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Parashat Acharei Mot 5756

KEEPING ONE'S DISTANCE

TOO MANY SINS

Hashem spoke to Moshe after the death of the two sons of Aharon, who had died when they approached before Hashem.
(Vayikra 16:1)
The sons of Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, each took their shovel, put incense in it and brought a fire that was not sanctified before Hashem -- which He had not commanded them to bring. A fire went forth from before Hashem and devoured them. "A fire went forth" -- Rebbi Eliezer explained: The sons of Aharon died because they made a halachic decision [to bring their own fire to the altar] without first asking their master, Moshe. Rebbi Yishmael said: [They were killed] because they entered the Mishkan while under the influence of alcohol.
(Vayikra 10:1-3, and Rashi)
The sons of Aharon the Kohen were dramatically killed in an episode which took place during the Mishkan's inauguration ceremony. A heavenly fire flashed out of the Holy of Holies, claiming their lives while leaving their bodies intact (Sanhedrin 52a). The verse clearly reveals to us the sin of Nadav and Avihu. They were punished for bringing an unsolicited fire to the Mishkan upon which they offered an incense offering (either in the Holy of Holies or on the altar of the courtyard, see Tosafot Eruvin 63a).

In the Midrash (see Vayikra Rabba, 20:6-10, Sanhedrin 52a), however, we unexpectedly find a long list of purported causes for the death of Aharon's children. Even more confusing is that many of the reasons listed in the Midrash seem to be entirely unrelated to the verse's explicit description of their sin! Aside from Rashi's comment (that they either made a halachic decision on their own, or entered the Mishkan in a drunken state) we are also told that Nadav and Avihu refused to marry and bear children. Furthermore, they were heard to comment, "When will these old men [= Moshe and Aharon ] pass on, so that we may be the new leaders of the nation!" Another Midrash tells us that they sinned by entering the Mishkan without donning a Me'il (the high-priestly robe) -- an altogether cryptic suggestion considering that they were not high-priests.

Tosafot (Yoma 53a) notes the confusion raised by the Midrash on this issue, but he does not offer any insights for resolving the various

Midrashim. What do all of these sins have to do with bringing an unsolicited fire to the altar? Also, does a common thread run through the various suggestions of the Midrash? Let us attempt to attain at least a partial understanding of these peculiar Midrashim.

II

REACHING TOO HIGH

Firstly, let us analyze yet another comment made by the Midrash (ibid.) involving the deaths of Nadav and Avihu. At the end of Parashat Mishpatim (Shemot 24:9-11) we are told that when we were given the Torah, Moshe and Aharon took Nadav, Avihu and seventy elders up to Mt. Sinai. There, they "beheld Hashem and ate and drank." Rashi (loc. cit.), based on the Midrash, explains that Nadav and Avihu beheld Hashem haughtily, while satiated with food and drink. Rashi tells us further:

[Nadav and Avihu and the elders] beheld Hashem and gazed at Him more than was permitted to them. A punishment of death was decreed upon them [and they ought to have died right then and there], but Hashem did not want to dampen the joy of the Giving of the Torah. On the day of the inauguration of the Mishkan, Nadav and Avihu were dealt their punishment....
(Rashi ibid.)
Why did Hashem choose the inauguration of the Mishkan for Nadav and Avihu's retribution? Perhaps Rashi is teaching us that the sin of Nadav and Avihu at the inauguration ceremony brought to mind their former sin. The two sins were rooted in the same basic misconduct. How is that so?

The sin of Nadav and Avihu at Mt. Sinai is described quite clearly. Hashem revealed Himself on Mt. Sinai to an extent that He had not done at any other point in history. He appeared in His awesome majesty in order to give His chosen nation the Torah and reveal to them His Divine Will. It was to this display of the Divine Presence that Moshe brought Nadav and Avihu and the seventy elders at the end of Parashat Mishpatim. However, the sons of Aharon were not prepared for the encounter. When Moshe ascended Mount Sinai to encounter the Presence of Hashem and receive the two Tablets of the Law, he abstained from food and drink for forty days (Shemot 34:28).

Nadav and Avihu, however, did not display the requisite awe for so momentous an occasion. Perhaps they themselves believed that they *were* spiritually prepared to behold the Divine Presence. But the Torah reveals that in truth, they were still entrenched, to a certain degree, in the physical world of eating and drinking. "Their hearts were dense with food and drink (Rashi)." They did not realize how stringently one must separate himself from the world of material pleasure in order to approach Hashem in such an intimate manner. They "peered" at the Divine Presence a bit too intensely for their particular level of spirituality.

It was this very attitude that brought Nadav and Avihu to enter the Mishkan with their fire at the inauguration of the Mishkan. Nadav and Avihu, according to the Midrash, offered incense on their own in the Holy of Holies on the day that Hashem first rested His Presence there. Since they were chosen to serve in the Mishkan as Kohanim, they considered themselves to be on a high enough spiritual level to enter the Holy of Holies and behold the Divine Presence uninvited. They repeated the mistake that they had made at Mt. Sinai -- and this time they suffered the grievous consequences.

III

A SECOND LOOK AT THE MIDRASHIM

Armed with this insight, we may begin to make sense of the confusion in the Midrashim that discuss the sin of Nadav and Avihu.

As we quoted earlier (section I), one Midrash states that Nadav and Avihu died because they commented, "When will Moshe and Aharon pass away, so that we may become the new leaders of the nation?" Nadav and Avihu were not power hungry. Rather, as is clear from their behavior at Mt. Sinai, they considered themselves to be spiritually on par with -- or perhaps even greater than -- Moshe and Aharon. Just as Moshe was granted "unlimited access" to the Holy of Holies (Torat Kohanim, Acharei, Parsheta 1:6) and was in a constant state of preparedness to prophesy (Rashi Bamidbar 12:4) so, too, the sons of Aharon felt that they were fit to serve before Hashem with similar "familiarity." They felt that since they were Kohanim (and since they were not involved in the sin of the Golden Calf, as Aharon was), they would be more appropriate leaders. Moshe was the one chosen to take the Jews out of Egypt. But in the era of the Mishkan, they believed that the Kohanim who served in the Temple would make better leaders. If Moshe still remained at the helm, they felt, it was only in recognition of his past accomplishments.

This is also the message of the Midrashim which tell us that Nadav and Avihu refused to marry and bear offspring. Moshe, because he had to constantly be in a state of readiness to receive the word of Hashem, separated from his wife Tzipporah (see Rashi Bamidbar 12:4). Nadav and Avihu felt that they had attained similar spiritual heights. They, too, abstained from marriage.

This is also why they decided the halacha (about bringing fire to the altar) without first asking their master, Moshe. They felt that they were as competent as Moshe in matters regarding Temple decorum.

The verse that starts this week's Parasha tells us that Nadav and Avihu died simply because they *approached* -- that is, too closely -- before Hashem. They did not hold themselves at an appropriate distance from the Divine Presence. And this, too, is why the verse refers to their offering as an "Eish Zarah," or a non-sanctified fire -- a fire that was inappropriate for the holiness of the environment. It truly may have been appropriate to bring a fire to the altar on this occasion (see Sukkah 21b). Nevertheless, coming from Nadav and Avihu who were not spiritually prepared to bring it, this fire was deemed a "strange fire."

IV

INTOXICATED & LACKING A ME'IL

The Midrash tells us further that Nadav and Avihu entered the Mishkan while under the influence of intoxicating drinks. The mind is the most spiritual part of a man. We can become spiritual beings while still in this world, if we but allow our intellect and our reason to dominate our physical, worldly desires -- not vice versa. Full control of one's physical desires is the goal of the servant of Hashem. Nadav and Avihu did not yet fully attain this lofty goal. They entered the Mishkan while in a mindless, drunken state -- i.e. their reason did not yet retain full control over their worldly impulses.

Finally, the Midrash criticized Nadav and Avihu for entering the Mishkan without the high-priestly Me'il. The Me'il had woven bells dangling from its hem that tinkled gently as the high-priest walked. The Torah tells us that the purpose of the bells was "that their sound may be heard as [the high-priest] enters the Holy before Hashem... that he may not die" (Shemot 28:35). As the Ramban (ibid.) explains, the bells were meant to announce the high-priest's arrival. One who enters the king's chamber suddenly, without prior invitation, is liable to punishment by death. The bells of the Me'il denote that the high-priest would only enter before his Master's presence, as it were, after having been granted permission. We may add that it is meant to remind its wearer, as well, to prepare himself for the service of the King.

The sin of Nadav and Avihu was that they did not wait for permission to enter the Mishkan. They entered the Mishkan to bring their incense offering before reaching the spiritual level demanded by such a service. They did not first request "permission" to enter. This is what the Midrash means by asserting that they were not wearing the Me'il -- they did not learn the lesson that can be gleaned from the high-priest's Me'il!


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