18 Nov THE DANGEROUS SIDE OF HOLINESS

When Leah had her third
child, she explained,
“Hapa’am yilave ishi
eilai – This time my
husband will walk
alongside of me.” And
the Torah concludes,
“Al kein, kara sh’mo Levi – Therefore,
she called her son Levi (which means to
escort).”
About the words al kein, Rashi makes a
fascinating comment. He remarks that
the word kein usually denotes a massive
population. This is problematic when
used in reference to the tribe of Levi since
Shevet Levi had the smallest population
census of all the tribes. Rashi solves this
problem by teaching us that the tribe of
Levi would have been a massive one but
for one thing. Its job was to take care of
the sacred vessels of the Beis HaMikdash.
This duty was a highly dangerous one
since inadvertent disrespect to the sacred
vessels carried the penalty of misa
b’dei shamayim, death at the hands of
Heaven. Thus, Rashi concludes that the
tribe was few in number because the,
“Aron mechalei osam – The Divine Ark
consumed many of them.”

Indeed, it was this very scare that caused
Eisav to reject the service of G-d. When
Yaakov proposed to his brother Eisav,
“Michra kaiyom es bechorascha li – Sell
as today the firstborn rights to me,” the
commentators explain that Yaakov’s
emphasis on the word kaiyom, today,
was to reassure Eisav that Yaakov was
not interested in the future inheritance
rights of the firstborn. Rather, he wanted
the more immediate privilege of serving
Hashem by offering sacrifices, which was
the privilege of the firstborn.
Eisav declared, “Hinei anochi holeich
lamus, v’lama zeh li bechorah – Behold
I am going to die. Why would I want
the firstborn rights?” Rashi explains that
Eisav’s reservation sprung from the fact
that he knew the job of ministering to G-d
was fraught with danger. Being involved
in sacred activities is highly volatile. If
you serve while intoxicated, improperly
dressed, or perform in the wrong order,
it could have lethal repercussions. Eisav
concluded that the rewards were not
worth the risk.
The considerable amount of danger that
is engendered by being in proximity
to holiness is not simply a matter of

historic interest. Rather, it pertains to
every observant Jew in a very real way,
every day of our lives. This is because
whenever we go to shul, we go to a place
of great kedusha, holiness. As such, the
aforementioned equation, that kedusha
brings along with it a possibility of
danger, is very applicable to shul. The
Kitzur Shulchan Orech teaches us that the
verse, “Es Mikdashi tira’u – You should
be fearful in My Temple,” applies also to
the mikdash me’at, the minor sanctuaries,
which are our synagogues and our study
halls. And the meaning of the directive
‘to be fearful’ not only means to be
mindful of G-d’s presence, but it also
embraces having a healthy fear of the
dangers we mentioned above when one
might act with irreverence towards the
sacred atmosphere of these Holy places.
One might wonder, what exactly does
it mean to have a sense of fear when
entering a synagogue? Let me give
you a contemporary parallel. When
one walks into a library, there is a hush
in the room. One will instinctively
‘Sshh!’ their children if they become
unruly. Now, let’s consider what is
under the roof of a library? The ‘lofty’
works of John Grisham and Stephen
King? If one is accustomed to feel
this way upon entering a library, then
we should definitely train ourselves
to achieve at least such a feeling
upon entering the home of our Holy
Sifrei Torah, the great treasure of
our lives, the blueprint of Creation,
the Divine writings of the King of
kings. Similarly, when one enters a
court session in process, especially if
it would be chambers of the Supreme
Court, one would be naturally instilled
with a sense of reverence. Surely then,
this should be felt when we enter our
shul where people pray for their health
and the health of their loved ones, their
livelihood and their happiness.
Many people mistakenly think that
the merit of going to shul, putting in
the effort to say the many prayers,
listening to the Torah reading and the
Rabbi’s sermon, will cancel out and
counteract any misbehavior such as
talking during kaddish, the chazan’s
recitation of the Shemone Esrei, or
during the reading of the Torah. This
can be a fatal blunder. Shevet Levi’s
handling of the Aron and the sacred
vessels did not protect them when they
slipped-up in the proper respect and
reverence due to their holy charges.
In a similar vein, the fact that we are
doing the mitzvah of going to shul and
davening, etc., will not protect us from

the grave sin of chatting or acting with
levity in Hashem’s House of worship.
This attitude of ‘Es Mikdashi tira’u,’ to
feel a sense of fear and reverence upon
entering shul, needs to be cultivated and
it is of lifesaving importance to inculcate
this attitude to our children.
The Shulchan Aruch doesn’t mince words
when it informs us that one who talks
improperly in Shul is a chotei-a sinner,
V’gadol avono minso-his sin is to heavy
to bear. Yes, this is borrowed phraseology
from when Kayin murdered his brother!
We are not talking about some chumra
or some gabai’s shtick, this is very grave
stuff. On the other hand we are taught
a nifty acronym- the word seiva- hoary
old age spelled sin yud veis hay, stands
for shtika yafa bshas hatefila-silence is
worthy during prayer!
May it be the will of Hashem that we
withstand the temptations of acting in a
cavalier manner when we are in shul and
in that merit may Hashem bless us with
long life, good health, and everything
wonderful.