Shimini-Torah Portion for 4/10
This week we read of the death of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Abihu, when they bring “alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them.” In response God kills them as we read, “fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the Lord.” There are two traditions about these deaths. One suggests that Nadav and Abihu were drunk and could not properly fulfill the order of sacrifice and were therefore killed. However, a Chasidic teaching says that Nadav and Abihu were both so intense in their love of God that their passion erased the barrier that separates Earth from Heaven and God took them to be with him. It is often possible to give another person’s behavior either a positive or negative motive. Disrespect or passion for God—how we view another often says more about ourselves than it is does about others.
~Rabbi Dean
