Facebook Post by Rabbi Perlin in the Time of Coronavirus (4/3/2020)
Friday’s Post 4/3/20: Tzav – Spiritual Quarantine and Spiritual Engagement
by Rabbi Amy R. Perlin, D.D.
I love the Torah!! It is old and yet new; it is reverent and relevant. So, even though the beginning chapters of Leviticus always present us with a challenge in modern times, they seem so very relevant for us today. In this week’s Torah portion (Leviticus, Chapters 6-8), Moses says to his brother Aaron, who is about to become ordained: “You shall not go outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for seven days,, until the day that your period of ordination is completed. For your ordination will require seven days.” (Lev. 8:33) Aaron and his sons were spiritually quarantined, sheltering in of all places “The Tent of Meeting.”
This Shabbat, we are reminded that there are times that we, like Aaron, must shelter ourselves, where our “tent of meeting” has only us, and perhaps our families, as occupants. I understand Aaron’s ordination much better than I have ever understood it before. For the sake of the people, for his own humility, his own reverence, the process of becoming the leader requires Aaron to remove himself from all that is familiar. What was he thinking? His sons were with him in this isolation. What did they talk about?
Midrash is what the rabbis write, when the biblical text beckons us to fill in the blanks. Instead of writing a midrash of what Aaron and his children discussed for seven days, I challenge you to do it – by yourself, at your Shabbat table, with a friend over a glass of Facetime wine. What might Aaron have wanted to talk to his sons about for seven days? Did they discuss food and how they would clean the Temple, or were the discussion about the sacred role they were assuming and the burdens ahead? Were they upset with God and Moses for this isolation, or was it a welcome break from the burdens of the job? There are no right answers in midrash. That is why it is so very popular.
Many of us are at home, following the government and medical command to isolate, for ourselves and the good of others. This week’s Torah portion offers us a new way to look at our shelter in our own personal “tent of meeting.” We, too, are in a spiritual quarantine, of sorts. At one with our own thoughts and fears, we can go about the conversations and interactions we have in a routine way, or we can use the time to spiritually (or if you prefer, meaningfully) engage with one another. Especially if you are home with loved ones, it is okay to be a bit tired of the intensity of the interactions in isolation. But, this week’s portion asks us to elevate our discussions and conversations from the mundane and routine. I hope Moses spent more time discussing the meaning of life with his sons, than he did about the cleanliness protocols of the Tabernacle. Any time Torah encourages us to be our best selves, we need to listen, AND then actualize the advice. So even if you don’t discuss Moses at your dinner table, talk amongst yourselves in a deep and meaningful way.
And that is why this kind of Torah study is worthy of the blessing: Blessed are You, Adonai my God, Sovereign of the Universe, who commands us to engage in the words of Torah. A