Isn?t it true that it is not the things that we have, but the one thing that is missing is always the most important thing in our lives? The recent tragic deaths, hospitalizations and illnesses attributed to the missing B1 vitamins in Remedia formula have brought this home in so many ways. One missing element, one tiny missing ingredient in the mixture, can spell tragedy and death not for just one, but for many across Israel, and across the world.
I cried for those babies, for those families, for those young mothers and fathers and grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts, uncles and siblings. They thought they were doing the best for those babies, providing the best, doing what was right. Even though the blame for what has happened does not rest with them, these loving care-providers probably are still awake at night with ?what ifs? and ?if onlys.? A lot of them will turn their anger and their sadness upon themselves, even though that is not where that anger and that sadness belong. Those care-givers, those parents and grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins were there for every need and every comfort. Unfortunately, what those babies needed was not what was there, but what was not there: the one thing no one could see and no one could know about, the missing element.
Torah speaks to all things, and especially to the issue of that which is missing. The incense offering is the most holy and the most difficult of all the Temple offerings, and gained a reputation as one Temple offering that, when not done correctly, could result in instant death. Compounding of the incense was done once a year by a ?spice mixer? ? someone well versed in the making and compounding of incense and spices. Incense was made all at once and if even one small ingredient was left out, the compounder was liable for death.
How could this be? After all, wouldn?t it be almost impossible to tell if the compounder left one small ingredient out? Most likely, if an ingredient were left out, it wouldn?t be a main ingredient, as it would be too obvious. It would be something small, something that most people would not notice. Maybe even the compounder would not know that the incense was not pure and correct ? until it was too late and it had been used. This is probably the very reason the compounder was liable for death. There was no margin for error.
Therefore, the one compounding the incense would be the one responsible for the wellbeing of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest), as well as the one responsible for the wellbeing of those for whom the communal incense offerings were being given; i.e., the entire Jewish nation. The compounder of the incense had to be someone who was beyond reproach, someone who could be trusted above all others in the community to hold the fate of the Jewish people in his hands.
Strangely enough, I have read little about the men who held this post. I have seen few books or articles attributed to the great incense makers of Israel, who they were, or how they trained. I have also never heard of whether one was ever liable for death for leaving out an ingredient. It seems to me that they were heroically unremarkable in their unrelenting attention to detail, and that these men served the Jewish people with honor.
Also remarkable in learning about the incense is the issue of the added ingredient. If the incense compounder added an ingredient that was not allowed (like fruit honey, for example) he simply rendered the incense ?unfit.? It was not the act of deliberate sabotage by adding a disallowed element, which others could find, that would sentence him to death, but the omission of an essential ingredient that others couldn?t find. The sin of omission, of forgetting one essential ingredient, then, was the unforgivable sin, because omission is something that others can?t know, can?t check, and cannot become aware of.
The omission of essential ingredients is that deadly something that we cannot protect ourselves from until it is too late. We try to read the labels clearly, we try to be careful, we try to trust, and we try to pick the right people to formulate and compound the ingredients correctly for our babies, for our sacred prayers, and for our nation ? but we can?t always do what is right, no matter how hard we try.
We know that Remedia was missing B1, even though it said that it contained the element on its label. Unfortunately, the knowledge of that omission was too late to save some babies. G-d willing, some babies will be saved by this knowledge now. Unfortunately, there are too many things in the world besides Remedia that are missing essential ingredients.
I wonder how many other things in this world are missing essential elements that we are unaware of at this moment, and how many of these unknown and missing elements will remain unrevealed until the moment that it is too late.
Are those who we have entrusted with the job of compounding the ingredients and the formulas of our future sure that they have all the essential elements incorporated into the mix? Have they carefully considered every little element? Small things do matter. Tiny elements are essential. Little lives, families, and nations may all count more on what is left out than on what is put in.
I cried for those babies, for those families, for those young mothers and fathers and grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts, uncles and siblings. They thought they were doing the best for those babies, providing the best, doing what was right. Even though the blame for what has happened does not rest with them, these loving care-providers probably are still awake at night with ?what ifs? and ?if onlys.? A lot of them will turn their anger and their sadness upon themselves, even though that is not where that anger and that sadness belong. Those care-givers, those parents and grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins were there for every need and every comfort. Unfortunately, what those babies needed was not what was there, but what was not there: the one thing no one could see and no one could know about, the missing element.
Torah speaks to all things, and especially to the issue of that which is missing. The incense offering is the most holy and the most difficult of all the Temple offerings, and gained a reputation as one Temple offering that, when not done correctly, could result in instant death. Compounding of the incense was done once a year by a ?spice mixer? ? someone well versed in the making and compounding of incense and spices. Incense was made all at once and if even one small ingredient was left out, the compounder was liable for death.
How could this be? After all, wouldn?t it be almost impossible to tell if the compounder left one small ingredient out? Most likely, if an ingredient were left out, it wouldn?t be a main ingredient, as it would be too obvious. It would be something small, something that most people would not notice. Maybe even the compounder would not know that the incense was not pure and correct ? until it was too late and it had been used. This is probably the very reason the compounder was liable for death. There was no margin for error.
Therefore, the one compounding the incense would be the one responsible for the wellbeing of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest), as well as the one responsible for the wellbeing of those for whom the communal incense offerings were being given; i.e., the entire Jewish nation. The compounder of the incense had to be someone who was beyond reproach, someone who could be trusted above all others in the community to hold the fate of the Jewish people in his hands.
Strangely enough, I have read little about the men who held this post. I have seen few books or articles attributed to the great incense makers of Israel, who they were, or how they trained. I have also never heard of whether one was ever liable for death for leaving out an ingredient. It seems to me that they were heroically unremarkable in their unrelenting attention to detail, and that these men served the Jewish people with honor.
Also remarkable in learning about the incense is the issue of the added ingredient. If the incense compounder added an ingredient that was not allowed (like fruit honey, for example) he simply rendered the incense ?unfit.? It was not the act of deliberate sabotage by adding a disallowed element, which others could find, that would sentence him to death, but the omission of an essential ingredient that others couldn?t find. The sin of omission, of forgetting one essential ingredient, then, was the unforgivable sin, because omission is something that others can?t know, can?t check, and cannot become aware of.
The omission of essential ingredients is that deadly something that we cannot protect ourselves from until it is too late. We try to read the labels clearly, we try to be careful, we try to trust, and we try to pick the right people to formulate and compound the ingredients correctly for our babies, for our sacred prayers, and for our nation ? but we can?t always do what is right, no matter how hard we try.
We know that Remedia was missing B1, even though it said that it contained the element on its label. Unfortunately, the knowledge of that omission was too late to save some babies. G-d willing, some babies will be saved by this knowledge now. Unfortunately, there are too many things in the world besides Remedia that are missing essential ingredients.
I wonder how many other things in this world are missing essential elements that we are unaware of at this moment, and how many of these unknown and missing elements will remain unrevealed until the moment that it is too late.
Are those who we have entrusted with the job of compounding the ingredients and the formulas of our future sure that they have all the essential elements incorporated into the mix? Have they carefully considered every little element? Small things do matter. Tiny elements are essential. Little lives, families, and nations may all count more on what is left out than on what is put in.
