Sam Nirenstein - Dvar Torah

Parshat Shemini

Shabbat Shalom Everybody - and thank you all for being here and sharing my special day.

Parshat Shmini deals with two main topics, being the laws of Kashrut and the story of Nadav and Avihu at the inauguration of the Mishkan.

I’ll be talking about Nadav and Avihu because I figured that most of you already know the laws of Kashrut and the story of Nadav and Avihu is one of the most controversial and debated stories in the Torah to this day.

The story starts on the 8th and final day of the ordination of the kohanim to serve in the Mishkan. The Mishkan was a portable temple also known as the Tabernacle and it was the place where the Israelites would worship God by offering sacrifices to be burnt on the altar. The priests would do the sacrificial offering on behalf of the general people. A divine fire would miraculously appear inside the temple showing the Divine presence.

Nadav and Avihu were the two oldest sons of Aaron and they had been ordained as priests; this was the official beginning of their priestly service, while their father Aaron was the High Priest.

At the inauguration, these brothers brought their own unauthorized fire into the Mishkan to bring an offering that had not been commanded by God and they were immediately consumed on the spot by a divine fire and died. The Torah does not say why they behaved in this manner, but it seems it was a spontaneous idea and they did it with good intentions. 

My first question was  - why did this tragedy happen? Why did God strike them down so suddenly, and what exactly did they do wrong to deserve this punishment?

I have researched this and there are many different explanations and interpretations provided in the Mishnah and by various Rabbis through the ages.

First of all .. Obedience

The Torah specifically states that they brought fire that was not commanded. This is very different from the behavior of Aaron and Moses, who did everything exactly as commanded by God. This means that their mistake was not only what they did, but that they acted without the prior approval of God. They should have respected and followed the detailed instructions previously given by God on how the inauguration ceremony was to be. According to Rashi, they acted on their own initiative without consulting their Elders.

Just imagine in our current times, what it would be like if at the coronation of the King, the priest who has a specific important role, decides to do something spontaneous that was not part of the order of the ceremony. It would not be appropriate and the priest would get a lot of hate.

Secondly… Arrogance and Impatience:

According to the Midrash, the reason why they were punished is because Nadav and Avihu were overconfident and considered themselves to be greater than Moses and Aaron.

According to the Talmud, they were arrogant and impatient and wanted Moses and Aaron to die so that they could take over as leaders.

I can relate to Nadav and Avihu because I sometimes feel impatient and think my ideas are the best. A lesson from this Parsha is that leaders need to be humble and respect the traditions and structures as commanded by God in the Torah. In order to be a good leader you need to consult with others (up to a point).

Another lesson for me is to be more patient, which is something I struggle with. You can’t just wake up and be the leader - you need to wait for your turn and respect the existing leadership. Also, as a leader you can’t just do your own thing, you need to listen to what God has to tell you.

But what does listening to God mean in today’s world? And how do we listen to God? By feeling in your body what’s right, listening to your conscience about the right things to do, and basing decisions on Torah values.

That also reminds me of Psalm 15, which I read earlier and says that if you listen to God and do what’s right - you can achieve great things.

Thank you again everyone for being here and thank you so much to Rabbi Malcolm and Dani for guiding and helping me to prepare for today.