Suppressing and Expressing
One of G-d’s gifts to us is that we can express deep emotion without artificial methods.
Aaron’s Reward for Silence: No Drinking?
When Aaron lost his two eldest sons, at the dedication of the Mishkan, the portable Temple in the desert, Aaron did not respond. Indeed, the Torah, in this week’s Parsha, highlights the fact that “Aaron was silent.” Our Sages marveled at Aaron’s stoicism. G-d even rewarded Aaron, by giving him a special commandment – not to enter the Temple in an intoxicated state – that was communicated directly to him.
In one cryptic remark, on Aaron’s silence, the Midrash asks rhetorically, “What should Aaron have said?” The Midrash answers that Aaron could have said: “On the eighth day he must circumcise..”
Commentators have expressed bewilderment at this comment. What on earth would have prompted Aaron to speak about circumcision when he heard the tragic news of his sons’ death? (See two preceding essays for alternative explanations.)
One way of explaining this anomalous Midrash is to better understand the significance of circumcision. According to the Zohar, when a father circumcises his son, it is the equivalent of a person offering a sacrifice to G-d. Aaron, whose two sons perished in the process of their bringing an unauthorized offering at the dedication ceremony of the Sanctuary, could have very easily made the case that he too had offered the ultimate sacrifice, with the death of his sons.
Indeed, Aaron could have waxed eloquently by extending the analogy of circumcision to the death of his sons. Both circumcision and the dedication of the Sanctuary are associated with the eighth day. On the eighth day of the child’s life he undergoes circumcision; and on the eighth day since the Sanctuary was erected for the first time, the dedication ceremony took place at which time Aaron’s sons were “sacrificed.”
Aaron, however, did not, deliver the foregoing, or any other eulogy! And for this the Torah sings his praise.
Prohibition?
Why?
Why did Aaron not deliver this or any other eulogy? And why was his reward specifically G-d’s communication concerning not drinking before entering the Temple?
To answer the last question first, it must be understood that the prohibition against drinking before or during the Temple service, was more than just a form of prohibition. When an offering was made in the Temple, it had to be done with utmost feeling and spiritual awareness. Very often, our emotions can be bottled up and do not surface when we most need and want them to. To aid in the process of expressing one’s innermost spiritual feelings, one might be tempted to imbibe, in the spirit (pun intended) of the Talmudic maxim, “When the wine enters the secrets exit.”
By commanding the Kohain (the Priest who performed the service in the Holy Temple) not to drink, the Torah was not only issuing a ban and prohibition against drinking, it was also empowering the Kohain to be spiritual without the wine. This is so because it is axiomatic in Judaism that G-d does not give us a challenge that He knows we cannot meet. If we need to express our emotions when engaged in Divine service, and if He commanded us not to use alcohol to achieve that spiritual high, it suggests that G-d has given us the capacity to achieve that goal on our own.
Thus, by directing the commandment to Aaron, G-d was giving him the inner strength to reveal his spirituality; something that is extremely difficult for most people without the aid of some artificial stimulant.
Reward for Self-Control
We can now also appreciate why this was a reward for Aaron’s silence. At times of bereavement it is only natural for a person to vent his pain and anguish. A eulogy frequently serves as a coping mechanism to help deal with the pain. But, Aaron exercised self-control and did not try to express his emotions of grief, out of respect for the festive dedication ceremony. As a reward for his effort to exercise self-control and not vent his emotions when that was not in order, G- d endowed him with the capacity to freely express the desired emotions of spiritual ecstasy without any artificial aids, when that was in order. In effect, Aaron would be in complete control of his emotions; he could, at will, suppress them or express them.
Exile Bottleneck
One of the greatest problems associated with being in exile, is that we are not in control of our emotions. The proliferation of therapists attest to the problem our generation has with being in touch with our emotions that manifests itself in two ways: Either we cannot control our emotions or we cannot express them.
This, then, is one of the reasons we refer to the Messianic Age as an age of redemption and liberation, despite the fact that most Jews today are already living in a free world. While we might be free in a physical, political and even religious sense, our emotions and spiritual feelings are very much in “prison.” With the advent of Moshiach, we will finally have the capacity to be in touch with and freely express all of our emotions, even as we will be capable of controlling them, rather than them controlling us.
Riding on the Donkey
One of the Biblical descriptions of Moshiach is that he will come “riding on a donkey.”
This imagery has been explained by the Maharal and in Chassidic literature allegorically. The Hebrew word for donkey is chamor, which can also be translated as “material.” Riding on the donkey therefore implies that Moshiach will be in control of his material and physical nature.
That Moshiach will not be a materialist or prisoner to his emotions is a given. There is no need for us to extol his greatness by suggesting that he is not a prisoner to his passions and base instincts. Rather, it may understood as an expression of the challenge Moshiach will have in affecting and inspiring the generation in which he comes. Moshiach will endeavor and succeed in helping us gain control over our emotions.
Thus the Talmud reconciles the two contradictory scenarios described Biblically for the coming of Moshiach. In the verse cited above Moshiach comes as a poor man riding on a donkey, yet in another verse he is depicted as a majestic leader coming on a cloud. The Talmud states that if we are meritorious and refined Moshiach will come in a miraculous and majestic fashion; If we are not worthy, however, Moshiach will come in a humble manner.
If we are so mired in exile to the point that it affects our ability to be able to exercise control over our own emotions then Moshiach will have to come in a way that helps us meet the challenge and gain mastery over our “donkey.”
If, however, we have done our work and refined our character and gained control over our emotions, Moshiach will be able to focus on bringing the heavenly clouds and more spiritual energies down to earth.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Shemini by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
