spirit

torah portion

The
Consequence
Of Our
Actions

T

his week’s Torah portion
describes the tragic death
of Nadav and Avihu, the two
sons of Aaron.
“Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and
Abihu each took his fire pan, put
fire in it, and laid incense on it; and
they offered before the Lord
this regard, is a corollary
alien fire, which He had
to this narrowing of the
not enjoined upon them.
distance; that is, the con-
And fire came forth from
sequence of their actions
the Lord and consumed
reminds us that navigating
them; thus they died at
between the mundane and
the instance of the Lord.”
the sacred can potentially
(Leviticus 10:1-2)
be fraught with danger and
Biblical commentators,
Professor Howard must be undertaken with
in the absence of any single
great caution and deliber-
definitive explanation, have Lupovitch
ateness. This danger was
opted for a menu of explana-
illustrated just before they
tions from which readers
two priests brought their
can choose; this array of
illicit offering. As the verse
explanations has allowed
immediately preceding (Leviticus
this odd story to be the source of
9:24) describes, “Fire came forth
a variety of lessons — for example,
from before the Lord and consumed
seriousness and deliberateness in
the burnt offering and the fat parts
the performance of sacred tasks,
on the altar. And all the people saw,
echoed later in Ethics of the Fathers:
and shouted, and fell on their faces.”
“Be deliberate in judgment.”
Nadav an Avihu were or should
The central aim of the Book of
have been aware of the potential
Leviticus is defining the biblical
dangers of playing with Divine fire.
notion of kedushah, that elusive
They did not act out of malevo-
term conveniently translated as holi-
lence. Rather, they were impelled by
ness. In some sense, kedushah is a
a desire to offer an additional gift to
familiar concept that is woven into
God. Intent, though, is not a mitigat-
the fabric of Jewish life: We recite
Kiddush at the onset of Shabbat and ing factor in this instance.
This point is underlined by Rabbi
yom tov to delineate between sacred
Naftyali Yehuda Zvi Berlin (aka the
and mundane moments in time. We
recite Kaddish to punctuate between NeTZiV), a late 19th-century Litvak.
Acknowledging that they acted out
parts of the service, and Mourner’s
of passion for God, he explained that
Kaddish to acknowledge the tran-
“Love of God is dear to God, but not
scendence of God at a difficult
in a way that is not commanded.” In
moment in our lives.
other words, acting out of a passion-
A more sublime aspect of kedu-
ate love or belief in something does
shah more pertinent to Nadav and
Avihu is the separation between God not forgive a misdeed that ensues
from this passion. Rather, we are
and Israel: more specifically, how to
expected to act in a way that is not
narrow this gap not only effectively
only well-intentioned and kind, but
but also safely. To this end, a sacri-
also deliberate and not impulsive. •
fice represents an act of elevating
something of this world toward
Dr. Howard N. Lupovitch is an associate
heaven, symbolically bringing our-
professor of history at Wayne State University
selves closer to God.
and director of WSU’s Cohn-Haddow Center
The story of Nadav and Avihu, in
for Judaic Studies.

Parshat Shemini:
Leviticus 9:1-11:47;
II Samuel 6:1-7:17.

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April 20 • 2017

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