26: Shmini
Welcome to TLDR Torah: a synopsis of the weekly parsha based on Robert Alter’s translation, plus a question to spur your Shabbat dinner (or any!) conversation.
Parsha Shmini (Leviticus 9:1-11:47)
TLDR:
This parsha breaks up sacrifices and kosher dietary laws with a fiery narrative about the death of Aaron’s two sons.
It’s the eighth day of the ceremony to ordain the priests, and Aaron makes a lot of sacrifices. After another gory retelling of slaying goats, rams, and lambs, a fire “comes out from before” God and consumes the offerings.
Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu take a pan, put fire (coals?) in it with incense, and offer an “alien fire” to God. Perhaps alien because they use ordinary coals, or the incense is bad? Whatever it is, it isn’t good. A fire comes out of God again, this time to consume Nadab and Abihu.
Aaron is silent. Moses asks Aaron’s cousins to carry away the bodies and tells Aaron and his other two sons not to mourn.
God then speaks directly to Aaron, telling him not to drink wine or other alcohol before entering the tabernacle.
Moses angers at his discovery that the sin offering hasn’t been eaten. In a cryptic passage, Aaron defends his actions on the basis of the day’s events. There seems to be an understanding between the two of them that Aaron can abstain from eating meat as a form of silent mourning.
Abruptly, we turn to the laws of Kashrut. Land animals that have both true hoofs with clefts, and that chew their cud, are ok. Animals that walk on paws are not ok. Water animals that have fins and scales are ok.
When it comes to the birds, we get a long list (~20) of birds that are not ok. And surprisingly varieties of locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets are kosher. Lizards, and anything crawling on its belly or that has a lot of legs, are not.
Importantly, anything that touches a dead unkosher animal becomes impure too, stressing the important of keeping the pure and impure separate.
Question:
Can I please have a cricket-infused oak-milk latte with a touch of grasshopper protein powder? Or better yet, who can help me get the right certifications to create the first kosher insect (or swordfish) label? If you’re not intrigued by this billion dollar idea, consider this question: do you view Aaron’s ascent to the priesthood as a sacrifice itself or a privilege?