Parshat Shemini: The Weekly Parsha Story Illustrated by AI

Hello children. In the previous episode, I told you about the sacrificial service and how they worked in the Mishkan, the tabernacle. Our episode today is a special one. Para Shimini is a very special day in the history of the Jewish people. Rash Hodesh Nissan, the eighth day of the inauguration. For the previous seven days, Moshe worked alone in the tabernacle. He didn't have special priestly garments like the other priests, but he would offer the sacrifices and perform the other tasks by himself. At the end of the seven days, God said to Moshe, "Even though you served in the tabernacle, you will not be the Cohen the priest your brother Aaron will be. Go and appoint him as the high priest." Moshe did not get angry or disappointed. Instead, he went and told Aaron, "God commanded me to appoint you as the high priest." Aaron was surprised and hesitant to accept the appointment, not wanting to hurt his brother Moshe. Moshe, you served in the tabernacle for seven days. Why should I be the high priest? Moshe said to his brother Aon, I am happy about it. How moving is the love between Moshe and Auron, who felt no jealousy towards one another at all. Now we've reached the eighth day, the day when the priests will begin to serve on their own. What excitement. The entire Jewish nation gathered around the tabernacle. Everyone stood in anticipation, eager to witness the beginning of the service. Moshe called Auron and his sons and said, "Take a bull calf as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. Why specifically a calf? To atone for the sin of the golden calf, the sin that the Jewish people committed before receiving the Torah, Iron needed to show that he truly regretted what had happened there." And what about the people? They had to bring a male goat for a sin offering, a calf and a lamb for a burnt offering, and an ox and a ram for peace offerings, as well as a meal offering mixed with oil. The entire nation approached the tabernacle and a special miracle occurred there. The place, which was relatively small to accommodate all of the Jewish people, miraculously held everyone. Aon and his sons put on their special priestly garments and began the service. Aaron offered his calf as a sin offering and then he offered the people sacrifices, their sin offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings. When he finished the service, Aaron raised his hands and blessed the people with the priestly blessing. What an emotional moment. This was the first time a priest had blessed the Jewish people. At this point, everyone was waiting for fire to come down from heaven, but no fire came. Wow. What do we do now? Aaron said to Moshe, "Moshe, what have you done to me? Where is the fire you said would come down from heaven and consume the offering? Maybe it didn't come down because the sin of the golden calf still hasn't been forgiven for me." Aaron was sad. Moshe said to Aaron, "Let's go into the tabernacle and pray to God." And then something amazing happened. Moshe and Aaron entered the tent of meeting. And when they came out, suddenly fire came out from before the Lord and consumed all the offerings that were on the altar. All the people saw it, and they were so overwhelmed with excitement that they fell on their faces and began to sing and praise Hashem. But then something terrible happened. Nadav and Avihu, Aon's two eldest sons, each took his own pan, a special vessel used for incense and offered a foreign fire. You're probably asking yourselves, what does a foreign fire mean? It refers to fire they offered that God had not commanded them to bring. They were righteous and deeply desired to draw close to God, but they did it in the wrong way. Suddenly, fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them. But before they died, the fire pushed them outside so that the tabernacle would not become impure. No one saw that they had died. Everyone was lying on the ground singing praises to God. When they got up, they saw that only Nadav and Avihu did not rise. They approached them and saw that they had passed away. Suddenly there was complete silence. Moshe approached Aaron and said, "This is what God said. I will be sanctified through those near to me." Meaning God is so holy that even the greatest righteous people must be extremely careful and do exactly as he commands. Aaron remained silent. He accepted the judgment with love despite the terrible pain. What greatness. What faith he had in Hashem. Moshe called Mishael and Elsafon, Aaron's cousins, and told them to carry out Nadav and Avihu and bury them outside the camp. Moshe told Aaron and his remaining sons Elazar and Idomar not to mourn because that day was a day of joy and therefore he instructed them to cut their hair and not to tear their garments. But the entire Jewish nation wept for not of and avioo. Afterwards the priests were warned not to drink wine and then entered to serve in the tabernacle. Why? because they needed to be completely clear-minded when serving in the sanctuary to distinguish between the sacred and the profane and between the impure and the pure. Therefore, they were forbidden to drink wine. Later, Hashem told Moshe to teach the Jewish people about the pure and impure animals so they would know what is permitted to eat and what is forbidden. The animals permitted for consumption are those that chew the cud. That means they re-we their food and they have split hooves. Hooves that are divided. For example, a cow, ox, sheep and goat are pure animals. But the camel, hierax, and hair, although they chew the cud and re-we their food, are not. They do not have split hooves and therefore they are impure. The fish that are permitted for consumption are only those that have fins and scales. But if they lack either of these, they are impure and forbidden to eat. Moshe continues to teach the Jewish people about the birds as well. The Torah lists the birds that are forbidden to eat such as the eagle, vulture, osprey, and others. The birds that are permitted include the rooster, goose, turtle dove, pigeon, and others. And regarding crawling creatures, all of them are impure except for four types of locusts that are permitted to be eaten. But today, we refrain from eating them because we do not know how to distinguish between the impure and the pure. God wants us to be holy like him. At the end of the portion, God reiterates, "I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God, and you shall be holy, for I am holy." How do we preserve holiness and how do we fulfill God's command? We will tell you about that in the next episode.