Skip to main content
Heavenly Fires - Dvar Torah for Parshat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

She was the largest of her type and class.

It is said that passengers on the LZ 129 Hindenburg Zeppelin Airship couldn’t tell when she had disembarked as her launches were so smooth.

80 years ago, on 6th May 1937, she caught fire over Lakehurst, New Jersey and crashed into the ground in a coruscating ball of fire. 36 people, including 13 passengers, 22 crew and 1 member of the ground unit died. Among the dead was Captain Ernest Lehmann, highly respected and experienced in piloting German airships, but who was later criticized for often making reckless manoeuvres that compromised the airship’s safety.

The explosion’s cause is still unknown, despite numerous theories propagated since.

On the eighth day, dressed in his magnificent Priestly robes, he faced the throngs of people, staring in disbelief at the sight. The Mishkan (Tabernacle), gleamed in the hazy midday sun, a structure whose presence owed its being to their material and financial contributions.

This was the pinnacle of his life. Yet, the tears rolling down his cheeks weren’t joyful. At his feet, lay the exquisitely clothed bodies of his two eldest sons, Nadav and Avihu. The young priests were devoured by a Heavenly fire, leaving Aaron speechless.

Our Sages are divided about why they brought a "strange fire inside the Holy of Holies. Were they drunk or did they trivialise the location’s sanctity?

In "Acharei Mot" ("after the death"), G-d tells Moses to warn his brother not to enter the Holy of Holies without following the prescribed method of worship. Rashi (d. 11.05) explains that this was to ensure that Aaron didn’t meet the same fate as his sons.

What links the Airship and the Priests?

In both, the protagonists had reached the peak of their careers. Yet, at the very moment when they should be celebrating their achievements, it is dashed away for reasons that aren’t understood.

Perhaps, it was hubris that led to a conflagration of man and machine.

It is precisely at the moment when we believe we’re untouchable that we’re reminded of how we must never abrogate our responsibilities.

Shabbat Shalom.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Jewberry Muds

To get the full effect, this message should be read out loud. You will understand what 'tenjewberrymuds' means by the end of the conversation. This has been nominated for the best email of 2005. The following is a telephone exchange between a hotel guest and room-service at a hotel in Asia, which was recorded and published in the FarEast Economic Review: Room Service (RS): "Morrin. Roon sirbees." Guest (G): "Sorry, I thought I dialed room-service." RS: "Rye..Roon sirbees..morrin! Jewish to oddor sunteen??" G: "Uh..yes..I'd like some bacon and eggs." RS: "Ow July den?" G: "What??" RS: "Ow July den?...pryed, boyud, poochd?" G: "Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry, scrambled please." RS: "Ow July dee baykem? Crease?" G: "Crisp will be fine." RS: "Hokay. An Sahn toes?" G: "What?" RS: "An toes. July Sahn toes?" G: "I don't think so."...

A Breed Apart

I'll start with that rarest of things (at least for me), namely an apology. A number of people who read this blog have approached me and asked me how the new job is panning out. I know I should have followed the original posts with updates, but honestly, I came back so tired from work, that I didn't have the will to compose any reports. In short, I am really happy in my new school. The students line up outside the door to my classroom (yes, my classroom) quietly instead of rushing in like a pack of deranged beasts and then, to my utter delight, stand , yes STAND(!!) behind their chairs and wait until I tell them to be seated. These students are actually listening to my instructions. When I tell them to switch their monitors off, they do what I ask. I don't find myself having to wait for fifteen minutes until they can be bothered to be quiet, they do something that I've been longing to experience for two years - they show an interest, in fact, a very keen interest, in w...

Bye Bye University

I can't quite believe it but today is in fact my last as a student. My course ends when I walk out of school at 13.15 I've now fulfilled the statutory days demanded of me as a student teacher. From Monday, I will be effectively unemployed - until Thursday, so I reckon we'll survive. That's it folks, my course is over. I have yet to hear whether or not I've passed, although between you and me ( shhhh don't tell anyone ) I am now a newly qualified teacher in everything but name. The exam board meets Mid-July to make those all important decisions and that's when I expect to get my congratulatory letter through the post. It's been an interesting year, to say the least. There have been ups and downs although the positive has vastly outweighed the negative. I find standing in a classroom less daunting and if anything, I now have the confidence to teach, which I didn't have when I started. I know I've only been doing this lark since September (and teach...