d’var torah
Oh My God
BY RABBI DAVID LEVIN
Courtesy of Rabbi Davd Levin
T Parshat Shemini
here is nothing more horrifi c
than losing a child. Th e pain
is overwhelming; it makes
no sense. Indeed, the entire world is
turned upside down. It is unnatural at
the most basic of levels to bury your
child. Aaron experiences this pain in
Parsha Shemini. “God’s Fire” consumes
Nadav and Abihu, two of Aaron’s four
sons and high priests. Aaron is speech-
less (ironic given his position in service
with Moses) and even more instructed
to continue his work with no time for
him to grieve.

Th e unvarnished brutality of the
world infl icts itself, and there is no
protection from it, no matter how well
we tried to live or how well we tried
to teach our children. We do our best,
but this unimaginable thing can touch
us even in a world where we think we
are doing everything as we should.

Th ankfully, most of us do not confront
this horrible loss. And no one other
than those who have walked this path
can know the depths of its pain.

Our sages have struggled with God’s
killing of Nadav and Abihu, particularly
for off enses that appear minor. Some have
argued that they were overzealous and
tried to do more than the ritual required
of them; others such as Rashi posit it was
because the two were inebriated.

Frankly, we do not know why God
killed them. Our portion prompts
every God-fearing person to question
why God would take a child under
any circumstances. And then, we must
confront the reality of continuing to
live aft er such a tragic, inexplicable
loss. How impossible a task this is. But
it is not about some intangible other
in some far-off place. Th is horrifying
situation is about us and our need to
personalize these tragedies. We cannot
ignore them, for we place our humanity
in peril. It is not about “them” or “over
there”; it is about us right now.

I think about Vladek Spiegelman,
the father of Art Spiegelman, author of
“Maus,” and Otto Frank, the father of
Anne. I think of the people I have tried
to comfort as a chaplain. I think of the
mothers and fathers of Ukraine and the
20 other major confl icts that are killing
children worldwide; I think of the vio-
lence of our inner cities and the slaugh-
ter of children in school shootings.

My heart goes out to the millions of
people whose world is shattered beyond
recognition. What can I do besides sit
in grief?
Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor
and creator of logotherapy, taught that
although we cannot control what has
happened to us, even at the hands of
others, we can control how we respond
to even the most horrible things. But I
oft en fi nd myself lost.

Even as one who serves as a disas-
ter spiritual care team responder for
mass casualty events, I grapple with
the enormity of the sadness. But there
are three things that each of us can do.

We can off er prayers of gratitude;
indeed, there but for the grace of God,
go I.

We can console those who grieve.

We can work to stop the preventable
losses. What are you willing to do to prevent
the things that are killing our children?
As the saying goes, there are none so
blind as those who will not see. Will
you open your eyes and your hearts to
the children?
For those of us blessed not to know
such tragedy and grief, we must share
our blessings with those less fortunate.

Here are four groups dedicated to help-
ing those in need:
Support refugee aid through HIAS
at hias.org/.

Provide medical assistance through
Doctors without Borders at doctor-
swithoutborders.org/ Provide food to the hungry through
World Central Kitchen at wck.org/.

Support an end to gun violence
through Moms Demand Action at
momsdemandaction.org/. Many other groups provide human-
itarian support to those in need, and
many groups are promoting political
activism to stop the violence. Support the
ones that resonate with you. However,
the blessings that are uniquely ours
also come with a special responsibility.

Protecting the vulnerable promotes the
welfare of everyone, including ourselves.

As Jews, we know all too well the suf-
fering of the oppressed. And it is part of
the American experience as well. Right
now, you can help lessen the suff ering
of those victims of violence through
your gift s of time, money and a gen-
erous heart. Be part of that change. JE
Rabbi David Levin is the founder
and director of Jewish Relationships
Initiative, a not-for-profi t dedicated
to helping seekers of meaning
through the Jewish wisdom tradi-
tion. The Board of Rabbis of Greater
Philadelphia is proud to provide
diverse perspectives on Torah com-
mentary for the Jewish Exponent.

The opinions expressed in this col-
umn are the author’s own and do
not refl ect the view of the Board of
Rabbis. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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