(5-6 Minute Read)
Lev. 9:1-11:47
The Torah parasha, or Biblical portion, of Shemini first describes the inauguration of Aaron and his sons as the kohanim, or Levitical priesthood. A fire issued from G-d to consume the original offerings, and the Glorious Presence of the Almighty rested within the Mishkan, or Tabernacle. Two of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, offered a “foreign fire” before the Presence of G-d, and the consequence was instantaneous death. In chapter 11, the Most High explained to Moses and the Jewish people the basic foundation of Biblical dietary laws, commonly referred to as kashrut or “kosher.”
The sudden and unexpected demise of Nadav and Avihu is a topic of much discussion by the chachamim, rabbinical sages of blessed memory, as well as contemporary scholars. How and why did this happen to Nadav and Avihu? What did they do wrong? Why would the Almighty allegedly “strike out” against the two priests at an auspicious time of great joy and holiness? Some commentators, such as Rabbi Shmuel Ben Meir (Rashbam) postulate that there was something wrong with the fire offering of Nadav and Avihu. Others, such as Rabbi Don Yitzchak Abravanel, suggest that the problem lay with Nadav and Avihu themselves, such as a defect of character that led them to rebelliously bring a fire offering that was incorrect either in its substance or in its timing. And still others ponder the notion that Nadav and Avihu could have been intoxicated, drawing their theory from the seeming non-sequiter comment of the Almighty Himself shortly after the unexpected deaths of the priests which forbade alcohol and drunkenness during the priestly service (Lev. 10:9-11).
Although there is no clear consensus which perspective on the demise of Nadav and Avihu is most accurate, we can approach the incident from a slightly different angle and derive several important lessons.
First, there is a clear common theme throughout the entire portion of Shemini: achieving and maintaining purification and holiness. Judaism is unique in that the Torah teaches the Jewish people how to achieve purification and holiness through physical means, and not in spite of them. Most other religious systems teach their adherents to become more spiritual by refraining from indulging in the physical, in some cases to the point of asceticism. In contrast, G-d explained to the Jewish people through the Torah how to utilize physical methods to achieve holiness and reach new heights of spirituality. For instance, the clergy of certain other religions practice celibacy in an attempt to attain holiness and pure living. But Jewish rabbis marry and engage in physical intimacy in order to achieve and maintain the holiness and purity that comes from marital intimacy, having children, and otherwise building strong Jewish homes. (And if a Jewish rabbi happens to be single, assuredly the entire community will involve themselves in something that probably isn’t any of their business and work tirelessly to match him up with every eligible Jewish bachelorette imaginable, regardless of his personal wishes on the matter.)
Another example is kosher food, as is described in chapter 11 of Leviticus (Vayikra). Most other religions focus on refraining from food in the form of fasting as a method of pursuing spirituality. And while Judaism does encourage and even mandate fasting in certain contexts, the clear majority of our approach to food is that eating approved “kosher” foods is in itself an avenue of spiritual enhancement. In fact, the Almighty Himself declared in the context of avoiding the consumption of insects and other treif, or non-kosher, foods, “I am the L-RD your G-d; sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am holy; do not defile yourselves with any manner of swarming thing that moves upon the earth (i.e. insects, etc.).” (Lev. 11:44)
So what does not eating bugs have to do with the death of Nadav and Avihu? In simple terms, the presentation by the kohanim, or Levitical priests, of offerings of fire, incense, animals, grain, etc., is yet another method detailed by G-d for connecting with Him and achieving holiness and heightened spirituality through physical means. While the methodology is different, the same core philosophical principle applies: spirituality can be achieved through physical means.
However, there is a huge caveat to the aforementioned premise. While spirituality can be achieved through physical means, that only applies to the very detailed formulae presented by the Almighty to Moses and the Jewish people through the Torah. If an individual attempts to achieve holiness through physical means while simultaneously rejecting or ignoring G-d’s clear instructions, time and again the result ranges from ineffectiveness to tragic catastrophe.
Perhaps the most well-known example of this type of failure can be found in the beginning of the Torah in the account of Adam and Eve (Chava). Adam and Eve were presented with a very clear set of commands on how to achieve heightened spirituality through their physical environment. The Almighty said to Adam and Eve, “Of every tree in the garden you may eat freely. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it.” (Bereishit / Genesis 2:16)
The serpent, however, deceived Eve. He convinced her that she could “become like G-d, discerning between good and evil.” (Bereishit / Genesis 3:5) By eating the forbidden fruit, the serpent claimed that Adam and Eve could reach higher spiritual levels through a physical act. Interestingly enough, the serpent’s premise was misleading but not totally incorrect. It was true that Adam and Eve did learn the difference between good and evil. Ironically, however, Adam and Eve did not realize that they could have achieved the same spiritual awareness by not eating the fruit that G-d had commanded them to avoid. The definition of good and evil in this context is obedience to G-d’s commandments. G-d was trying to teach Adam and Eve the difference between right and wrong the easy way. The serpent instead tricked them into learning the lesson the hard way. If Adam and Eve had avoided eating the prohibited fruit and instead eaten the other fruit and vegetation of the garden, they would have learned the same lesson about obedience and achieved higher spirituality and holiness, but without the disastrous consequences that inevitably come from any disobedience of the Creator’s commandments.
The purpose of linking the story of Adam and Eve to Nadav and Avihu is to note that obedience to the details of the Eternal One’s commandments is more important than merely having good intentions. It could be argued that Adam and Eve had good intentions by eating the prohibited fruit in an effort to become “more like G-d.” But the end doesn’t justify the means. And their possibly good intentions were thwarted by disobedience to Most High’s detailed commandments. Similarly, it is unclear what Nadav and Avihu’s intentions were when they presented their “strange” or “foreign” fire offering. But ultimately it didn’t matter. They had disregarded the Almighty’s specific instructions regarding the Levitical offerings, and that disobedience resulted in their tragic deaths.
The Haftarah, or prophetical portion, linked to Shemini is derived from II Samuel 6. In this account, David had recently been crowned as king, and he was in the process of relocating the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Previously, the Ark of the Covenant had been captured by the Philistines and then later returned on a cart pulled by oxen (I Sam. 4-6).
King David, however, did not follow the clear instructions that G-d gave the Jewish people in the Torah for transporting the Ark of the Covenant (e.g. B’Midbar / Numbers 4). Instead, he emulated the example of the Philistines and utilized an oxen cart. As the Ark of the Covenant wobbled along, one of David’s military officers, Uzzah, reached out to steady the Ark with his hand. He died immediately. There is no question that David and Uzzah had the best of intentions. But David and his military entourage had not followed the clear instructions of the Holy One, Blessed Be He. And the result was a tragic and unnecessary loss of life.
Some might argue that such a response by the Most High to Uzzah and possibly also Nadav and Avihu could seem unnecessarily harsh or unfair. One approach to answering this concern is to further examine the nature of the Almighty Himself. Some have an assumption that because the Eternal One is the definition of Righteousness and Holiness, that we as humans should connect with the Almighty with no restrictions or even guidance. However, this idea is a fallacy, and even the first intense encounter with the Holy One, Blessed Be He, on Mount Sinai makes this fact clear to us. As Moses prepared the Jewish people to encounter the Most High when He gave the Jewish people the Ten Commandments followed by the rest of the Torah in segments, the Almighty clearly instructed, “You shall set boundaries for the people round about [Mount Sinai], saying: Be careful of yourselves, that you do not go up onto the mountain, or touch the border of it… And the L-RD said unto him [Moses]: ‘Go, get down, and you shall come up, you, and Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up unto the L-RD, lest He break forth upon them.” (Shemot / Exodus 19:12, 24)
One illustrative (albeit inferior) analogy is to think of the power and holiness of the Presence of the Almighty like nuclear energy (lehavdil, to differentiate). Nuclear energy can power cities and even entire countries, providing life-sustaining infrastructure. However, the engineers and technicians working with the nuclear power must take great care to follow all protocols and wear protective equipment to protect themselves. Similarly, nuclear energy can only be harvested and utilized through a complexly designed and intricately fortified power plant. Even a minor deviation from the intended design and function of the nuclear plant can result in a catastrophe of Chernobyl-like proportions. So, too, the power and holiness of the Almighty is simply far too much for us as frail and inferior human beings to experience directly. Just as a scientist cannot be exposed to nuclear energy in an unrestricted format, we as humans cannot experience the Most High in a full, direct manner. Instead, the Eternal One gave us clear instructions on how to approach Him, how to connect with Him, and how to achieve purity and holiness.
But sometimes we don’t want to follow the Almighty’s instructions on how to connect with Him and reach higher spiritual levels. We want to do things our way. This notion is perhaps the oldest temptation of all humankind (even Adam and Eve succumbed to it): to achieve Godliness without following G-d’s instructions for doing so. We often try to convince ourselves that since our intentions are good, the results will inevitably also be good as well. However, one of the core lessons we can learn from parashat Shemini is that the Eternal One gave us clear directions on how to achieve holiness and maintain purity, and trying to do things our own way will ultimately result in disaster.
May the Holy One, Blessed Be He, assist us all in realigning ourselves so that we focus on doing things His way, the right way. May we all thereby reach higher and higher levels of spirituality and connection with the Most High without the inevitable consequences that come from “well-intended disobedience” to the Almighty’s commands, i.e. doing things our way and not His.
