(22) Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them; and he stepped down after offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the offering of well-being. (23) Moses and Aaron then went inside the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the Presence of God appeared to all the people. (24) Fire came forth from before God and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. And all the people saw, and shouted, and fell on their faces.
(א) וַיִּקְח֣וּ בְנֵֽי־אַ֠הֲרֹן נָדָ֨ב וַאֲבִיה֜וּא אִ֣ישׁ מַחְתָּת֗וֹ וַיִּתְּנ֤וּ בָהֵן֙ אֵ֔שׁ וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ עָלֶ֖יהָ קְטֹ֑רֶת וַיַּקְרִ֜בוּ לִפְנֵ֤י יי אֵ֣שׁ זָרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹ֦א צִוָּ֖ה אֹתָֽם׃ (ב) וַתֵּ֥צֵא אֵ֛שׁ מִלִּפְנֵ֥י יי וַתֹּ֣אכַל אוֹתָ֑ם וַיָּמֻ֖תוּ לִפְנֵ֥י יי (ג) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן הוּא֩ אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֨ר יי ׀ לֵאמֹר֙ בִּקְרֹבַ֣י אֶקָּדֵ֔שׁ וְעַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָעָ֖ם אֶכָּבֵ֑ד וַיִּדֹּ֖ם אַהֲרֹֽן׃
(1) Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu 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.
(8) And God spoke to Aaron, saying: (9) 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,
Philo of Alexandria, On Dreams 2:67
..for they [Nadav and Abihu] have not been carried off by a savage beast, but have been taken up by unextinguishable violence and imperishable light; because, having discarded all fear and hesitation, they had duly consecrated the fervent and fiery zeal, consuming the flesh, and very easily and vehemently excited towards piety, which is unconnected with creation, but is akin to God, not going up to the altar by the regular steps, for that was forbidden by law, but proceeding rapidly onwards with a favourable gale, and being conducted up even to the threshold of heaven, becoming dissolved into ethereal beams like a whole burnt-offering.
http://rabbisacks.org/shemini-5774-reticence-vs-impetuosity/#_ftn4
"The other story is the tragic one, of Aaron’s two sons, Nadav and Avihu, who “offered a strange fire, that had not been commanded.” The sages offered several readings of this episode, all based on close reading of the several places in the Torah where their death is referred to. Some said they had been drinking alcohol. Others said that they were arrogant, holding themselves up above the community. This was the reason they had never married.
Some say that they were guilty of giving a halakhic ruling about the use of man-made fire, instead of asking their teacher Moses whether it was permitted. Others say they were restless in the presence of Moses and Aaron. They said, when will these two old men die and we can lead the congregation?
However we read the episode, it seems clear that they were all too eager to exercise leadership. Carried away by their enthusiasm to play a part in the inauguration, they did something they had not been commanded to do. After all, had Moses not done something entirely on his own initiative, namely breaking the tablets when he came down the mountain and saw the golden calf? If he could act spontaneously, why not they?
They forgot the difference between a priest and a prophet. A prophet lives and acts in time – in this moment that is unlike any other. A priest acts and lives in eternity, by following a set of rules that never change. Everything about “the holy,” the realm of the priest, is precisely scripted in advance. The holy is the place where God, not man, decides.
Nadav and Avihu failed fully to understand that there are different kinds of leadership and they are not interchangeable. What is appropriate to one may be radically inappropriate to another. A judge is not a politician. A king is not a prime minister. A religious leader is not a celebrity seeking popularity. Confuse these roles and not only will you fail. You will also damage the very office you were chosen to hold".
(ג) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן הוּא֩ אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֨ר ה' ׀ לֵאמֹר֙ בִּקְרֹבַ֣י אֶקָּדֵ֔שׁ וְעַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָעָ֖ם אֶכָּבֵ֑ד וַיִּדֹּ֖ם אַהֲרֹֽן׃
(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.
אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן זֶה הַדִּבּוּר נֶאֱמַר לְמשֶׁה בְּסִינַי, וְלֹא נוֹדַע לוֹ עַד שֶׁבָּא מַעֲשֶׂה לְיָדוֹ. אָמַר משֶׁה לְאַהֲרֹן, אָחִי, בְּסִינַי נֶאֱמַר לִי שֶׁאֲנִי עָתִיד לְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה, וּבְאָדָם גָּדוֹל אֲנִי מְקַדְּשׁוֹ, וְהָיִיתִי סָבוּר שֶׁמָּא אוֹ בִּי אוֹ בְּךָ הַבַּיִת הַזֶּה מִתְקַדֵּשׁ, וְעַכְשָׁיו שְׁנֵי בָנֶיךָ גְּדוֹלִים מִמֶּנִּי וּמִמְךָ. כֵּיוָן שֶׁשָּׁמַע אַהֲרֹן שֶׁבָּנָיו יִרְאֵי שָׁמַיִם הֵן, שָׁתַק וְקִבֵּל שָׂכָר עַל שְׁתִיקָתוֹ, וּמִנַּיִן שֶׁשָּׁתַק.
...Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said: This is what was spoken to Moses at Sinai, and he didn't understand it until this (the brothers' consumption) happened. Moses said to Aaron: My brother, it was told to me at Sinai that sometime in the future I would have to [over see] the sanctification this house, and it would have to be a person holier than I. I thought that it would be me or you to sanctify this house. Now, your two sons are greater than me and you. Therefore, Aaron heard that his sons were true fearers of God and was quiet so he could receive his reward.
אמר רב פפא אגרא דבי טמיא שתיקותא
Rab Pappa said: The merit of attending a house of mourning lies in maintaining silence.
א"ר יוחנן אין מנחמין רשאין לומר דבר עד שיפתח אבל שנאמר (איוב ג, א) אחרי כן פתח איוב את פיהו
R. Yohanan teaches that “comforters are not permitted to say a word until the mourners open conversation
Vayidom aharon - His heart turned to lifeless stone (domem - mineral), and he did not weep and mourn like a bereaved father, nor did he accept Moses' consolation for his soul had left him and he was speechless.
"The word vayidom means more than he kept quiet – vayishtok. Aaron responded with a profound, shattering silence, a stunning silence, a shocked silence. He does not justify the cruel decree by blaming his sons and accepting their fate as punishment for their sins. Yet, neither does he revolt or protest God’s action. Total silence. Aaron’s response is the profoundest human and religious response to the reality that there are times when good people die unjustly or are consumed in tragedies that seem to be arbitrary, shocking, without justification, and with nothing to ameliorate the pain and loss of those who love them…The Jewish laws of bereavement, so exquisitely tuned to the needs of the mourners, stipulate that the shiva visitor should not speak until the mourner speaks. I had always thought that the point of that precept was to ensure that the conversation would flow to the place the mourner needs it to reach. But I now understand that the halachah enjoining the comforting visitor to hold back in silence serves a different function: to caution against offering a rationale for the decree of death. The deeper human religious response is to be silent, to live with the contradiction, and to affirm that we need not force meaning into tragedy. Sometimes, the deepest response of love is to be silent.”
"I can't account
for what transpired
at the altar,
can't explain away
God's punishing rage
All I know is
that Moshe tried
to do just that-
when he offered a
Dvar Torah
to his grieving brother,
he turned another heart
into stone. "
-Erev Rav Maya Zinkow
(מד) כִּ֣י אֲנִ֣י יי אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶם֒ וְהִתְקַדִּשְׁתֶּם֙ וִהְיִיתֶ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים כִּ֥י קָד֖וֹשׁ אָ֑נִי וְלֹ֤א תְטַמְּאוּ֙ אֶת־נַפְשֹׁ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם בְּכָל־הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ הָרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (מה) כִּ֣י ׀ אֲנִ֣י יי הַֽמַּעֲלֶ֤ה אֶתְכֶם֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לִהְיֹ֥ת לָכֶ֖ם לֵאלֹקִ֑ים וִהְיִיתֶ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים כִּ֥י קָד֖וֹשׁ אָֽנִי׃ (מו) זֹ֣את תּוֹרַ֤ת הַבְּהֵמָה֙ וְהָע֔וֹף וְכֹל֙ נֶ֣פֶשׁ הַֽחַיָּ֔ה הָרֹמֶ֖שֶׂת בַּמָּ֑יִם וּלְכָל־נֶ֖פֶשׁ הַשֹּׁרֶ֥צֶת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (מז) לְהַבְדִּ֕יל בֵּ֥ין הַטָּמֵ֖א וּבֵ֣ין הַטָּהֹ֑ר וּבֵ֤ין הַֽחַיָּה֙ הַֽנֶּאֱכֶ֔לֶת וּבֵין֙ הַֽחַיָּ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר לֹ֥א תֵאָכֵֽל׃ (פ)
(44) For I am Adonai your God; make yourselves holy, and be holy; for I am holy; and do not defile yourselves with any manner of swarming thing that moves upon the earth. (45) For I am the Eternal that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; be holy, for I am holy (46) This is the law of the beast, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moves in the waters, and of every creature that swarms on the earth; (47) to make a division between the tamei and the tahor, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.
Eating is the primary way that human beings interact with the rest of nature. we are composed of the same elements and compounds that make up our food. Indeed, when we eat, we transform a part of nature into energy that we can use for conscious purposes. The system of kashrut causes us to pause and consider that while we are part of nature, we are endowed with a unique potential to make choices in the way we respond to life.
(א) ולא תטמאו בהם ונטמתם בם (מד) כי אני יי אלקיכם, והתקדשתם. אל תטמאו בהם באופן שתהיו טמאים ומטומטמים בם, וזה יקרה באכילתם. כי אמנם בהיותי אלקיכם חפצתי שתתקדשו ותכינו עצמכם אל הקדושה:
(ב) והייתם קדושים כי קדוש אני כדי שתהיו קדושים ונצחיים בהכירכם את בוראכם והלכתם בדרכיו, וזה חפצתי כדי שתתדמו אלי כי קדוש אני. וכל זה תשיגו כשתתקדשו ותשמרו מאסורי מאכלות, כאמרם ז''ל (יומא סוף פרק אמר להם הממונה) אדם מקדש עצמו מעט, מקדשים אותו הרבה וכו':
Ovadia ben Jacob Sforno (1475-1550, Italy)
1. Do not contaminate yourselves in a manner that will make this contamination really serious, and this would happen by eating them. Seeing that I am your God, I desire that you will make yourselves holy, and prepare yourselves for holiness:
2. So that you will be holy and eternal, and will recognize your Creator, and walk in God's ways, and this I desire so that you will become similar to Me, for I am holy. All of this you will achieve when you make yourselves holy, and observe the practices governing what you may and may not eat. As our sages said: “when a human make themself holy a little, they are made holy many more times than this.” (Yoma 39).
מלמד שאין ענין המאכלות האסורות לבריאות הגוף כברמב”ן, שהרי האומות אוכלים ובריאים, אלא כונתם לרפואת הנשמה, כי מגרשים רוח טהרה וקדושה, ומולידים אטימות השכל ואכזריות, וזה דוקא מועיל ”אליהם” לישראל, שהם לחיי העולם הבא, אבל לאומות העולם אין תועלת במצוה זה.
Kli Yakar
(Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz, 1550-1619, Poland and Amsterdam)
The reason for the laws of kashrut is not for physical health benefits, as the Ramban (Nachmanides) explains. We see that non-Jews eat non-kosher foods and are healthy. Rather their purpose is for the well-being of the soul. Non-kosher foods remove the spirit of purity and holiness, and create a blockage in the intelligence, and cause cruelty. This only helps “them,” Israel, for they will live in the world to come. But for non-Jews there is no purpose in this mitzvah.
What arguments might be made for observing the dietary laws? In his essay, “Kosher,” Rabbi Kushner offers the following three:
- Kashrut serves to help preserve our identity as Jews, by reminding us who we are every time we sit down to eat. After all, if the only place you can get your food is from a Jewish kitchen, you will hang around Jews. Furthermore, kashrut transforms a basic animal function—eating—into a spiritual act. This is at the heart of Jewish spirituality: finding holiness in the ordinary things of this world.
- Keeping kosher helps us develop spiritual discipline. As Maimonides writes, “These ordinances train us in the mastery of our appetites. “ In other words, if we are in the practice of regularly saying “no” to certain foods that we would otherwise like to eat, it will be easier for us to say “no” to other tempting but unbeneficial things.
- The dietary laws remind us that all of life is holy. By refraining from mixing meat and milk, we recall that eating meat is a moral compromise, and that we were created to be vegetarians (as humans are not given permission to eat meat until after the Noahide flood).
That does not mean that Jewish authenticity is determined by how kosher one’s kitchen is. It does, however, entail thinking seriously about what we, as liberal Jews, eat. Keeping kosher is not an all-or-nothing proposal, after all.
Last but not least, I believe that a liberal Jewish approach to kashrut should add an ethical component to the traditional observance. Unfortunately, the fact that meat is kosher says absolutely nothing about how either the animals or the workers at the farms and slaughtering houses are treated. In the end, of course, we all make our own choices, and we should be careful not to be judgmental of others. It is hard enough to travel on our own Jewish journeys, and it is essential to recognize that our chosen paths are often not the same as our neighbors’. But the choices that we make should be informed and well-considered. As Rabbi Kushner concludes; “I don’t know if God cares about what I eat, but I know that I feel closer to God when I care about what I eat.”
-Rabbi Daniel Fink on Rabbi Lawrence Kushner's understanding of Kashrut