Acharei Mot: What Happens After?

(1) Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who sanctifies us with commandments and commanded us to be engrossed in the words of Torah.

(1) Adoani spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they drew too close to the presence of Adoani. (2) Adoani said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come at will into the Shrine behind the curtain, in front of the cover that is upon the ark, lest he die; for I appear in the cloud over the cover.

(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.

(36) 36) (Vayikra 10:3): "And Moses said to Aaron: This is what the L–rd spoke, saying: With My near ones will I be sanctified, and before all the people will I be slaughtered. And Aaron kept his peace." This (in essence) was spoken to Moses on Sinai, and he did not know it (i.e., its intent) until what it spoke of (the deaths of Nadav and Avihu) materialized before him. And when it came to pass Moses said to Aaron: Aaron, my brother, your sons died only to sanctify the Name of the Holy One Blessed be He, as it is written (Shemoth 29:43): "And I shall be appointed there (in the tent of meeting), and it will be sanctified with My glory," (the death of Aaron's sons there, intensifying its awe in the eyes of the people). When Aaron saw how exalted were his sons in the eyes of the L–rd, he kept his peace and was rewarded for doing so, (by G d's addressing to him exclusively the following section [viz. Shemoth 10:8-11]). From here it was derived: All who accept (G d's decrees) upon themselves and remain silent — it is an auspicious sign for them. As expressed by David (Tehillim 37:7): "Be silent in the L–rd, and hope to Him." And, as expressed by Solomon (Koheleth 3:7): "a time to be silent and a time to speak." There are times for all (things). There are times when a man remains silent, and there are times when a man speaks.

§ It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer says: “Speak to Aaron your brother that he should not come at all times into the sacred place within the curtain, before the Ark cover that is upon the Ark; that he not die” (Leviticus 16:2). This verse teaches the punishment for the omission of the smoke-raiser from the spices of the incense. With regard to the verse: “For I will appear in a cloud upon the Ark cover” (Leviticus 16:2); this is the warning that it is prohibited to omit the smoke-raiser, which causes the cloud to rise. One might have thought that both verses were said before the deaths of Aaron’s sons, who died upon entering the sacred place. Therefore, the verse states: “After the deaths of the two sons of Aaron” (Leviticus 16:1). One might have thought that both of them, the punishment and the warning, were said after the deaths of Aaron’s two sons. Therefore, the verse states: “For I will appear in a cloud upon the Ark cover.” How so; how should these verses be understood? The warning was said before the death of Aaron’s sons, and the punishment associated with it was stated after the death of his sons.

AND THE ETERNAL SPOKE UNTO MOSES, AFTER THE DEATH OF THE TWO SONS OF AARON. The meaning of the phrase after the death of the two sons of Aaron, is that immediately after the death of his sons He had warned Aaron against [drinking] wine or strong drink [when going into the Tent of Meeting], so that he should not die, and now He told Moses in addition to warn him so that he should not die when he draws near the Eternal [even in a sober condition, but at a time when he is not commanded to do so].

It is likely that these two commandments were both conveyed on the day after the death of Aaron’s sons, for on the actual day [when the deaths occurred, Aaron] was a mourner, and the holy spirit does not rest upon man in moments of sadness, and the communication concerning the prohibition against wine came to Aaron, and in that selfsame day this commandment [stated in the section before us] was also told to Moses. Scripture, however, preceded the prohibitions with which He warned Israel that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile My Tabernacle that is in the midst of them, [before dealing with the commands specific to Aaron], and only afterwards He wrote the warning [applying to] the individual [i.e., this section, which was to be conveyed by Moses to Aaron, as the verse states: And the Eternal said unto Moses: ‘Speak unto Aaron thy brother etc.’].

But in my opinion the whole Torah is written in consecutive order, and in all places where He changed the order, placing an earlier event in a later position, Scripture clearly states so, such as the verses: And the Eternal spoke unto Moses in Mount Sinai [later on] in this book, [the laws of which were declared to Moses in the Tent of Meeting]; And it came to pass on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the Tabernacle, in the following book [i.e., the Book of Numbers], and similar such statements.

Therefore Scripture stated here after the death, in order to inform us that this [communication] was [given to Moses] immediately after the death of the two sons of Aaron [and according to the historical sequence of events, it should have been placed in Chapter 10 above, where the account of events following their death is given].

And in the opinion of our Rabbis who said [by way of a parable, that this verse can be compared to the case of a physician who warned his patient not to eat cold things or sleep in a damp place, and another physician warned him likewise but added]: “so that you should not die as that person died;” thus “this [second physician] put him on his guard more than the first one,” [according to this comment of the Rabbis] the meaning of the verse will be, that G-d said to Moses these words: “After the death of the two sons of Aaron when they drew near before the Eternal, speak to him that he come not at all times into the holy place … that he die not.”