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All classes are open to the public. No knowledge of Hebrew is required. For more information please call the Torah Center at 248-855-6170 F '., . V." F `: :S.:, .....,,,,,,,,,,",,,.... , Since 1986 ,. ,. .N. ,..,-...,,,, • ❑ STEVEN TARNOW, C.R. PREFERRED BUILDING CO. (248) 626-5603 Fax 248-932-0950 Residential & Commercial Remodeling Building Quality Into Every Project With Unmatched Personal Service. 4/20 2001 62 Featuring Andersen Windows NARr Licensed & Insured Moses who spoke favorably of the land were permitted to enter the Promised Land. King Josiah and King Ahab were murdered by arrows even though the former was an upstanding king while the latter a corrupt one. Similarly, Nadav and Avihu's fates n this week's parshah, Aaron were no different than that of the evil and his sons participate in a Korach. Both Aaron's sons and seven-day initiation ceremony; Korach were consumed by fire even on the eighth day, they assume though the former entered the sanc- their duties as priests. tuary in a spirit of reverence while That eighth day must have been the latter entered in the spirit of con- filled with expectation and excite- tentiousness. ment. Tragically, it was dis- According to this rupted by the untimely midrash, covenantal theol- deaths of Aaron's two eldest ogy is not so simple as say- sons, Nadav and Avihu, who ing that if we are good we were killed by a Divine fire. will be rewarded and if we Leviticus 1 0:1 states that are wicked we Will be pun- Nadav and Avihu took fire ished. The fate of Nadav pans in which they put coal and Avihu teaches that the and incense and offered system of justice is beyond them to God. And as a our absolute knowledge, result, "a fire came forth and we certainly should RABBI LEE from the Lord and con- not, and cannot, judge a BUCKMAN sumed them; thus they died person as righteous or Special to the ...” (10:2). The nature of wicked based on the way Jewish News their sin has confounded he dies. our commentators. What What this tragic episode could Nadav and Avihu possibly have does is remystify the text. It insists on done to warrant punishment by the unknown in our quest for the death? Did they offer a sacrifice known, and thereby wards off a pos- improperly? Did they enter the sible dangerous implication of the Divine sanctuary without being invit- Torah's theology of reward and pun- ed? ishment. Our sages enumerate no fewer Namely, if we were to have than 12 reasons why Nadav and absolute knowledge of God's reac- Avihu were killed. One rabbi suggests tions, this would subordinate God to that they were drunk when they the system that God is to transcend. made their sacrifice. Another suggests God would then appear to be capable that they showed a lack of respect to of being manipulated. For if each their teacher. A third suggestion is human constructive act were followed that Nadav and Avihu were improp- by an immediate Divine, tangible erly dressed. blessing, then we could, in a sense, We expect there to be a reason, for control God. according to the covenantal theology The Nadav and Avihu story asserts of the Torah, only those people who God's autonomy. It demonstrates that have sinned are punished. Here we we can only control what we do, not are faced with a punishment in search what God does. of a crime. And, often when there is an abundance of explanations for a particular mystery, it may be a sign that there is, in fact, no explanation. One midrash (Leviticus Rabbah If God's ways are inscrutable, 20:1) makes a bold assertion. It says why do we continue to seek rea- that Nadav and Avihu were righteous sons for bad things that happen men and mikreh echad latsadik v'lat- to good people? In what situa- sadik v'larasha, both the righteous tions is it unhelpful to search for and the wicked have the same fate. such reasons? How do we inte- Neither the spies who spoke deroga- grate a notion of reward and torily about the land of Canaan nor punishment into our lives given the apparently unjustified suffer- ing in the world? Rabbi Lee Buckman is head of Shabbat Shemini: Leviticus 9:1-11:47; II Samuel 6:1-7:17. I FREE ESTIMATES FINANCING AVAILABLE ....,.. Need We Discern God's Ways When Bad Things Happen? / Ander en Conversations school for the Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit.