Parashat Shemini - Faith Without Answers

27th of Nissan, 5785 April 25 - 26, 2025

This year, during Chol Hamoed Pesach, a frightening incident took place. A one-year-old child was playing with a glass bottle of grape juice. It shattered, and a shard entered his mouth, cutting his tongue. Hatzalah was called, and with G-d’s help, the medic treated the injury and found no major damage.

But the responder noticed something troubling: the child’s breathing. He urged the parents to rush to the hospital, despite their hesitation. There, doctors discovered a 10-agorot coin lodged in the child’s airway — a life-threatening situation. They said clearly: had the child gone to sleep that night, he would not have woken up.

The broken bottle, the minor injury — they weren’t random accidents. They were life-saving steps from Heaven.

This story ties deeply to what we just commemorated this past Thursday — Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Holocaust stands as the greatest tragedy in Jewish history. And as survivors age, we face the heartbreaking reality that soon no one will remain to tell their stories firsthand.

The greatest struggle in trying to reconcile the Holocaust is the tension between our belief in a good, compassionate G-d — and the reality of such overwhelming evil. How do we make sense of it?

The answer is not found in explanations. It’s found in this week’s parsha, Shemini.

After the tragic deaths of Nadav and Avihu, Aharon’s sons, during the joyous inauguration of the Mishkan, the Torah tells us: "Vayidom Aharon" — "And Aharon was silent."

But this wasn’t passive silence. It was an active acceptance. Aharon didn't ask "Why?" He understood that G-d’s will, no matter how painful, is good — even when human eyes cannot see it.

We cannot explain the Holocaust. We are not meant to. Like Aharon, we must respond with faith, not answers.

Our sages give a parable: A simple man enters the cockpit of a plane, sees hundreds of buttons, and asks the pilot about one of them. The pilot laughs: "Have you understood all the others that you question this one?"

So too with us. We live in G-d’s world — a world filled with infinite wisdom. To question a single event without understanding the grand design is foolish.

This is a cornerstone of our faith. Our lives as Jews are built on it.

We await the final redemption, when all questions will be answered, when all pain will be healed.

May we see the salvation of Am Yisrael soon, and may we never know sorrow again. Amen.