פרשת שמיני תש"ג - חטא נדב ואביהו

ותצא אש AND THERE WENT OUT FIRE — Rabbi Eleizer said: the sons of Aaron died only because they gave decisions on religious matters in the presence of their teacher, Moses (Sifra, Shemini, Mechilta d'Miluim 2 32; Eruvin 63a). Rabbi Ishmael said: they died because they entered the Sanctuary intoxicated by wine. You may know that this is so, because after their death he admonished those who survived that they should not enter when intoxicated by wine (vv. 8—9). A parable! It may be compared to a king who had a bosom friend, etc., as is to be found in Leviticus Rabbah 12:1, 4 (cf. Biur).

ויקחו בני אהרן נדב ואביהוא, before the fire had emanated from the Holy of Holies they each took his own pan planning to offer incense on the golden altar, seeing that this offering precedes (timewise) the disposal of not totally burned leftovers from the previous day’s sacrificial meat. They placed “alien” fire on these pans, something which had not been commanded by Moses to be done on this day. Even though on ordinary days the rule of “the sons of Aaron will place in these pans fire on the altar” (Leviticus 1,7) was in effect, this rule did not apply to the day of inauguration, and Moses had not wanted any man made fire to be introduced into the Tabernacle. This was because he expected heavenly fire to manifest itself so that the addition of man made fire would have completely ruined the impact of the miracle. On this day the name of G’d would be glorified by all the people becoming aware of Divine approval of their offerings, by G’d accepting same by means of heavenly fire We find a parallel to this in Kings I 18,25 when the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel ordered the priests not to put any fire on the altar.

ותצא אש מלפני ה' ותאכל אותם, this is a reference to the fire mentioned in 9,24 The construction is similar to the one in Exodus 19,8 which we explained at the time, as well as the verse in Judges 17,3-4 where the fact that Michah returned the money to his mother is also mentioned twice in successive verses. In neither of these verses does the author refer to an additional event. Here too, the two verses refer to the same fire. At the time the heavenly fire emanated in order to consume the sacrificial meat on the altar in the courtyard of the Tabernacle, it consumed the two sons of Aaron on its way. This fire had meant to consume only the incense, but seeing that the sons of Aaron had been in its way it consumed them also and they died as a result. This is the meaning of

Then Moses said unto Aaron: ‘This is it that the LORD spoke, saying: Through them that are nigh unto Me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ And Aaron held his peace.

This is what God has told me God has already told me that He will manifest His holiness through those who are near Him — even if they must suffer for it, as in the passage “You only have I known…” [Amos 3:2]. Thus the verse means, “When I manifest myself in holiness among them, then I shall be glorified; and I shall be glorified in the face of all the people, and they shall fear Me.”

This is what the LORD meant when He said: Where had He spoken this? In the statement (Exodus 29:43), “And there I will be met by the children of Israel and it (the Tabernacle) shall be sanctified by My glory (בכבודי).” Read not here בִכְבוֹדִי, “by My Glory” but בִּמְכֻבָּדַי, “through My honoured ones” (Zevachim 115b). Moses here said to Aaron: “My brother, Aaron! I knew that this House was to be sanctified by those who are beloved of the Omnipresent God and I thought it would be either through me or through thee; now I see that these (thy sons who have died) are greater than me and than thee!” (Leviticus Rabbah 12 2). these are [the words] of Rashi from a midrash of our Rabbis. But if so, its understanding would be [as if the words stated], "and I will be sanctified by My glory," such that I will be holy in the eyes of all of the people and of My honored ones." And [R. Ibn Ezra] also said, "'This is what God has told me' - God has already told me that He will manifest His holiness through those who are near Him — even if they must suffer for it, as in the passage 'You only have I known…' (Amos 3:2) [etc.," as in the citation above].Thus the verse means, “When I manifest myself in holiness among them, then I shall be glorified; and I shall be glorified in the face of all the people, and they shall fear Me.” But if so, it was told, but not written down [in the Torah] - that God informed him of His ways, that this trait of His is like this. And in my opinion, according to the plain-sense, there is no need for all this because God "said" God's decrees, and thoughts, and the matter of God's ways. And this "speech" is entirely "I said to myself," (Ecclesiastes 1:16) i.e. "I thought this." "This is the reason why Joshua had the circumcision performed." (Joshua 5:4) This is the matter of "because of the money." (Genesis 43:18) And so to, "and let her be a wife to your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken." (Genesis 24:51) And similarly, "He laid its foundations at the cost of Abiram his first-born, and set its gates in place at the cost of Segub his youngest, in accordance with the words that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun." (1 Kings 16:34) So behold, really Moses said in this verse was: "This is what the LORD meant when He said to Himself, through those near to Me I show Myself holy so that my holiness will not be ruined and I will gain glory before all the people so that they will behave respectfully in my Tabernacle. And the reason that Aaron was silent was that he was crying loudly and fell silent.

Then Moses said unto Aaron: ‘This is it that the LORD spoke, saying: Through them that are nigh unto Me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ And Aaron held his peace.

ועל פני כל העם אכבד AND BEFORE ALL THE PEOPLE I WILL BE HONOURED — When the Holy One, blessed be He, executes judgment upon the righteous He becomes feared, and exalted and praised. If this be so in the case of these (when He judges the righteous) how much more is it so in the case of the wicked (i. e. when He punishes the wicked)! And in a similar sense it says (Psalms 68:36) “Thou art feared, O god, ממקדשיך”. Read not here מִמִּקְדָשֶׁיךָ, “from out of Thy sanctuaries”, but ‎ ‏ מִמִּקֻדָּשֶׁיךָ“because of Thy sanctified ones” (Zevachim 115b).

This is what God has told me God has already told me that He will manifest His holiness through those who are near Him — even if they must suffer for it, as in the passage “You only have I known…” [Amos 3:2]. Thus the verse means, “When I manifest myself in holiness among them, then I shall be glorified; and I shall be glorified in the face of all the people, and they shall fear Me.”

this is when Moses said to Aaron: “do not mourn nor weep, and do not desist from carrying on with your priestly duties; I am telling you what I am saying in the name of G’d Who has said: בקרובי אקדש, I want to be sanctified by the High Priests, the ones who are “near” to Me and who perform the service for Me. I do not want that they should desecrate My name and My holy service by letting their private concerns take precedence.” Moses added that G’d had specifically given him instructions concerning such events as had just happened by saying (Leviticus 21,10-12) “the priest who is exalted above his fellows, on whose head the anointment has been poured and who has been ordained to wear the vestments, shall not bare his head nor rend his vestments. He shall not go in where there is a dead body; he shall not defile himself even for his father or mother. He shall not go outside the sanctuary and profane the sanctuary of his G’d, for upon him is the distinction of the anointing oil of his G’d, Mine the Lord’s.” It follows that by not leaving the holy precincts at this time Aaron did in fact sanctify the name of the Lord. This is the meaning of בקרובי אקדש, “I will be sanctified by those close to Me.” The fact that the legislation we just quoted appears only in chapter 21 is no argument as the Torah is not bound to record its message to the Jewish people in chronological sequence. At any rate, Moses told Aaron not to abandon the service in the Tabernacle while in circumstances which imposed mourning on other priests, even.

Then Moses said unto Aaron: ‘This is it that the LORD spoke, saying: Through them that are nigh unto Me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’ And Aaron held his peace.

‎וידם אהרן AND AARON WAS SILENT — He received a reward for his silence. And what was the reward he received? That the subsequent Divine address was made to him alone and not to Moses also — for to him alone was spoken the section (vv. 9—11) dealing with those who are intoxicated by wine (see v. 8) (Zevachim 115b; Leviticus Rabbah 12 2).

This is what the LORD meant when He said: Where had He spoken this? In the statement (Exodus 29:43), “And there I will be met by the children of Israel and it (the Tabernacle) shall be sanctified by My glory (בכבודי).” Read not here בִכְבוֹדִי, “by My Glory” but בִּמְכֻבָּדַי, “through My honoured ones” (Zevachim 115b). Moses here said to Aaron: “My brother, Aaron! I knew that this House was to be sanctified by those who are beloved of the Omnipresent God and I thought it would be either through me or through thee; now I see that these (thy sons who have died) are greater than me and than thee!” (Leviticus Rabbah 12 2). these are [the words] of Rashi from a midrash of our Rabbis. But if so, its understanding would be [as if the words stated], "and I will be sanctified by My glory," such that I will be holy in the eyes of all of the people and of My honored ones." And [R. Ibn Ezra] also said, "'This is what God has told me' - God has already told me that He will manifest His holiness through those who are near Him — even if they must suffer for it, as in the passage 'You only have I known…' (Amos 3:2) [etc.," as in the citation above].Thus the verse means, “When I manifest myself in holiness among them, then I shall be glorified; and I shall be glorified in the face of all the people, and they shall fear Me.” But if so, it was told, but not written down [in the Torah] - that God informed him of His ways, that this trait of His is like this. And in my opinion, according to the plain-sense, there is no need for all this because God "said" God's decrees, and thoughts, and the matter of God's ways. And this "speech" is entirely "I said to myself," (Ecclesiastes 1:16) i.e. "I thought this." "This is the reason why Joshua had the circumcision performed." (Joshua 5:4) This is the matter of "because of the money." (Genesis 43:18) And so to, "and let her be a wife to your master’s son, as the LORD has spoken." (Genesis 24:51) And similarly, "He laid its foundations at the cost of Abiram his first-born, and set its gates in place at the cost of Segub his youngest, in accordance with the words that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun." (1 Kings 16:34) So behold, really Moses said in this verse was: "This is what the LORD meant when He said to Himself, through those near to Me I show Myself holy so that my holiness will not be ruined and I will gain glory before all the people so that they will behave respectfully in my Tabernacle. And the reason that Aaron was silent was that he was crying loudly and fell silent.

...His heart became like an inanimate (domem) rock, and he did not raise his voice in crying or eulogy, as would a father for [his] children; he also did not accept condolences from Moses. For he had no breath left in him, nor did he have any speech...