Parashat Shemini

After a long spring training season, it was finally time for the opening day of the 2010 baseball season. Unfortunately for my baseball loving sons (and their only partially jaded father) the first game of the season was held on eve of Yom Tov, the seventh day of Passover, when the candles glowed and screens were dark.

Driving back home at the end of the chag a few days later we managed to catch the last few innings of the Yankee’s second game of the season, and were not too upset that the Red Sox walked home what would prove to be the winning run.

It was a wry coincidence that a wild pitch and passed ball by the Yankees a few nights earlier allowed their arch rivals to win the opener in a similar fashion. But, that’s the game. Despite all the excitement and fanfare, it usually comes down to the avoidance of the one minute error that can turn joy into tragedy.

In this week’s parasha, Shemini, we are given box seats to opening day at the mishkan. There had been a seven day spring training, with Moshe directing his team in all sorts of drills, setting up and breaking down the mishkan in anticipation of a long, successful season and hopefully an endless summer.

We learn that all was ready and in place for the opening ceremony.

“They took that which Moshe commanded, before the Tent of Meeting; and the entire congregation approached and they stood before G-d. Moshe said, This is what G-d commanded you to do: and the glory of G-d will appear to you.” (Lev. 9:5-6)

The Almighty throws out the first pitch, so to speak, and the season begins!

“A fire came forth from before G-d and consumed what was on the altar; the burnt-offering and the fats. All the people saw and they raised their voices in praise, and they fell on their faces”. (Lev. 9:24)
You couldn’t ask for a more dramatic beginning!

Two sons of Aaron, the Kohane Gadol, are so inspired that they present their own offering, and the results are tragic:

“Nadav and Avihu, Aaron’s sons, took, each of them his fire-pan, placed fire on it and then placed incense upon it and they brought before G-d a strange fire, which He had not commanded them. A fire came forth from before G-d and consumed them, and they died in the presence of G-d.” (Lev. 10:1-2)

For millenia our sages have been discussing exactly what took place. What went wrong, why did the two brothers, enveloped in the passion of the moment, deserve to lose their lives in such a dramatic fashion?

The major commentators have learned that this was the result of, among other things, disregarding their teacher Moshe, or possibly entering the mishkan in a drunken state.
But, those are difficult explanations, because right away the the Torah seems to praise them:
“Moshe said to Aaron, ‘it is as G-d spoke, saying: ‘through those that are near me I shall be sanctified, and in the presence of the entire people I will be glorified’…….” (Lev 10:3)

What was this strange fire? An unauthorized voluntary offering in the midst of a tightly choreographed sacred proceeding, rehearsed over and over again.

The brothers must have acted out of love, swept up in the passion of the moment.

Was it inevitable? The name Nadav is the same word as nadava, a non required free will offering. But the divine service is a team activity, with everyone doing their own dedicated part of the sacred work, in conjunction with that of others. Every part is interdependent. Even a nadava, a voluntary offering requires a coordinated group effort.

Perhaps they did not understand the power of the position. This was no ordinary fire they were playing with, rather a fire from heaven.
Maybe this was an echo of creation itself?

The beginning of the creation of the physical world, as revealed in the Torah, is the creation of ohr, usually translated as light.
When we think of light, our first thought is of the natural light of the sun. But, the sun wasn’t created until the fourth day!
Perhaps this ohr was in fact the initial source of energy that set the world into motion.

As we know, energy and radiation are incredibly powerful phenomena, with the power to create and destroy.

Human beings, with the gift of free will, are given an opportunity as well, to create and destroy. It is not always possible to know the end result of our actions, or the effect they will have on the world. The Torah, with it’s clear sense of order, and natural law, offers a guide to keep us on base, so to speak.
Deviating from that path is a risk, and on the cosmic base path we never know the gravity of the most minute action.

We all know the story of the batter who was fined by the manager for hitting a home run, when he was in fact given the sign to bunt.

When Nadav and Avihu disregarded the play book, the explicit instructions for sacred actions in the mishkan, they paid the ultimate price.
But their motivation was noble, and can continue to inspire us.
May all our prayers be offered and answered, at the right time.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Greg

They showed you a statue, told you to pray
They built you a temple and locked you away
Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay
For things that you might have done…..
Only the good die young

The Levittowner Rebbe…