MY DAILY LIFE TORAH COACH:
Parashat Shemini n.27

Parshat Shemini unfolds like a breath held too long​, suspended between ecstasy and awe, order and rupture. The opening moments shimmer with hope: the Tabernacle is finally complete, the Divine Presence descends in fire, and the people fall in reverence. It is a peak of collective alignment, of human craftsmanship meeting something infinite. But just as quickly, the narrative jolts​, Nadav and Avihu, in their zeal or confusion, offer a “strange fire,” and are consumed.

This tension​, between the sublime and the devastating​, echoes the spiritual path itself. Shemini whispers a subtle truth: that purity of intention is not enough when touching the sacred. There is a precision to the soul’s journey, a quiet reverence that must temper even the most ecstatic longing. And yet, even in grief, the story continues. Life resumes, albeit more cautiously, more humbly. This parsha invites us to examine the fire we bring into the world: is it aligned, attuned, anchored? It asks us not to stifle our passion, but to refine it​, so that our offerings uplift, rather than overwhelm.