By Rabbi Abraham Unger, Ph.D.
Executive Director
This Week’s Torah Portion
Living with Mystery
Each day we wake up we presume a certain predictability to our lives. All seems rational and we understand why. We turn on the lights because there is electricity. We ride in our cars because the engine runs. But underneath all of these assumptions there is a fundamental mystery.
This week’s Torah reading prompts this reflection on recognizing that life is ultimately inexplicable. It details an ancient ceremony that baffles our wisest scholars. In short, the opening of this Shabbat’s parsha recounts a ritual in which a Cohen, a priestly officiant, makes a concoction that purifies someone who has come into contact with the dead. However, the Cohen is himself then rendered impure.
Rashi writes that “The nations of the world taunt Israel, saying, “What is this commandment’s meaning?, and our reply must be that it is simply a divine decree.” Rashi goes even further and argues we have no permission to try to understand it.
Of course, Judaism is about asking questions. But in this unique case, we are told to perceive that, as human beings who typically believe we are in control, certain fundamental aspects of our existence are still beyond our understanding. Not everything is within our grasp, no matter how far civilization has progressed.
Can we co-exist with mystery? Can we learn to live with unanswered questions? This is as much a challenge of finding meaning in life as any other dimension of our days.
Weekly Parenting Message from the Parsha
Learning through Experience
Experiential education is an integral part of any serious curriculum for children. Children of all ages must touch and feel and live through a lesson as much as learn its scholarly contents. Experientially navigating a project helps clarify the story the data tells. Judaism has understood this from the very beginning.
In this week’s Shabbat Torah reading, an officiant must go through an elaborate ceremony to purify someone who has dealt with personal loss. While homage is verbally paid to the loss, its reality comes alive through the experience of trying to resolve it in a ceremony. Its meaning is felt both academically and spiritually. The human being going through this process emerges, in Biblical terms, “purified,” or perhaps in our terms, feeling a little better and able to move on in a more whole fashion.
Judaism is filled with little and big ceremonial moments, all meant to mark the daily experiences of life’s rich tapestry. These are not merely folk rituals. They are forms of experiential learning. For example, having a special Friday night dinner for Shabbat marks creation; the family is seated together in a more elevated way than during a normal weekday grab and go. They meet fully again and celebrate their renewal on the eve of the weekend. That’s a form of education too.
Indeed, the whole of Torah is a lived experience of celebration and renewal.