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Parashat #Shemini

Being true to ourselves

And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying,   Do not drink wine that will lead to intoxication, neither you nor your sons with you, when you go into the Tent of Meeting, so that you shall not die. [This is] an eternal statute for your generations. Vayikra 10:8-9

 It’s not easy being genuine, to live life where our internal and external lives are in sync. Being genuine often involves more effort than being fake. Society today is happy to condone or even promote imitation products, and this attitude affects the way we see the world. Our spiritual lives don’t escape the challenge of being real. In the search for spirituality we often experiment with different traditions and stimulants. How do we achieve what we want?

 This week, the joy of Aarons first moments as High Priest in the newly erected Tabernacle is punctured with the death of  two of his sons. Tradition is divided on what they did, however the juxtaposition to the verse cited above leads some commentators to claim that the two sons approached their tasks whilst they were drunk. In his masterful commentary Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes, “The corpses of the first youthful priests fallen through the lofty aspirations of their stirred feelings, preach the solemn warning to all future generations to look on themselves only as servants and guardians of G-ds sanctity and G-ds Torah, and the serious danger of teaching intuitive ideas of their own selves in place of G-ds truth.”

 We must look into our Traditions and develop genuinely Jewish approaches to spirituality. It was easier in the past when Hashem would communicate His wishes. Today we must take care not to confuse being intoxicated, with spirituality. We don’t need to live with a guru on a mountain top retreat to feel connected with eternity.

Being true to ourselves and our spiritual heritage will bring us proper fulfilment in our quest for the deepest connection with G-d.

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