When a day of glory turns into a day of unspeakable loss, there is only one reaction for the religious Jew

In the face of unthinkable tragedy, the Torah relates, “Vayidom Aharon — and Aharon became speechless.”
Aharon did not become merely silent, for silence implies that a person has words but chooses not to express them. Vayidom implies becoming mute, meaning that the person has lost the power of speech. The Hebrew word vayidom shares a root with “domeim,” which is an inanimate object such as a rock. Vayidom signifies the diminishment of man from the highest form of existence — a medaber, a speaking creation — to the lowest form of existence, a domeim.

What is man as a “medaber”?

Man’s ability to speak is not merely a vocal skill, akin to an animal’s grunt. The power inherent in man’s speech emerged when HaKadosh Baruch Hu displayed all the animals to Adam and tasked him with naming them. This means that Adam understood their nature, and then — with his discernment and insight — he grouped the animals into separate species and determined what function each would serve. The naming of the animals is the quintessential application of man’s power of speech; it expresses the sum total of his intellectual ability, and the resultant mastery of the world that Hashem created.

Hashem even asked Adam to identify the name by which He —Hashem — would be known to His creation.  Adam replied, “Adon,” for “You are Master of the Universe.” This answer is the ultimate in man’s recognition of Hashem’s dominion of the world; but it is man, with his intellectual abilities, who recognizes this. G-d is coronated as Master of the World, but mankind is the one who performs this coronation. Man’s power of speech is literally his crowning attribute.

And then there is Aharon’s “vayidom.”

An event happened that overwhelmed Aharon’s intellect and emotion. His sons perished as they performed an unauthorized avodah in the newly inaugurated Mishkan. A day of glory turned into a day of unspeakable loss. Chazal point out shortcomings of Nadav and Avihu, but Aharon HaKohein, in his greatness, recognized that while sin may have caused their death, it did not explain the event.

The explanation is “bikrovai Ekadeish” — “I will be sanctified through My close ones.” These are the words Moshe spoke to Aharon after the death of his sons (Vayikra 10:3). They convey the inescapable truth that the level of holiness in the Beis Hamikdash is so great, and that the accountability is so exact, that it towers infinitely beyond human understanding. Man stands powerless before such a revelation — powerless physically, powerless emotionally, and most significant, powerless intellectually. He recognizes that before Hashem, even his greatest abilities are vanity.