Parshat Achrei Mot – Kedoshim
Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald

Parshat Acharei Mot begins with the "order of the service" of the Cohen Gadol in the Beit Mikdash on Yom Kippur, and the restrictions on entering Kodesh HaKodeshim (the Holy of Holies of the Temple).
"And G-d said to Moshe, after the death of the two sons of Aharon, who came near G-d and perished: Speak to Aharon your brother, (and tell him) that he shall not come at all times into the Holy area, inside the curtain, in view of the Kaporet which is upon the Ark, in order that he should not die…" (Vayikra 16:1)
This parsha is read in the Temple on Yom Kippur – at the height of the holiest day of the year. (Mishna Yoma 7,5) Additionally, we usually read parshat Acharei Mot on the Shabbat following Yom Ha'atzmaut and Yom Hazikaron (Memorial Day) for fallen IDF soldiers!
The expression "after the death of the two sons of Aharon" indicates the timing of the command to Moshe, the "day after" the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, as recounted in Parshat Shemini. "Since immediately after his sons died, (G-d) warned Aharon not to drink wine or liquor, so he wouldn't die. Additionally, He told Moshe to warn him not to risk death by coming near G-d (entering the holy area). And to the best of our understanding, both of these prohibitions (not to drink wine and not to enter the Holy of Holies) were commanded on the day after their deaths." (Ramban)
According to the Talmudic sages, this "timing" of giving the command which regulates entry to the Kodesh Kodeshim on the "day after" their deaths serves as a deterrent, "learning a lesson" from the tragedy. The purpose is to bring to mind the danger, and to heighten the awareness of the Cohanim of the necessity of being careful about the laws limiting entry to the Holy of Holies. (Torat Cohanim, Rashi)
However, there is another kind of "heightening of awareness" and empowerment on this "day after" the bereavement.
Nadav and Avihu were two of the great men of the generation, and Moshe says to Aharon: "Now I see that they were greater than me or you" (Torat Cohanim, Vayikra Rabbah, Rashi Vayikra 10:3). Their tragic death occurs at the climax of the landmark and festive event – the inauguration of the Mishkan.
The bereaved father responds to their sudden deaths with silence, "and Aharon kept still." The death of children ostensibly is a cutting off of the generations, the very essence of destruction, and a loss of hope for the future. However, he accepts the judgment without protest, and bears in his heart the incomparable pain. "The deaths of the children of the tzadikkim in their lifetime are painful for G-d." (Tzror Hamor Vayikra 10:2). As a result of that silence: "(Aharon) received merit for his silence." (Rashi on Vayikra 10:3)
However it is evident that his "silence" was not the result of "paralysis"! And his "stillness" was full of meaning. This was not the deathly stillness of devastation, and not helplessness, but rather the choice of a strategy to ascend to insights that come from a higher, inner world where "To You, stillness is praise." (Tehillim 65:2) To a world where words cannot express its perceptions.
Judaism categorically rejects the "death worship" of idolaters. The Cohanim are prohibited from coming into contact with the dead, and every Jew is forbidden to cut himself for the deceased. All of this goes together with an understanding that death is not synonymous with destruction, but instead with "the breaking of the tablets" whose "letters fly in the air" and ascend to a spiritual, boundless world. (Talmud Yerushalmi, Yoma 1a)
The catastrophic "breakdown", "breaks" the existing reality, and presents the tough challenge of creating a new realty on the "day after." It creates an opportunity but forces us to make a difficult choice. Instead of allowing the crisis and the pain to bring us and the world down into the depths, it allows us to make the strategic choice of future creativity and constructiveness, and reaching new heights and expanses. Instead of letting the crisis break down the existing frameworks, we can choose to rise and break through to a future of realizing conquering powers which were unleashed up to then, and onto new horizons.
So it was on the "day after" the deaths of Nadav and Avihu. G-d gave the possibility of an orderly and significant entry into the Kodesh Kodeshim – in the form of the service of the Cohen Gadol on Yom Kippur.
There is a popular saying: Acharei Mot – Kedoshim Emor. (This is based on the names of those 3 consecutive parshiot, and means that after someone's death, people remember the positive "holy" things about him.) But these same words can also be understood differently: After the tragic death of Kedoshim (holy people), Emor – say. There is a powerful, new statement that needs to be made.
Chazal explained why parshat Acharie Mot (which occurred in Nissan) is read on Yom Kippur: "According to Rabbi Yochanan, why are the deaths of the sons of Aharon mentioned in this context? And didn't they die during the inauguration (of the Mishkan)? Rabbi Chiyya Bar Abba said that they died on the first of Nissan, so why are their deaths mentioned on Yom Kippur? To teach us that just like Yom Kippur atones for Israel, so the deaths of the tzaddikim (righteous) atones for Israel." (Talmud Yerushalmi Yoma 1a)
Rav Kook ztz"l explains "the death of the tzaddikim atones" in that their ascent "to the level of the wellspring of life and the essence of their lives brings good and blessing to the entire building of the world in all its values and meanings." (Orot Hamilchamah, Alef)
From this ascent of the deceased, great power from above radiates downward, upon the living, who must cope with the deaths of the righteous.
Since the beginning of our return to Zion and the rebirth of Hebrew "defensive strength", the issue of coping with bereavement and the death of tzaddikim takes on a broader meaning. The pain involved creates insights that sometimes cannot be expressed by words, and the because of this, stillness is praise. Bereavement comes suddenly, without prior preparations, and the main thing is the "day after" and the strategic decision to choose life and building of the future out of the crisis.