(1) Now Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before the LORD alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them. (2) And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the LORD. (3) Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: Through those near to Me I show Myself holy, And gain glory before all the people.” And Aaron was silent.
What are some questions that come to mind when reading these verses? How does the portrayal of sacrifices here compare to the way sacrifices have been dealt with in the parashaot of the past couple of weeks?
(א) ותצא אש. רַ' אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר לֹא מֵתוּ בְנֵי אַהֲרֹן אֶלָּא עַל יְדֵי שֶׁהוֹרוּ הֲלָכָה בִּפְנֵי מֹשֶׁה רַבָּן, רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר שְׁתוּיֵי יַיִן נִכְנְסוּ לַמִּקְדָּשׁ, תֵּדַע, שֶׁאַחַר מִיתָתָן הִזְהִיר הַנּוֹתָרִים שֶׁלֹּא יִכָּנְסוּ שְׁתוּיֵי יַיִן לַמִּקְדָּשׁ, מָשָׁל לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁהָיָה לוֹ בֶן בַּיִת וְכוּ', כִּדְאִיתָא בְּוַיִּקְרָא רַבָּה:
רַבִּי פִּנְחָס בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר מָשָׁל לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁהָיָה לוֹ בֶּן בַּיִת נֶאֱמָן, מְצָאוֹ עוֹמֵד עַל פֶּתַח חֲנֻיּוֹת, וְהִתִּיז אֶת רֹאשׁוֹ בִּשְׁתִיקָה, וּמִנָּה בֶּן בַּיִת אַחֵר תַּחְתָּיו, וְאֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִים מִפְּנֵי מָה הָרַג אֶת הָרִאשׁוֹן, אֶלָּא מִמַּה שֶּׁמְּצַוֶּה אֶת הַשֵּׁנִי וְאָמַר לֹא תִכָּנֵס בְּפֶתַח חֲנֻיּוֹת, אָנוּ יוֹדְעִין שֶׁמִּתּוֹךְ כָּךְ הָרַג הָרִאשׁוֹן, כָּךְ (ויקרא ט, יב): וַתֵּצֵא אֵשׁ מִלִּפְנֵי יקוק וַתֹּאכַל אוֹתָם, וְאֵין אָנוּ יוֹדְעִים מִפְּנֵי מָה מֵתוּ, אֶלָּא מִמַּה שֶּׁמְּצַוֶּה אֶת אַהֲרֹן וְאָמַר לוֹ (ויקרא י, ט): יַיִן וְשֵׁכָר אַל תֵּשְׁתְּ, אָנוּ יוֹדְעִין מִתּוֹךְ כָּךְ שֶׁלֹּא מֵתוּ אֶלָּא מִפְּנֵי הַיָּיִן, לְכָךְ חִבְּבוֹ הַכָּתוּב לְאַהֲרֹן וְיִחֵד אֵלָיו הַדִּבּוּר בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: יַיִן וְשֵׁכָר אַל תֵּשְׁתְּ.
(1) ותצא אש "And the fire came forth" — Rabbi Eleizer said: the sons of Aaron died only because they taught Halakha 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 [Lev. 10: 8-10 - "And the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying: Drink no wine or other intoxicant, you or your sons, when you enter the Tent of Meeting, that you may not die. This is a law for all time throughout the ages, for you must distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean"]
[Rabbi Pinhas said in the name of Rabbi Levi: this is analogous to a king who had a faithful attendant. When he found him standing at tavern entrances, he severed his head in silence and appointed another attendant in his place. We would not know why he put the first to death, but for his enjoining the second thus, “You must not enter the doorway of taverns,” from which we know that for such a reason he had put the first one to death. Thus [it is said], “And fire went forth from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.” But we would not know why they [Nadav and Avihu] died, but for His commanding Aaron, “Do not drink wine that will lead to intoxication.” We know from this that they died precisely on account of the wine. For this reason Scripture showed love to Aaron by directing the divine utterance to him alone, thus, “Do not drink wine that will lead to intoxication" - as recounted in Vayikra Rabbah (12:1)]
According to Rashi, what transgression did Nadav and Avihu commit? What does this say about Divine Retribution?
ובמדרש (תנחומא פ' שמיני) שומר מצוה לא ידע דבר רע (קהלת ח׳:ה׳) זה אהרן שנאמר בו ומפתח אהל מועד לא תצאו שבעת ימים וגו'. אמר להם משה שמרו ימי אבלות עד שלא הגיע בכם הדבר ושמרתם את משמרת יקוק' שכך שמר הקב"ה שבעת ימי אבלות עד שהביא את המבול שנאמר (בראשית ז') ויהי לשבעת הימים ומי המבול היו על הארץ והיו משמרין ולא היו יודעים על מה הוי שומר מצוה לא ידע דבר רע. ועת משפט ידע לב חכם (קהלת שם) שכבר אמר לו הקב"ה למשה (שמות כ"ע) ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל ונקדש בכבודי וגו'. והוא מה שכתוב בסוף הוא אשר דבר יקוק' בקרובי אקדש. הנה שהזהירם והתרה בהם באר היטב והודיעם כי בשמור משמרת יקוק' בימי מלואיהם יעמדו על משמרת עצמם ולא ידעו דבר רע לפי שהשמור במספר הזה כנזכר הוא מקיים העולם ואם לאו יהפך להם למשמר לזמן ימי אבלות.
In Midrash Tanhuma, "One who obeys commands (mitzvah) shall not know evil" (Ecc. 8:5) refers to Aaron, of whom it is said, "You shall not go outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for seven days" etc. (Lev. 8:33). Moses said to them, Observe days of mourning so that this evil does not occur to you. "You shall keep My charge" etc. (Lev. 18:30). Just as the Holy One Blessed be He observed seven days of mourning until he brought about the Flood, as it says "And on the seventh day the waters of the Flood came upon the earth" (Gen. 10:7). And they [the sons of Aaron] were observing but did not know the reason for mourning. "One who obeys commands (mitzvah) shall not know evil." "A wise man, however, will bear in mind that there is a time of doom" (Ecc. 8:5), which the Holy One Blessed be He previously said to Moses: "and there I will meet with the Israelites, and it shall be sanctified by My Presence" (Ex. 29:43). And at the end this is written, "This is what the LORD meant when He said: Through those near to Me I show Myself holy" (Lev. 10:3). Here they warned them well and informed them "You shall keep my charge" (Lev. 18:30). In the days of ordination, they themselves persisted in their observance and therefore did not know evil for they kept the number of days, as we recall that He established the world [in seven days]. If they had not observed these days, their observance would become [observance of] days of mourning.
The seven-day period of priestly ordination parallels the seven-day period of God's mourning prior to destroying the world by Flood. What does this parallel suggest about the perhaps cosmological role of the Tabernacle? Why did God mourn, and why did the Sons of Aaron have to mourn?
In light of the Akeidat Yitzchak's commentary, how do you understand the verse, "One who obeys commands (mitzvah) shall not know evil" (Ecc. 8:5)?
[Background: Do not read it as “by My glory [bikhvodi]”; rather, read it as: By My honored ones [bimekhubadai]. God will be sanctified by those considered honored by God when He reveals Himself in the Tabernacle.]
The Holy One, Blessed be He, said this statement to Moses, but Moses did not know its meaning until the sons of Aaron died. Once the sons of Aaron died, Moses said to him: Aaron, my brother, your sons died only to sanctify the name of the Holy One, Blessed be He. When Aaron knew that his sons were beloved by the Omnipresent, he was silent and received a reward, as it is stated: “And Aaron held his peace [vayidom].”
These sources seem to be antithetical to many of the interactions with G?d in the Tanakh which show an ability of humans to argue with and express themselves to HaShem. In light of this, what do we make of Aaron's silence after the death of his sons? What about the peace he finds in his silence according to these two sources?
ורש"י ז"ל פירש בפסוק (שם כג) ויצאו ויברכו את העם, לפי שכל שבעת ימים שהעמיד משה את המשכן ושימש לא שרתה בו שכינה והיו ישראל נכלמים ואמרו למשה כל הטורח שטרחנו כדי שתשרה שכינה בינינו שיתכפר לנו מעשה עגל. אמר להם משה זה הדבר אשר צוה יקוק תעשו וירא אליכם כבוד יקוק, אהרן אחי כדאי וחשוב ממני שעל ידי קרבנותיו תשרה שכינה בכם ותדעו שעל פי הדיבור אהרן נכנס ומשמש בכהונה גדולה. והנה לא נרמז בפסוק דרוש של רש"י. ונראה, דהנה כשאדם עובד את יקוק מרגיש תענוג גדול, כי בעבודתו משמח את הבורא ברוך הוא כמאמר (משלי י, א) בן חכם ישמח אב, ובא שמחה ותענוג לכל העולמות ומכריזין בכל העולמות הבו יקר לדיוקנא דעביד רעותא דמרא ואין לך תענוג גדול ושמחה וחדוה יותר מזה. אכן אין זה עיקר העבודה כי זהו על מנת לקבל פרס. והרמב"ם בהלכות תשובה קראו שלא לשמה. אמנם עיקר העבודה את יקוק אלקינו הוא בגין דאיהו רב ושליט והוא נותן חיות בכל העולמות ובכל הנשמות. ולכן נראה לבאר על מה שהוקשו כל המפרשים למה לא נאמר בתורה שכר עולם הבא, כי הנה כל שכר העולם הבא אינו מפורש כלל בתורת משה, רק בדברי חכמינו אשר המה כנים ואמיתים כגון תענוג של לויתן אשר בתוכו צדיקים ישתעשעו עם נשמת כל הצדיקים בפרט התענוג אשר יתענגו (חסר הסיום):
Rashi, in commenting on Leviticus 9:23 near the end of this paragraph where the Torah writes: “they came out (Moses and Aaron from the Tabernacle) and blessed the people,” writes that during the seven preceding days of the consecration rites for the Tabernacle the Shechinah had not manifested itself so that the people had complained why they had gone to such lengths to build the Tabernacle if after all this G’d had not seen fit to take up residence among them. Moses told them what they must do in order to merit that the Shechinah would manifest itself amongst them again as proof that the sin of the golden calf had been forgiven. He explained that seeing that his brother Aaron, who was the High Priest was more worthy than he, until Aaron had presented sacrifices in the Tabernacle, G’d’s glory would not become manifest. This is why in verse 24 we are told that Aaron performed his duties as a result of which the Shechinah manifested itself in that heavenly fire consumed the portions of the sacrifices on the altar. There does not appear to be an allusion to all this in the text of the Torah, so where did Rashi take his exegesis from?
When man serves his Creator he experiences a feeling of great pleasure as he is aware that he thereby provides pleasure for his Creator. This is the allegorical meaning of Proverbs 10:1 “that an intelligent son provides pleasure for his father.” This pleasure or joy is not limited to one domain in the universe but spreads throughout the universe. A call goes out in all parts of the universe to honour the person who, through his devoted service to his Creator, has provided so much pleasure in the whole universe. There is no greater pleasure than this.
However, seeing that we are aware of this, this reduces our service to the Lord to one that is tied to the expectation of reward. Maimonides in his hilchot teshuvah chapter 10 goes so far as calling such service of G’d as being lo lishma' “keeping Torah commandments for ulterior motives.” The principal purpose of pure service of the Lord is that it is performed in recognition of the greatness of the Creator Who provides all forms of life in this universe and Who has endowed us with souls that contain Divine qualities.