THE SEARCH FOR MEANING

Parashat Shemini

Nisan 17, 5783 / April 14-15, 2023

Torah: Leviticus 9:1 - 11:47

Haftarah: 2 Samuel 6:1 - 7:17 (Ashkenazim); 2 Samuel 6:1-19 (Sephardim)

This d'var torah is offered for a refuah shleimah for Chanah Bella bat Kreina and Devorah bat Feigel.
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Lunch and Learn meets Tuesdays at 12:30 PM on Zoom and Facebook Live.
We're continuing to read and discuss the Midrashic collection Ein Ya'akov. 
On April 18, we'll be at BT Shabbat 59a, page 158 of Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) Volume 1 - "ולא בעיר של זהב" - "Nor with a golden city” 

Ein Ya'akov (Glick edition) is available for on-line reading or as a downloadable PDF at:
https://hebrewbooks.org/9630 
A pointed Hebrew text version with different pagination is available at Sefaria: 
https://www.sefaria.org/Ein_Yaakov?tab=contents  
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Check out our wonderful community, and get lots of info about our various programs and becoming a Member at: https://bnaihayim.org/ 
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Rabbi Van Leeuwen has a blog which you should read at: 
https://rebjasonblog.wordpress.com/blog/ 
 
Dr. Steve Pearlman writes up the "Midrashim of the Week", which you should read at: 
https://midrashsrp.wordpress.com 
 
Please feel free to pass this on to a friend, and please cite the source.
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THE SEARCH FOR MEANING

"'Now Aharon's sons Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered (or "came close" – vayakrivu – root k-r-b) before the Lord strange fire, which He had not commanded them. And fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed them; and they died before the Lord. Then Moshe said to Aharon, "This is what the Lord meant when He said, 'Through those near to Me (bikrovai – root k-r-b) I sanctify Myself, and gain glory before all the people.'" And Aharon was silent. "' Leviticus 10:1-3

The Two Priests Are Destroyed (watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot)

What happened here? Moshe seems to understand, to know what God "meant", but do we? Why were Nadav and Avihu slain? What was the nature of their sin? Did they sin?

There are a number of Midrashim and commentaries which attempt to address these questions. Their sin might have been: 1) offering (root k-r-b) strange fire (i.e., that was not permitted, or that was prepared for the purpose of idol worship); 2) offering incense when it had not yet been commanded; 3) trying to usurp their father's position as High Priest; or, 4) approaching (also from k-r-b) God while under the influence of alcohol (see Leviticus 10:8-11). There are other possibilities as well.

Other Midrashim suggest that they did not sin at all, that their deaths were not a punishment, but a reward. They are "near to" (root k-r-b) God, and God's Holy Name is sanctified by the lives (not the deaths) of those nearest and dearest to Him. Or, again from the root k-r-b, they are "korbanot" (sacrifices), and they willingly "offered" themselves in order to "get close" to God. They were brought directly to God as a reward. 

Perhaps they were neither punished nor rewarded. One Midrash says that God's intent was to initiate the very first incense offering with a holy fire direct from heaven, and they happened to be struck by it because they were too close (k-r-b). Sort of "collateral damage", or maybe the victims of "friendly fire." (Yes, a bad pun)

Which of these possibilities is the correct meaning? I believe that none of them are correct, and that each of them is correct! The reason is actually found in the parashah itself. 

Leviticus 10:16 contains the phrase "darosh darash" - Moshe "diligently inquired", or "searched for an explanation". The words of this phrase, according to tradition, occur at the exact middle of the Torah (in terms of the letters in the Torah). The root here is d-r-sh, the same as the root for Midrash. The appearance of the root twice, when read without vowels, as it appears in the Torah, might be viewed as a command to each of us to seek our individual understandings of the events of this parashah, and for that matter, of the meaning of the entire Torah. Each of us can be k-r-b (whatever that means!) to God.  

The search for God, or for the meaning of the Torah or of our lives, will be fruitless - unless we are diligent, unless we do it with fire in our bellies. Then the sacrifice will be worthwhile.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom, Rabbi Emeritus
TBH/CBM

.אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם? הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1 
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