Shemini | The Sound of Silence: Vayidom Aharon

Shemini | The Sound of Silence: Vayidom Aharon, by Rav Yitzchak Etshalom

How are we to understand Aharon's silence? Aharon's reaction to the death of his sons, Nadav and Avihu, is summarized in two words: וידם אהרן. Translation, meaning and implications of these two words are the fodder for much exegetic and homiletic analysis. A survey of the uses of the word דום and דמם throughout Tanakh allows us a glimpse to a possible holistic meaning that fits Aharon's reaction as well as the sun's stopping for Yehoshua and the קול דממה דקה heard by Eliyahu.

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