Two Minute Torah Podcast

Shemini 5769 by Rabbi Esther Reed

Hi, this Rabbi Esther Reed, Associate Director at Rutgers Hillel in New Brunswick, NJ. Welcome to KOACH's Two-Minute Torah; a project of the College Department of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

This week's parsha, shemini, includes the story of the first sacrifices brought by Cohanim, consecrated priests, in the history of the Jewish people. Aaron brings his sacrifice, and then 2 of his sons, Nadav and Avihu bring theirs. But all does not go well for Nadav and Avihu. They offer it to God with what is described as Esh Zara, Alien or Strange Fire, which was not according to the instructions God had given Moses. At that point, a fire came forth from God and consumed them. They died on the spot.

What does it mean to bring a strange fire and to risk death for it?

Critics of the Conservative movement argue that Conservative Jews bring strange and alien elements to Judaism, watering it down or lessening its authenticity. But the Conservative movement has a process for decision-making that follows the same format of rabbis, going back centuries in time. Rabbis and scholars, experts in the sacred texts of our tradition, sit on the Committee of Jewish Law and Standards and answer questions with their written responses, or teshuvot. Conservative Jews who base the decisions in their lives on the responses of the Committee of Jewish Law and Standards aren't bringing an alien fire—they are following Judaism in its most authentic form, allowing for Tradition and Change, as the Jewish people always have. Unlike the claim that Conservative Jews make individual choices out of convenience, the true practice of Conservative Judaism is like that of our ancestor Aaron, bringing a sweet, pleasing offering to God. My bracha, my blessing for all of us, is that we uphold the ideals of Conservative Judaism, and that we recognize the authenticity that our movement has in being the true inheritor of the Judaism of our ancestors, even going back to Moses and Aaron.