Silent Moments

B”H

Silent Moments

One notable thing that stood out for me in the parasha this last week was Yaakov's silence when he heard the news of Dinah's abduction and rape. The brothers have a lot to say, but Yaakov says nothing-- until after Simeon and Levi take matters into their own hands and collectively punish the entire town of Shechem. This injustice he speaks to, but the tragedy of his own child calls forth no words, no thoughts, nothing for us to ruminate on as a reflection of our own tragedies except silence.

Where else in Torah do we see a grieving parent unable to bear witness except through silence? Aaron, at the deaths of his sons Nadav and Avihu. This horrendous thing happens to them in front of their father and the whole assembly of Yisroel, and what does the Torah say? "Aaron was silent."

Sometimes, Torah is telling us, our grief is so overwhelming, the shock and tragedy is unspeakable. There are no words for these moments. Silence itself is the loudest statement. Where then do we go after the silence? Simeon and Levi take silence as a failure to action and channel it into anger and rage. Aaron has no choice in his next actions and is obligated to anoint his younger son and continue the priestly rite. What after that? He is never the same again, and neither is the priestly mantle he conferred on his lineage.

Perhaps in learning to speak through the silence, or in its aftermath, we will become more able to carry the light of Torah into the world. Perhaps this is part of our mission to become a nation of priests, where each and every one of us must speak the truth of our silence, and in so doing help elevate those struggling around us. This is a large part of the narrative process. A communal gleaning of our shared wisdom as we struggle individually (yaakov) and collectively (yisroel) to come to healthier mechanisms within our self and the people. Silence for a moment gives space and time for absorption. Silence as a practice breeds isolation and imbalance internally and externally and creates a system in which others tell us how to process the reality of our lives and community.

Part of what draws me to the maggidic process, is that it encourages the individual and communal narrative to come up out of silence and form a critical interexchange of wisdom and experience. Through the maggidic experience of Torah we have the opportunity to be vitally human beings and vitally divine all in one fell swoop, and to do this as a rich and healthy people.

END PART ONE, TO BE CONTINUED.