A Quick Torah Thought

Silence is often the right tack when one really has nothing to say. Sometimes, like with Mitch Mcconnell it was a negotiating tack, having boasted frequently that he reserved the right to "an unspoken thought." For Aharon, it was resounding in a different way.  Aharon responded to Moshe Rabbeinu who said that it was through those that God sought that He became sanctified. It would seem that Aharon was responding, though, more to Moshe, than to God; he, perhaps was protesting, silently, Moshe's inability to understand him.  Both Aharon and Yonah faced what could be called illegal orders; each disobeyed, but in their own way. Aharon seems to be the height of acquiescence but perhaps what God really wanted was for Aharon to speak to Him, as He did with Yonah who ran away, failing to further the relationship. 

The Cohen is someone who has to be the image of perfection, not in the sense that he cannot err - there are special sacrifices he brings when he does - but rather, one whose very action can be scrutinized, and learned from.  Cohen, I once heard, comes from the root in Hebrew -  Ka'hen -  like these, i.e. one is to emulate the Cohen in thought, behavior and deed.  This, it seems like, is even suggested by how Aharon, the first Cohen Gadol, became consecrated by Moshe:  "He (Moshe) brought forward the second ram, the ram of ordination. Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the ram’s head, and it was slaughtered. Moses took some of its blood and put it on the ridge of Aaron’s right ear , and on the thumb of his right hand , and on the big toe of his right foot ." The right, in Jewish thought, represents kindness, or mercy, and Aharon, the Cohen was to be one who could use his attentive ear, or listening capacities, physical deeds as represented by his right hand...

Having taught in classrooms for over a decade, the thought struck me that gems of wisdom could be gleaned from the paradigm of the four sons presented in the Haggadah in the Passover Seder. I'd like to place special focus on the order in which the sons are presented. The first son to be addressed is the wise son. And the question can be asked, why is he the first son to receive attention? Why not the wicked son – or the one who can't even open his mouth to ask a question?! It would seem that there's an educational methodology here that can be transplanted to the classroom setting, that sheds light on triaging, prioritizing, and deciding which educational issues are most pressing. The wicked son is not addressed first because it would seem wrong to put him first; also, when you put him first, he can sap the teacher of his strength, causing him to get bogged down in behavioral issues; likewise, the troublemaker – the one who tries to test the teacher at every turn, usua...

Any society needs to have a number one man or woman. Someone who's the top.  To the extent possible, you try to have checks and balances; usually, it's in the form of the judicial, executive and legislative branches, but sometimes, like in France, you'll have something called "bicephalous," literally two heads or two brains, where you'll have the Prime Minister and President coming from different parties, and when they're at odds, things can get messy.  I personally had always thought that Moshe and Aharon, had in a way, represented different branches, or arms, each counterbalancing the other; at the "golden calf," Moshe chastises Aharon for being spineless; after Aharon's sons, Nadav and Avihu are killed in a heavenly flame, Aharon responds to Moshe's admonition that he should have eaten from the sin offering as insentient, and out of place given his personal mourning, and Moshe admits his error.  Yet, besides the fact that Moshe needs t...