Rabbi’s Update 4/10/2026

Dear Friends:

This past Wednesday in place of a more formal sermon we studied a text from the Talmud tractate Pesachim. Briefly, the question arose as to what would happen if the 14th of Nisan, when the Paschal sacrifice was slaughtered, fell on Shabbat. Certain rituals override Shabbat (for example, if the eighth day of a baby boy’s life is Shabbat, the bris is still held that day) while others are moved because of Shabbat (if the 9th of Av falls on Shabbat, the fast is held on Sunday instead.) Which category does the Paschal sacrifice fall into? For whatever reason, the religious leaders of Jerusalem didn’t know the answer to this question until someone told them about Hillel, who was previously unknown. 

Hillel explained why the sacrifice itself overrides Shabbat, but he wasn’t certain what should be done if the person offering the sacrifice forgot to bring the knife to the place of slaughter before Shabbat. (If you have ever arranged a bris on Shabbat, you know that while the circumcision itself overrides Shabbat, all of the necessary equipment needs to be brought to the place where it will occur before Shabbat.) Hillel said: “I learned this law but I have forgotten it. But leave it to Israel; if they are not prophets they are the sons of prophets.” The next day, anyone whose Paschal offering was a sheep stuck the knife in its wool, and anyone whose Paschal offering was a goat tied the knife between its horns. He saw their actions and said: “this is what I learned from Shamaiah and Avtalion.”

In our discussion of this text I said that this reminded me of the account in the Gospels of Jesus carrying his own cross to Calvary. In normative Christian theology, Jesus’ death takes the place of the Paschal sacrifice and thus the many references in Christian sources, and even Christian pop, to the “Blood of the Lamb.” 

There are teachings in every religion that those of other religions often find puzzling. In my experience, one of the Christian ideas that Jews find to be odd or problematic is the teaching that Jesus died for our sins. It seems pretty strange. Each of us is responsible for the wrongs that we do. How can someone else's death atone for my sins?

Most commentators have assumed that the deaths of Nadav and Avihu were a punishment, and have tried to figure out what the punishment was for. Most focus on one of two ideas. Either the punishment was for religious innovation -- we are supposed to do the rituals we are commanded by God to do and not invent our own. Or for drunkenness -- while the text does not explicitly tell us they were drunk, the Torah does tell us shortly after this story that Kohanim, priests, are not allowed to drink alcohol prior to performing the sacrifices, and thus the tradition deduced that Nadav and Avihu were drunk when they went into the Tabernacle.

The Sefat Emet, a Chasidic commentator who lived from 1847 to 1905, offers another possibility. Here is his comment on the story:

"Concerning the verse’ but your brethren, the whole house of Israel, may bewail the burning which the LORD has kindled’. It appears that every Israelite is obligated to weep for them, as it is written in the Holy Zohar, Parashat Acharei. And the matter can be explained in this way: they were completely righteous (tzaddikim g'morim). And our sages have said that "in the place where a penitent (ba'al teshuvah) stands, the wholly righteous cannot stand. This being the case, they were punished on our behalf, therefore we have to weep for them. And it is best not to go on about this matter."

What is the Sefat Emet saying about Nadav and Avihu? Were they sinners or saints? Was their death punishment or vicarious atonement? And why is it best not to go on about this matter?

We’re aware that those of you participating in services yesterday via Zoom experienced technical difficulties. The OWL camera which we use for services in the Sanctuary was malfunctioning. Tom Loggie and I have a couple of ideas for resolving this issue later today. If not, we will have to use a  webcam on a laptop, which doesn’t have the same tracking capability but will transmit fixed video and the audio of the service.

If you or someone you know is in need because of having been laid off, or has  lost benefits of some type and needs immediate help, please let me know. I can access limited funds through the Jewish Federation almost immediately. For longer-term help, the Hebrew Free Loan Society will loan up to $18,000 interest-free and the Jewish Federation has set up a hotline to  access assistance at 703-JCARING.

As a reminder, I am having drop-in hours on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4 at the shul. For my drop-in hours, you do not need to make an appointment -- that would negate the whole point of drop-in hours -- but I’d urge you to check and make sure I am there regardless as sometimes there are unavoidable pastoral or other emergencies which might take me away from the building. 

As always, if I can do anything for you or you need to talk, please contact me at rabbi@kehilatshalom.org rather than through the synagogue office. I am happy to meet you at the synagogue by appointment; if you want to speak with me it’s best to make an appointment rather than assuming I will be there when you stop by. 

Additionally, if you know of a Kehilat Shalom congregant or another member of our Jewish community who could use a phone call, please let me know.

L’shalom,

Rabbi Charles L. Arian