Parashat Shemini 5782

by Rabbi Margie Cella

The priests finished their week of isolation; it was time to dedicate both them and the mishkan. The action took place on the eighth (שמיני) day. Moses commanded Aaron to make sacrifices on behalf of himself and his sons, and the people. Moses and Aaron blessed the assembled nation, and fire came from God, consuming the burnt offering. In their zeal, Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, brought “strange fire” in their incense pans, and were instantly consumed by the same fire from God. Moses told Aaron and his two remaining sons not to observe any rituals of mourning.
The parashah finishes with Moshe delineating what animals the people may and may not eat.

This is the third of four Shabbatot before Pesach, Shabbat Parah. The maftir reading explains the ritual of the red heifer, an unblemished, unworked animal that was sacrificed and burned, and its ashes dissolved in water and sprinkled on anyone who had become unclean through contact with a corpse, to purify them.

In the haftarah, Ezekiel addresses the nation of Israel, who are in Babylonian exile, due to their sins. In a statement reminiscent of the haggadah, God says “I poured [ואשפך] out my blood upon them”; however, Israel is the object of Divine wrath here, “for the blood that they shed upon the land” (36:18). Their sins defiled both God’s name and the land. The theme of impurity (טמא—v. 17, 18, 25, 29) and purification (טהר—v. 25, 33) connects the haftarah to both Torah readings. God promised to cleanse the nation from its impurity and restore it to the land, imbuing them with a new heart and a new spirit. In verse 35, God said, “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean….”, just as ashes of the red heifer brought purification to one who was unclean. God promised finally that the people would be as numerous as the sheep that fill Jerusalem for the holiday (presumably Pesach).

Ezekiel exhorted the people to examine themselves and cleanse themselves from their sins. As we root out the chametz from our homes in the coming weeks, may we, too, root out the sins from our lives as we prepare to celebrate Pesach in joy.