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The Deaths of Nadav & Avihu
By HaRav Ariel Bar Tzadok. Copyright (c) 1995 by Ariel Bar Tzadok. All rights reserved.
"And the sons of Aharon, Nadav and
Avihu each took his fire pan,
placed within it fire and placed incense upon
it.
And they [thus] offered a "strange" fire
before HaShem,
one that He did not command of them.
And a fire came forth from before HaShem
and devoured them and they died before
HaShem."
(Lev. 10:1-2)
It appears evident that HaShem struck down
Nadav and Avihu because they committed the
sin of "offering a strange fire before HaShem."
Yet, the nature of this "strange fire" brings
up some very important questions:
1. What type of strange fire did they offer?
2. Even if it was "strange" so what? What
made it so bad that it cost Nadav and Avihu
their lives?
3. What can we learn from this lesson to
avoid repeating the same mistake?
Hazal gives many reasons for what happened to
these two sons of Aharon. The well-known
reasons for their punishment include:
a) that they acted arrogantly in the presence
of Moshe (deciding a Halakha in his presence),
b) did an act that their father Aharon the
High Priest was supposed to do,
c) they were drunk with wine,
d) they were not married and thus not worthy
to make such an offering.
According to pshat, Rabbeynu Bahya, in his
commentary of this episode states that the
"strange fire" is rather evident. Nadav and
Avihu were supposed to ignite the incense
offering using the fire from the altar.
Apparently they used another fire source.
This then was the strange fire.
Rabbeynu Bahya then continues to offer a
Kabbalistic reason. He states that Nadav and
Avihu saw the descent of fire from Heaven
upon the altar. They recognized that this
fire emanated from the supernal place of
Judgement. Their concern was that judgement
would pass throughout the camp with
devastating effects. They thus ran to offer
to incense, which was ordained specifically
to appease the forces of judgement. Yet,
they made one great error.
Whenever one wishes to avert the supernal
forces of judgement, it is not enough that
one tries to appease them directly. For who
has the power to appease the wrath of G-d?
Rather, one must supplicate and depend upon
Divine mercy. What one must do then is to
call upon the holy essential Name Havaya
(YHVH) and not attempt to go through other
channels. This then was their sin. They did
the right thing, but did it in the wrong way.
In other words, they had good intentions.
They just had bad actions. How G-d judges in
an instant like this is clearly evident.
This reminds me of an old saying, "the right
means in the wrong hands causes the right
means to work in the wrong way." This very
much appears to be what happened here. This
should serve as a lesson to all those who
wish to study Kabbalah before being ready for it.
Rabbi Moshe David Valle, the top student of
the RaMHaL writes in his commentary to
Vayikra (Avodat HaKodesh) that the essential
sin of Nadav and Avihu was that they made
light of Divine service.
After all, fire had just come down from
heaven to ignite the altar. These two young
men stood in the presence of their elders
Moshe and Aharon. They were not running to
offer incense. Nadav and Avihu were not
commanded to do anything. Yet, they took the
initiative on their own. Nadav and Avihu did
what they thought what was right, without
first checking with the established
authorities of their father Aharon and uncle
Moshe. While some might interpret this as a
good thing. It is evident that G-d did not!
It was this presumption on their parts that
Rabbi Valle interprets as Nadav and Avihu
making light of Divine service. Rabbi Valle
states that as leaders of the people, Nadav
and Avihu were closely watched by the masses.
What they did, the masses followed. This
could have had disastrous results.
If the whole people were to act
presumptuously, they might all perish.
Therefore, to instruct the people of Israel
about the sanctity of Divine service, these
two sons of Aharon were struck down. This
was a lesson that no one should repeat the
mistake of presumptuousness, to act in a
manner other than that specifically
prescribed by the authorities, regardless of
the motivation. Again, "the right means in
the wrong hands causes the right means to
work in the wrong way."
Even Moshe Rabbeynu learned this severe
lesson when he did not do exactly as HaShem
commanded him and struck the rock instead of
speaking to it.
The method of their death is interesting to
note. Rabbeynu Bahya states that two thin
threads of fire came forth from the Holy
Place, (most likely from the Ark of the
Covenant) and entered into their noses, thus
removing (i.e., burning) their souls. The
implication is that physically nothing had
happened to them. Although it states, "a
fire came forth from before HaShem and
devoured them" there was no evidence of any
fire or of anything being burned.
The Komarno Rebbe in his Hechal Berecha notes
that the souls of Nadav and Avihu left their
bodies in a state of union with HaShem and
that they ascended above to cling to the Tree
of Life. Therefore, although the actions of
Nadav and Avihu were incorrect, their
intentions were pure. They were punished for
their wrong actions here in this world and
rewarded for their pure intentions in the
world to come.
This can be a very confusing lesson for
people to learn. Sometimes we are motivated
to do a certain thing, whereas our Torah and
conscience tells us that such an action is
wrong. Often we convince ourselves that it
is all right to do such and such a wrong
thing, because well "feel" it to be right.
We say to ourselves, "after all, G-d is
loving and forgiving. He knows that I have
nothing but good intentions in my heart.
Therefore, although it is written not to do
such and such a thing, in this instance, I am
sure that even G-d will say it's OK, because
I really feel its right!"
I wonder if these were not the exact words in
the minds of Nadav and Avihu just seconds
before they were struck dead.
It is clear then that the "strange fire"
offered by Nadav and Avihu was both ritually
impure and spiritually impure. In order than
we would learn from their mistake, not to
repeat it, G-d took their lives. These are
the answers to the first two questions posed
above. Now to address the third: what can we
learn from this lesson to avoid repeating the
same mistake?
The sin of presumptuousness is all too
prevalent today, especially in certain
sectors of the Orthodox community. Yet,
rather than point finger at this or that
group or practice, I believe it to be more
constructive to rather address an attitude.
I wish to explain why I believe
presumptuousness exists and what we can do to
deal with it.
Presumptuousness is present when "I" decides
that "I" know what is best under the
circumstances, even if the Halakha says
otherwise.
Presumptuousness exists when "I" believe that
certain moral or Halakhic compromises may be
acceptable because they serve to create a
"higher good."
Presumptuousness exists when "I" convert into
action my personal emotional convictions
expecting them to be acceptable to all,
including G-d.
These three definitions of presumptuousness
are all too common amongst us. Indeed, if we
look into our own hearts we will discover
that each one of us is individually tempted
by these attitudes.
Yet, there are two things in common amongst
all these three. One, there is no mention of
G-d. Two, there are all too many mentions of
"I." Herein now lies the secret meaning of
presumptuousness. Presumptuousness exists
when I am full of myself. For one who is
full of self, must by definition, be void of
G-d. Only one who is full of G-d can be void
of self and thus safe from the sin of
presumptuousness.
This now, in my opinion, is the problem faced
today in many Jewish communities. Barukh
HaShem we have more people studying Torah now
more than ever. Old yeshivot are full and
new ones are opening. Barukh HaShem. Yet,
at the same time some horrible is happening
in our sacred study halls.
While more and more Torah is being learned,
less and less Yirat Shamayim and Derekh Eretz
are manifesting in the hearts of the Benei
Torah. I am not alone in this observation.
Almost every Orthodox Rabbi I know, here in
the US and in Israel agree. We all see that
many are bonding with Torah and mitzvot, yet
few are bonding directly with HaShem. Many
are following the easy mitzvot of Talmud
Torah and the mitzvot ha'hitzoniyim (external
observances). All too few are fulfilling the
hard mitzvot, the mitzvot ha'penimiyim (inner
mitzvot) of rectifying negative personality
traits, guarding one's tongue from improper
speech, guarding one's eyes and mind from
exposure to improper education and materials
which create philosophies contradictory to
pure Torah. It is so hard today to be a
Kosher Jew in such an unkosher world like we
all live in. Even living in an orthodox
Jewish neighborhood is no protection from the
encroachments that attack us psychologically
every day.
How many of you reading this have responded
quickly and defensively saying, "Not me!"
In this lies the sin of presumptuousness.
Worse than this, there is the sin of denial.
Denial means that we are not willing to tell
the truth about ourselves to ourselves.
Granted our personal boosha (shame) is best
left between HaShem and us. It is not meant
for public consumption. Nevertheless, who
among us is so arrogant to say, "I have done
nothing wrong."
I know of Rabbanim, Admorim, who enjoy a
great wealth of Torah knowledge and have much
Kavod (honor) and many students. Yet, they
act with such presumptuousness in that they
consider themselves to be so infallible and
others to be so fallible. In this lies the
sin of presumptuousness.
Rabbi Haim Vital wrote his sefer Sha'arei
Kedusha as a guide to achieving Ruah HaKodesh
and Nevuah. The text even teaches how to use
the holy 72 Shemot. Yet, the largest portion
of the sefer is dedicated to the preparations
for these holy acts. The lion's share of
this material is musar, teaching us how to
rectify and elevate our midot
(personalities). It is these teachings that
have made Sha'arei Kedusha a classic in the
yeshiva world.
Rabbi Haim's intent with these warnings that
proper midot are essential for any type of
spiritual achievement is to protect us from
repeating the fates of Nadav and Avihu. In
order to approach the holy we must be
properly prepared. We cannot afford to be
inebriated. We must be strongly sober and
alert, focused and serious. We must be
willing to submit to G-d and not dictate to
Him.
Nadav and Avihu were not the first examples
of presumptuousness in the Torah. In the
beginning, Kayin son of Adam made an offering
to HaShem from the fruits of his labors. He
expected that the intentions of his heart
would make his offer sufficient. This was
not the case. When told so, he rose up and
killed his brother Hevel (Abel) whose
offering was accepted.
To sum up, what we learn is that what HaShem
wants of us is what He wants from us. He
does not accept substitutes. No matter what
our excuses or explanations, what HaShem
wants of us are the only things that He will
accept from us. When we desire otherwise we
violate the sin of presumptuousness. This is
the same as the spirit of arrogance, which
HaShem hates.
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Shalom, HaRav Ariel Bar Tzadok