיתָמָר֙ בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֔ן הַנּוֹתָרִ֖ם לֵאמֹֽר׃״
Then Moses inquired about the goat of sin offering, and it had already been burned! He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and said:
מַדּ֗וּעַ לֹֽא־אֲכַלְתֶּ֤ם אֶת־הַחַטָּאת֙ בִּמְק֣וֹם הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ כִּ֛י קֹ֥דֶשׁ קׇֽדָשִׁ֖ים הִ֑וא וְאֹתָ֣הּ ׀ נָתַ֣ן לָכֶ֗ם לָשֵׂאת֙ אֶת־עֲוֺ֣ן הָעֵדָ֔ה לְכַפֵּ֥ר עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃
“Why did you not eat the sin offering in the sacred area? For it is most holy, and it is what was given to you to remove the guilt of the community and to make expiation for them before יהוה."
הֵ֚ן לֹא־הוּבָ֣א אֶת־דָּמָ֔הּ אֶל־הַקֹּ֖דֶשׁ פְּנִ֑ימָה אָכ֨וֹל תֹּאכְל֥וּ אֹתָ֛הּ בַּקֹּ֖דֶשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוֵּֽיתִי׃
"Since its blood was not brought inside the sanctuary, you should certainly have eaten it in the sanctuary, as I commanded.”
The rule for the sin offering was for the priests to eat some of it to help atone for the people’s sins. Moses was angry because Aaron and his sons did not eat any of the sin offering but rather let it all born entirely as if it was a burnt offering.
Here is Aaron’s response:
וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר אַהֲרֹ֜ן אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה הֵ֣ן הַ֠יּ֠וֹם הִקְרִ֨יבוּ אֶת־חַטָּאתָ֤ם וְאֶת־עֹֽלָתָם֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֔ה וַתִּקְרֶ֥אנָה אֹתִ֖י כָּאֵ֑לֶּה וְאָכַ֤לְתִּי חַטָּאת֙ הַיּ֔וֹם הַיִּיטַ֖ב בְּעֵינֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃
And Aaron spoke to Moses, “See, this day they brought their sin offering and their burnt offering before יהוה, and such things have befallen me! Had I eaten sin offering today, would יהוה have approved?”
Essentially, Aaron tells Moses, how can I possibly assist in the atonement for the people’s sins when I myself apparently have so much to atone for. So much so that I was punished so severely. I understand that there are rules, but do you think God would actually like someone in this predicament on this day to atone for other people?
To put this in modern and secular terms, Aaron tells Moses that with all due respect for the rules, one must use their human gift and ability of thoughtfulness to know when to break them.
This week, as we commemorate the Holocaust, it brings to mind Hannah Arendt and her coverage of the 1961 Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem which culminated in the book “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil.”
Arendt's main accusation towards Eichmann, the man who is considered to be one of the main orchestrators of the Holocaust, was his thoughtlessness.
“For when I speak of the banality of evil, I do so only on the strictly factual level, pointing to a phenomenon which starred one in the face at the trial. Eichmann was not Iago and not Macbeth, and nothing would have been farther from his mind than to determine with Richard III 'to prove a villain.' Except for an extraordinary diligence in looking out for his personal advancement, he had no motives at all… He merely, to put the matter colloquially, never realized what he was doing… It was sheer thoughtlessness—something by no means identical with stupidity—that predisposed him to become one of the greatest criminals of that period. And if this is 'banal' and even funny, if with the best will in the world one cannot extract any diabolical or demonic profundity from Eichmann, this is still far from calling it commonplace… That such remoteness from reality and such thoughtlessness can wreak more havoc than all the evil instincts taken together which, perhaps, are inherent in man—that was, in fact, the lesson one could learn in Jerusalem.”
According to Arendt, the most dangerous human is the one who turns off their ability to make decisions when they are in the service of a bureaucratic system.
Our tradition teaches us that our ability to stop and question rules is nothing short than a must-do.
״דְּאָמַר רַבִּי יוֹחָנָן: לֹא חָרְבָה יְרוּשָׁלַיִם אֶלָּא עַל שֶׁדָּנוּ בָּהּ דִּין תּוֹרָה. אֶלָּא דִּינֵי דְּמָגִיזְתָּא לְדַיְּינוּ?! אֶלָּא אֵימָא: שֶׁהֶעֱמִידוּ דִּינֵיהֶם עַל דִּין תּוֹרָה וְלָא עֲבַדוּ לִפְנִים מִשּׁוּרַת הַדִּין.
As Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Jerusalem was destroyed only for the fact that they adjudicated cases on the basis of Torah law in the city. The Gemara asks: Rather, what else should they have done? Should they rather have adjudicated cases on the basis of arbitrary decisions [demagizeta]? Rather, say: That they established their rulings on the basis of Torah law and did not go beyond the letter of the law."
Here in Bava Metzia, we are told that Jerusalem was destroyed because people followed the rules without thinking. Even when it comes to the rules of the Torah, humanity’s God-given freedom of choice comes first.
Aaron is our portion teached Moses and us as well, a great lesson. Sometimes we are obligated to stop before following a rule and ask ourselves הייטב בעיני ה?
Would יהוה have approved?
