It came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons
and the elders of Israel
When the above
described scene reached its peak, with "fire [coming] out from before YHVH…
consuming the burnt offering…," as we just observed, we are suddenly
transferred without as much as a breather into the next one, with its parallel
yet contradicting elements. And so we read in 10:1 about A’haron’s sons, Nadav
and Avihu taking censors and putting fire and incense on them, which YHVH had
"not commanded them." Theirs was a
fire of their own making ("zara" - foreign, strange,
of a different kind), which they brought near before YHVH,
and "so fire went out from YHVH and devoured them" (v. 2). When the
Children of Yisrael and their leaders did as they were commanded (see
9:10) and drew near to YHVH, His fire consumed the offering
and He showed them His Glory. But when Nadav and Avihu brought near before
YHVH that which He did not command, the consequence was that a fire
went out from the Him, but consumed them (10:1-2). The
similar terms used to describe both episodes make for a sinister symmetry, one
that demonstrates that often there may be but a fine line which separates the
holy from the profane, the desirable from the detestable. An example of contrasting
terms, that serve to highlight certain situations is seen in 9:24, where we
read that the people "shouted" - (va)yaronou -
joyfully. In contrast, after Nadav and Avihu's sad annihilation, it says that
A'haron was utterly silent, or even motionless - (va)yidom
– root of d.o.m (see 10:3). In Psalm 94:17, the expression "dwelling in
silence" ("shachna duma”), denotes death. Psalm 115:17 it
is written: "The dead do not praise YHVH, nor any who go down into
silence" (duma, once again).
"By
those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I
must be glorified" (10:3) is the explanation as to why Nadav and Avihu,
because of their lofty positions, had to be totally obedient to YHVH and could
not misrepresent him as they had done. In fact, they are called here by YHVH
"k'rova'i" - those who are close (or near) to Me -
and as such, YHVH was to “be rendered holy" ("eka'desh")
by, or through them. In addition,
their actions were supposed to glorify YHVH causing others to also do so,
with "eka'ved" being the term used, meaning literally "heavy,"
and by implication "highly esteemed."
In the second part of chapter 10, Moshe
instructs A'haron and his two "remaining sons" (v. 12) to not display
any signs of mourning. On the other hand, the rest of Yisrael was given
permission to "bewail the burning which YHVH has kindled" (v.
6, italics added). Interestingly, the “burning” here is not attached to the
particular individuals, neither to human beings in general or even to death.
The word used, which sounds so dreadfully detached, is "s'refa,"
meaning "burning” or “to burn." It appears that the
emphasis is put on the calamity inflicted by YHVH, with the priests being
expected to identify with His approach (hence His strict orders to them not
to display signs of mourning over the death of their relatives). In addition, they
were to remain inside the tent (cf. 8:33,35, mentioned above) as long as YHVH's
anointing oil was on them, and were also prohibited from drinking wine and
intoxicating drink in the course of their service in Ohel Mo'ed ("Tent of
Meeting", 10:6-9). This latter requirement led some commentators to
surmise that YHVH's anger against Nadav and Avihu was kindled because they may
have been inebriated while ministering. The purpose for these measures was
…"that you [i.e. the priests] may teach the children of Israel
In the following section (10:12-20), Moshe
reproves A'haron and his remaining (“nota'rim”) sons, El'azar and
Itamar, for not having eaten the remaining (“noteret”) offering,
which was rightfully theirs. Instead, they burned the goat for the sin offering
("soraf," v. 16 – identical word to the “fire” mentioned in
10:6 above, which consumed Nadav and Avihu), making a fire of their own and
getting rid of that which they were supposed to consume. Here we hear A'haron
expressing himself for the first time after the loss of his two sons, a loss he
refers to as, “such things [that] have befallen me" (v. 19), and wondering
if the eating that was required…"would have … been good - (ha)yitav
- in the eyes of YHVH. And Moses heard and it was good - (va)yitav
- in his eyes" (vv. 19-20). The echoing of A'haron's "good"
in Moshe’s response seems to indicate that harmony had been restored.
Our Parasha clearly brings out the role of
the priests in the Israelite society, and their view of their office. S.R. Hirsch elaborates
on this issue: "The Hebrew priest is part of the nation, and his position
is not an isolated one before God, but one that he occupies only within and
through the nation….” Regarding the sacrifices and their function relative to
the Almighty and to the worshipper, he says: “The closeness of and approach to
God… may only be found through obedience to and acceptance of God's will… The offering means to place the offerer at
God's service, i.e., he wants to fulfill God's wishes through his offering. All
offerings are therefore forms of Divine demands which the offerer, through his
offering, accepts as the guidelines for his future conduct."[2]
In line with the theme of separating the
clean from the unclean, the rest of the Parasha (chapter 11) is devoted to the
type of animal, fish and fowl permitted for consumption, as well as to those
that were forbidden. It is interesting that verses 4-7 constitute a list of
four animals, all of which have one of the two traits required, but are devoid
of the other. However, the first trait mentioned in all four cases happens to
be the one that fulfills the requirement, whereas the specification of the
missing one is second. The lesson to be learned here is simple: even though things may seem 'right' or
'proper' at first sight, they should be investigated further, lest deception
sets in (e.g. notice the order of adjectives in the title of the Tree of
Knowledge of Good and Evil). The above tragic scene, with Nadav
and Avihu, A’haron’s sons, who no doubt had ‘good’ intentions, illustrates this
point even more poignantly. YHVH’s holiness and His charge upon His people to
be “set apart as He is,” cannot to be measured by human standards of ‘good’ and
‘evil,’ and requires unquestionable obedience.
"You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing
that creeps; nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, lest you be
defiled by them, for I am YHVH your Elohim. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves,
and you shall be holy, for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with
any creeping thing that creeps on the earth, for I am YHVH who brings you up
out of the land
of Egypt Egypt
Aligning themselves with their Elohim and His ways is what makes the
Israelite Nation a "holy nation." Partaking of that which is
abominable in His sight, or even coming into contact with it renders those who
choose to do so just as abominable - "sheh’ketz." “You shall not make yourselves (lit. “your soul”)
abominable – teshak’tzu” - with any creeping thing that creeps” (v. 43). The "abomination (of desolation)"
in Daniel 11:31 and 12:11 employs the same word, with a certain modification
(“shikutz”).
Our Parasha, quite characteristically, ends with a clear reminder of its
theme: “to distinguish, [or separate], the unclean from the clean…" (v.
47).
Notes
1. New Studies
in Vayikra Part 1, Nechama Leibowitz, trans. Aryeh Newman. Eliner Library, Department for Torah Education and
Culture in the Diaspora. Hemed Books Inc., Brooklyn , N.Y.
2. Ibid
No comments:
Post a Comment