IN the book of Genesis, G-d commands Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. At the pinnacle moment of no turning back, when Abraham is about to carry out G-ds heartbreaking command, an angel calls out to Abraham to stop! and in the split second before it is too late ?G-d halts the sacrifice of Isaac on the altar.
According to the midrash, the angels in heaven, watching this scene, shed tears. And the angels tears of sadness, shed from Heaven, drop into the eyes of Isaac.
G-d commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son. Ever the loyal steward of G-d, Abraham was going to go through with it. Then G-d stepped in and prevented this death of an innocent child as a form of worship.
This is a lesson about not worshipping by human sacrifice. This is a lesson of Abrahams dedication and G-ds willingness to see it but not to let him act on it. This is a fundamental teaching about Judaisms reverence for human life, poignantly and especially a childs life.
In this weeks Torah portion, along with the previous portions that detail the construction and operation of the sanctuary, the mantra is, as G-d commanded. Everything involved in the building of the was as G-d commanded.
After all the chaos, joy and labor of building the Tabernacle, the Mishkan a labor of love, to be sure the moment everyone has been waiting for arrives. The dedication. And what happens? Here, G-d does not command Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron the High Priest, to enter and offer certain sacrifices, and yet they do.
Tragically, unlike Isaac, who is spared, Nadav and Avihu become human sacrifices. They are consumed by fire, dying mysteriously. The entire Jewish nation, at the moment of dedication, stands and watches this take place before their very eyes. A moment at the heights, a moment of national ecstasy, is marred by depths of pain, by a terrible, unexpected tragedy.
WHAT a difficult story. Here are two holy priests who want to go beyond the letter of the law that G-d commanded and draw closer to G-d in love and in service. And they are fatally punished for it.
At Isaacs binding, it is the tears of angels that are shed. Plus the last minute reprieve. With Nadav and Avihu, it is the heartrending pain of a fathers silence. This time, no reprieve, but a human sacrifice.
Is this the Jewish way? Death for an act and a desire to come closer to G-d?
What went wrong in the story of Nadav and Avihu?
In the Torah, it seems their transgression was one of going beyond an explicit law from G-d. Serving G-d, albeit ecstatically and with love, but independent of the commandment, is a sin.
The commentaries struggle to understand what went wrong. There are so many different opinions of what the sin of Nadav and Avihu was; they end up committing at least 10 different sins! It is worth exploring all the commentaries in depth, as well the theme of leadership, but these are beyond the scope of this column.
What I think this story boils down to is the question of how human beings approach the presence of G-d. That delicate dance of love and law. Nadav and Avihu were not arrogant, random people who wanted to make their mark. They were holy people who possessed a love and passion for G-d more than anyone else in that generation. They were of great spiritual stature.
And yet. When it comes to the service of G-d, what binds us all together as people is the law. Only rules can bind people, not passion. Individually, yes, it is or can be love. But the Mishkan, the sanctuary where Nadav and Avihu added their own sacrifice, is our collective Jewish home. The priests, especially, should represent the collective.
Unbounded ecstasy and passion and love are essential parts of our relationship with G-d. The spirit that breathes life. But without the structure of the body of law the commands by G-d it is not the relationship to the Divine that G-d is cultivated.
THIS is the lesson that the Torah has been teaching since the construction of the Mishkan as G-d commanded Moses.
Nadav and Avihu, with their overruling passion, marred the moment by doing the exact opposite of everything the Mishkan stands for, of everything the Torah has been teaching the Jewish people at the end of Exodus and the beginning of Leviticus.
Can we ever really understand ?G-ds response? Of course not. G-d is infinite and we are finite in our emotions and understanding. In the face of G-ds decree, Aaron the high priest is silent, vayidom Aharon.
This time, there are no angels tears and Nadav and Avihu are not spared.
Elie Wiesel writes:
The silence of a father, the transgression of two sons, the punishment from heaven this is a unique story of pain and grief it is locked from within. Is it about ecstacy and injustice? . . . It is secret, finally impenetrable. I confess that aspects of it elude me. I have never understood it. All of its leading characters exist beyond our range of comprehension . . . yet in the rich Talmudic and mystical literature many attempts often contradictory have been made to explain it. None seems satisfactory. In the end, we must acknowledge that this episode troubled even our greatest ancient and medieval commentators and it continues to disturb today . . .
Unlike Korach and his congregation, who were consumed downward, swallowed by the earth, Nadav and Avihu are consumed upward, suggestive of the soaring of a sacrifice. Their deaths are beyond explanation.
Copyright © 2011 by the Intermountain Jewish News
