וַיִּקְח֣וּ בְנֵֽי־אַ֠הֲרֹ֠ן נָדָ֨ב וַאֲבִיה֜וּא אִ֣ישׁ מַחְתָּת֗וֹ וַיִּתְּנ֤וּ בָהֵן֙ אֵ֔שׁ וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ עָלֶ֖יהָ קְטֹ֑רֶת וַיַּקְרִ֜יבוּ לִפְנֵ֤י יְהֹוָה֙ אֵ֣שׁ זָרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹ֦א צִוָּ֖ה אֹתָֽם׃ וַתֵּ֥צֵא אֵ֛שׁ מִלִּפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה וַתֹּ֣אכַל אוֹתָ֑ם וַיָּמֻ֖תוּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃ (ויקרא י:א-ב)   “Now Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before יהוה a strange/foreign fire, which they had not been commanded to do. And fire came forth from יהוה and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of יהוה.” (Leviticus 10:1-2)   We have reached day 180 of this war. It is almost unbearable. This week we also reached a tragic low point when Israeli drone strikes dreadfully erred and fired on a convoy of humanitarian aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in Gaza. The World Central Kitchen was founded just over a decade ago by Chef Jose Andres who believes that food is a universal human right. WCK, before distributing meals to Gaza’s hungry,  was on the ground providing displaced Israelis from the kibbutzim attacked on October 7 with meals. According to Chef Andres: “From Day 1, we have fed Israelis as well as Palestinians. Across Israel, we have served more than 1.75 million hot meals. We have fed families displaced by Hezbollah rockets in the north. We have fed grieving families from the south. We delivered meals to the hospitals where hostages were reunited with their families. We have called consistently, repeatedly, and passionately for the release of all the hostages.” To the credit of the IDF and the Israeli Government, they took full responsibility and have committed to a thorough investigation as to how this attack could have happened. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi stated: “I want to be very clear – the strike was not carried out with the intention of harming WCK aid workers. It was a mistake that followed a misidentification – at night during a war in very complex conditions. It shouldn’t have happened.” Both the IDF top brass and the top political leadership realize that the WCK debacle has far-reaching implications on three levels:
  1. The killing of 7 WCK workers will be a formidable obstacle to additional and desperately needed humanitarian aid coming into Gaza.
  2. Within the IDF, a senior Israeli defense official (speaking anonymously) shared that a culture has percolated in some corners of the IDF in which soldiers are “shooting first [in Gaza] and asking questions later.”
  3. The killing of seven aid workers resonated in capitals around the world, further straining already stressed diplomatic ties with Israel, further diminishing support for an IDF operation in the Southern Gaza city of Rafah.
As we struggle with these tragic events, how are we, as North American liberal Zionists, meant to respond? Let’s start by supporting World Central Kitchen here or here. Next, while our focus is on Israel and Gaza, we also have a lot of work to do in our own communities. For the past two weeks, our weekly Torah portions have dealt with sacrifices. The Book of Leviticus takes us into the inner world of different kinds of sacrifices offered for different situations, including the gory details of how animals should be offered up to the Divine. We learn of an unbelievably tragic occurrence in which the sons of Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, offered their own incense offering. Theirs’ was regarded as an “אש זרה”, an alien (or a foreign) and unauthorized offering, and they were immediately consumed in fire and killed on the spot. The 16th-century commentator, Sforno suggests that “the sons of Aaron sinned by doing this immediately without having consulted with their mentors.” Suffice it to say that the punishment might not fit the crime here. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. I suggest that Nadav and Avihu did not think that they were offering an unauthorized sacrifice. Rather, they were doing exactly what they thought they should do after growing up in ‘the sacrifice business’ in the inner world of their father Aharon, the High Priest. Had they had the opportunity to appoint a defense attorney they might have shared that they were simply doing what they understood to be the correct and proper thing to do and had no intention of bringing a foreign offering. And so it is with our community. The issue that arises within the Jewish community today, more often than any other, is the challenge for one generation to be in dialogue and understanding with the next generation. Many who were raised in the shadow of the Holocaust and came of age after the Six-Day War, interpret the actions and rhetoric of their now grown children to be ‘foreign fire’ similar to the sons of Aharon. Some of those in the older generation are quick to act like the Torah’s God and banish them, cut them off, and summarily dismiss their behavior as unauthorized, unacceptable, and threatening. Conversely, some among the younger generation have no experience with a vulnerable Israel at risk of destruction and do not empathize with the fears held by those who have such memories. This gap can lead us to tragedy. The younger generation ought to be treated like Aharon and God should have reacted to Nadav and Avihu. Understand that our children and grandchildren don’t see themselves as offering a ‘foreign fire.’ They are saying “Ours is the Torah that you taught us. Can’t you see that??? We are taking your lessons, your Torah and your values, and applying them exactly as we think they should be applied.” And the older generation should be respected for the life experience they hold and the wisdom that (sometimes) comes with such experience. It’s ok to disagree and respond with clarity and a difference of interpretation and opinion. But let’s not resort to the immediate dismissive response. Don’t model Aharon’s response of silence. These are very difficult times for the Jewish people both in Israel and the Diaspora. As upset, sad, angry, frightened, and filled with vengeance and worry as we are, we need to give each other as much support as we can as fellow Jews, regardless of our individual and generational experiences. May there be peace in Jerusalem and in all of our homes.