In “Bad vs. Worse: The Ultimate Guide to Making Lose-Lose Decisions,” the author, Joshua Paven, presents a B-Mitzvah party dilemma you would likely rather avoid at all costs: having either “Ozzy ‘the Prince of Darkness” Osborne’ or “Marilyn ‘Charlie’ Manson” appear on stage to sing a rendition of Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration.” A silly exercise, but also a good reminder of a time when we could go all out, and maybe a little over board to celebrate good times.
One of the hardest things about the period we are in is the limitations it places on life cycles and other important occasions. My heart breaks at all of you who have to face loss without being able to have the full support of their spiritual community. Baby naming, B Mitzvahs, graduations and weddings are no less fraught. We long for a time when planning parties was the most stressful of life’s choices.
In this week’s Torah portion, Shmini, the People of Israel are finally able to celebrate with no strings attached. After centuries of servitude, and months of wandering, the Tabernacle and all it contains is finally ready for use. And for one day it works beautifully. Aaron offers the sacrifices, God receives them, and, even, for a brief moment reveals God’s glory to the entirety of the people (Lev. 9:23). That is until it all goes wrong, Aaron’s sons Nadav and Abiyhu offer a foreign fire and are killed on the spot. The sacrificial system grinds to a standstill.
I’m not sure which is harder, not being able to sacrifice at all for generations, or having it momentarily taken away when they are finally able to do so freely. It is hard to remember a time when public Jewish celebrations were actively discouraged. Jews who came from the former USSR certainly remember, but Jews fleeing the Nazis and pogroms remember as well.
The period we are in right now is hard, but not unprecedented. Those who have had or will have life cycle events robbed from them or significantly altered, will have Covid 19 embedded on their personal history. I hope that they one day see this as a mark of resilience. And, later, when life returns to normal I hope we no longer need competing rock stars to help in our celebrations. I hope just being together will be celebration enough.