Parashat Shmini: When to speak and when to be silent

[Disir]

1And Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu, each took his pan, put fire in them, and placed incense upon it, and they brought before the Lord foreign fire, which He had not commanded them.

2And fire went forth from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

3Then Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the Lord spoke, [when He said], 'I will be sanctified through those near to Me, and before all the people I will be glorified.' " And Aaron was silent.

Just as commentators differ about the meaning of Moses’ words — were they intended to be comforting? Explanatory? Condemnatory? — commentators differ about the meaning of Aaron’s silence. In the Talmud (Berakhot 4a), Aaron’s stoic silence in the face of this tragedy is understood as especially praiseworthy. Sforno (Italy, 16th c.) says that Aaron’s silence indicates that he was comforted. Nachmanides (Spain, 13th c.) suggests that Aaron had been wailing, as one might expect when one experiences a terrible family tragedy, and Moses’ words get him to be quiet, perhaps because Moses is reminding Aaron that he has a public role in addition to his personal family grief.

When I read this passage, though, I wonder if there are other ways to understand Aaron’s silence — knowing that silence, especially at a time of tragedy, can have many meanings. Whereas most traditional understandings of Aaron’s silence suggest that Aaron was accepting of tragedy, perhaps Aaron’s silence could also reflect shock and confusion, or profound grief. And (with the understanding that my reading of this passage is non-traditional) I wonder if Aaron’s silence may also communicate his anger at his brother.

Parashat Shmini: When to speak and when to be silent - The Jewish Standard

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jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com

That is an interesting interpretation.

 

[shimon]

This is a very interesting parsha. When students disect the different verses of the Torah they come to different understandings according to their abilities or knowledge this in itself is not a bad thing and everyone has a different point of view which leads to greater learning and understanding for everyone and that includes student and master alike....That being said silence in my understanding is not silence at all but a sound... It is no coincidence that this parsha is found in “ shimini” which means 8 but also like my name means “ he who is heard or hears”. Hearing and Heard are not like man assumes in an outward nature but in an inward nature just like Gd chose David by looking inwardly at his heart ( his thoughts and inward personality) not outwardly like we humans do at the physical beauty of a man. Judging a man on his merits and abilities not on his inward spirit and determination and drive and fortitude....So for example silence and bleeding share a common root...So that even though Aaron( meaning light bringer)(again not in the physical sense but in having truth and knowledge) was SILENT outwardly he was BLEEDING inwardly Which is not how we would discern being silent.. There is much more I could say here as on the surface these seems like a horrible and tragic tale but these stories are left there in all their gory details warts and all to teach us valuable lessons that sometimes confuse us until a great light( truth and knowledge) are shined on them..The word silent is used in other areas of the Torah and if each of us search out where they are used it might give us a better understanding of its more inward meaning instead of outward appearance andthat is definitely something to keep in mind when reading and trying to understand this particular pasha....

 

[luchitociencia]

When you hear and just learn your son is a criminal and have died minutes ago confronting the police while killing a family with children, you won't open your mouth but you will look down and keep silence.

On the other hand, the step to understand why God rejected the action of the sons of Aaron, leans in that "unknown, foreign" fire. You open that understanding and you will say, "oh, I see it now... that is why..."

 

[shimon]

Remember “Sons of “does not literally have to mean from the physical sons of Aaron. “ Sons of” could mean that they behaved like or in his image... You can get an idea of this Hebrew concept what that means by looking at places such as Exodus 4 where gd says that Israel is his son or where David and others are called or referred to as my son or sons... . So outwardly these ” two sons” to every human the way we look at them by outward appearance resembled Aaron but inwardly where gd looks they were not and were rejected... By the way if you read further they were buried in their linens so they were not outwardly harmed( again as most men and woman judge or look... Also foreign concepts taught are literally a physical son descended from a pairing of a human and a god such as Zeus ala Greek style and continued afterwards by the Romans and their descendants .I could go further here but you guys are smart enough to figure things out for yourselves if you wish). This ” event” takes place just after the Israelites consecrated the Mishkan so they had finally gotten one central authority Or platform in which to worship gd in a proper sense. This is where the idea of everyone did what was right in his own eyes comes into play and what was or is acceptable gets twisted or changed a little bit along the way until if allowed to continue gets way off the original meanings or concepts. sometimes a strong hand is required to put us all back on the original path. Some might call that tough love. Regardless today we have no central authority, all the “sons” are doing what is right in their own eyes but in order for us to RETURN back to the proper path we must have a proper platform or Mishkan to teach or since most people only see outwardly and not inwardly not just teach but to show what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. It is only then that we can remove any “ foreign fires” that taint us and that we outwardly allow to continue to keep us from properly worship gd.Please Excuse my run on sentences....

 

[luchitociencia]

The fired consumed their flesh, and their bones were buried wrapped with linen. The burning of their bodies wasn't in that special oven with such high temperature capable to turn the bones into ashes.

The sons of Aaron, who were the few between others to touch the ritual objects of the Tabernacle, broke the rule of what was accepted to use for worship in that place. Their lack of following the rules caused them their death.