In the course of life sometimes startling and shocking events take place.  Some might be close at hand, affecting people we know.  Yet we learn how to respond to such tragedies from our sacred Torah, which tells of events happening thousands of years ago, and of responses which are eternally relevant.

In this week's Torah reading (Leviticus chapters 9-11) a very unexpected and tragic event is described.  At the moment of the final consecration of the Sanctuary, two of Aaron's sons were killed.  Without consulting Moses, they let themselves be overcome by their enthusiasm and had come too close to the infinite power of the Divine which was revealed in the Holy of Holies.  In effect, they died as a result of their own unbridled ecstasy.

The approaching festival of Passover makes us confront issues concerning good battling against evil, escape from enslavement by enemies, the triumph of light over darkness.  There are such battles on a national level, and they also exist within a person in the form of the struggle of the Good Desire against the Evil Desire, and escape from the enslavement to inner narcissism and negativity.

Jewish teaching recognizes that very often we are engaged in such conflicts in order that we should survive.  The battle is often not only on our own behalf as Jews, but a battle for civilization as a whole, for the universal ideal of belief in G-d and the ethical behavior which should result from that belief.  When the Bible condemns the idolatry of the ancient Canaanites it condemns their depravity:  "for also their sons and daughters they burn in fire" (Deuteronomy 12:31).