Shemini: A Call to Appreciation

The Torah is an inspiring document.

Flip through its pages and you will be amazed, perhaps even intimidated by its heroes and heroines.

Abraham finds God, and is willing to argue with that same God when Abraham's moral conviction demands that he do so.

Isaac, according to most accounts, is an accepting participant in his own binding --willing to have his own life be taken if God wills it so.

Jacob leaves everything and risks everything to receive God's blessing, and become father of the Jewish nation.

Moses' parents perceive his holiness, and violate Pharoah's order by keeping him alive, risking their own deaths - or worse.

Approaching a massive sea, with the Egyptians in hot pursuit, Nachshon courageously jumps in - until the water splits as promised.

We read of great men and women who displayed great feats, faith, and fortitude.

But that's not what I want to discuss today.

There's a surprising yin to this yang which is also present in the Torah -and equally instructive for us.

The Torah is full of stories where we metaphorically trip while walking on stage to accept our diploma.

We read of mess-ups, missteps and mishaps, usually coming at seminal moments in our history.

In these clutch times, three-seconds-left-on-the-clock, we're-behind-by-one-point kind of times -- we "choke."

We disappoint God, each other, and ourselves.

Blame it On Adam. Or Eve.

Yom Kippur, we believe, is the day that Adam and Eve sinned. It is also the day they were created.

Think about the implicaton: the first couple, created by no less a parent than God, only lasts about an hour or two before sinning and getting kicked out of the Garden of Eden.

And in Parshat Shemini, we learn of another major faux pas.

As the nation gets ready to inaugurate God's Home, as Aaron and his family are officially stepping into the roles and rights of priesthood, at this very moment there is a pretty big blunder.

We can only speculate as to the exact nature of their sin -and theories and explanations abound - but we know that whatever they did, it was severe enough to earn them the death penalty.

It was their big moment, it was all of our big night --and they blew it.

But, beyond its value as a cautionary tale ("Don't drink and daven, or...) this tale, like its sister story in B'reishit, can also be inspiring.

The story speaks to human frailty and fallibility -- and that can be more liberating than limiting. Don't beat yourself up; Do the most you can --and recognize that at the end of the day, success is often in God's hands.

Greater people than you hae failed, but lesser people have also succeeded. Stay the course and don't be discouraged.

That is the personal message, but there is a communal one as well. It's obvious, but so hard to remember that here as elsewhere the Torah reminds us.

Let's call it the "Cut A Person A break, Wont'cha" Line of reasoning.

If Adam and Eve can make such a mess of things, if even Aaron's sons can err, and on such a scale, then when our friends, family or co-workers make mistakes of their own, can't we "lose" some of our indignant surprise and "gain" some understanding and sympathy?