Imagine, you are walking along beside the Ark of the Covenant, as King David leads the procession to take the Ark to Jerusalem. You are in a privileged position at the side of the cart on which the Ark is placed and feel especially responsible. Just as you reach an important farming settlement on the way, the oxen pulling the cart stumble. What do you do? Do you stand by and risk the Ark tumbling to the ground, or do you reach out to catch hold of this most precious of all of Israel’s possessions? Well, Uzzah, son of Abinadav, in whose house the Ark had been kept up until this journey, did reach out and God’s anger burned against him and “God smote him there for his error, and he died there by God’s ark.”

This terrifying event, recounted in Samuel 2 6:1 – 7:17, appears in the Haftorah for Shemini and mirrors the equally terrifying account in the parsha of the death of Nadav and Avihu, two of Aaron’s sons, for offering unauthorised fire to God. The death of the brothers appears even more shocking as it comes just after Aaron and his sons have been consecrated as God’s priests and when the people were in a state of harmony with the will of God.

Why were the punishments so severe? Several reasons have been given in each case. Uzzah was a Levite and it was right for him to be involved in the carrying of the Ark, but there is the whole point. The Ark was meant to be carried upon the shoulders of the Kohathites, not loaded upon a cart. It was meant to be carried, but not to be touched. As for Nadav and Avihu, they failed to appreciate the difference between the sacred and the profane and they assumed that they were able to decide what God wanted. And yet, I, for one, still feel great sorrow for the brothers and for Uzzah. Yes, they did wrong, but could we not expect mercy from “God, omnipotent, merciful and kind, slow to anger, with tremendous love and truth”? (Shemot 34 8)

No doubt, we will wrestle with such questions for long and many times. However, this week we are come to the double parshiyot of Tazria-M’zora and the exposition of the laws of cleanliness and uncleanliness as they relate to the leprous curse and to both male and female discharges. Pat Lipert  will lead us in prayer, reading and discussion. Come and take part.

Yom Ha-Atzma’ut begins this year on the evening of Monday 1 May.

On the news this morning, I listened to an item on money laundering and the corruption of oligarchs from a country somewhere to the east of here. Clearly, these oligarchs have not read Deuteronomy 10: 12-19 where it says, “He is the great, mighty and awesome God, who does not give special consideration or take bribes.” Perhaps they have read this, but, to them, it is just words. We will read them this Shabbat, when the normal cycle of Torah readings is interrupted for Pesach. We will also read Exodus 13: 3-10. How appropriate that, during this festival of remembering, we go back to consider again the laws of Pesach and how we are instructed, in the future, to tell the story. How appropriate, too, that we go forward to remember the journey we have made through the generations, and now through the desert, always with God’s love. God loved our ancestors and “chose you, their descendants, from among all nations, just as the situation is today.” What do we do in return? Only “remain in awe of God your Lord, so that you will follow all his paths and love Him, serving your God your Lord with all your heart and all your soul.”

The Torah reading finishes with another, oh most significant reminder to show love toward the foreigner, since we were foreigners in the land of Egypt, and have been again many times since.

Come and celebrate the fifth day of Pesach together, starting at 10.30.  Harvey Kurzfield will make the past present.

Since it is still Pesach, please bear this in mind when deciding what to bring for the kiddush lunch. Given our varied traditions, food containing kitniyot is fine, but, equally, given our respect for other traditions, please make it clear if what you bring does contain it.