Subj:Netvort : parshas Acharei Mos - Kedoshim 
Date:04/19/2002 7:27:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From:Netvort
To:JoshHoff
BCC:UncleYitz





                                                 How Strange

                 By Rabbi Joshua (strangely known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


  In the beginning of parshas Acharei Mos, we are told that God spoke to Aharon after the death of his two children, who died when they came close to God. Aharon is told not to come into the sanctuary, within the curtain, at all times, so that he should not die. To enter that area, he needed to follow a certain procedure. At the end of this section, the Torah says that this procedure should be followed by the kohein gadol on Yom Kippur in order to enter the holy of holies. Rashi, in the beginning of the parsha, cites the comment of the midrash that God's words to Aharon were similar to the advice that a doctor gives to a patient. He may tell him, for example, not to eat cold food or eat in a damp place, so that he should not die in the way that someone else who did those things died. Similarly, God was warning Aharon not to act in the same way as his sons when he enters the holy of holies, so that he will avoid the kind of death they suffered.

One may ask, if what the midrash says is the sole message being delivered through mentioning the death of Aharon's sons, why wasn't it recorded immediately after those deaths. The prohibition of entering the sanctuary in an inebriated state, for example, is mentioned then, and the rabbis explain that this is because Nadav and Avihu entered in that state, and that was the cause of their deaths. I believe that the mentioning of their deaths separately, in connection with Yom Kippur, indicates that there is a wider message here, that relates to Yom Kippur experience as a whole. 

Rabbi Avraham Aharon Yudelevitch, in his commentary Derash Av, cites a strange midrash, which says that Iyov (Job) was not comforted until he heard of the deaths of the two children of Aharon. Although Rabbi Yudelevitch himself goes on to present an elaborate explanation of this midrash, based on remarks he made at his eulogy for Queen Victoria of England, I would like to suggest a somewhat different explanation, that will help us answer our original question. The Torah in parshas Shemini tells us that Nadav and Avihu died when they brought a strange fire before God. The rabbis however offer a wide range of other reasons for their deaths. Some have explained that these reasons are merely the underlying causes behind their ultimate sin of bringing a strange fire. However, perhaps we can suggest that this proliferation of reasons is due to the fact that it was difficult to understand why they would die for wanting to come closer to God. Granted, they did so in an incorrect manner, but one could perhaps argue that the punishment was too harsh. Therefore, the rabbis looked for more subtle reasons to explain their punishment. Aharon's reaction to their death was one of total silence and acceptance, and the rabbis praise him for reacting in this way, saying that he received a divine reward for it. 

On Yom Kippur, the kohein gadol performs a special service, some of which is performed in the holy of holies. The object of the service is to achieve atonement for himself and for the nation. However, no matter how the kohein fares in this service, people always die in the course of the year, and tragedies occur which no one can understand. Perhaps then this is the reason that the deaths of Nadav and Avihu are mentioned before the Torah's description of the Yom Kippur service, to remind us of the human limitations in our understanding, and for our need to simply accept God's judgments, just as Aharon did. I believe that this is the meaning behind the midrash cited by Rabbi Yudelevitch, that Iyov was comforted only after hearing about the deaths of Nadav and Avihu. Just as Aharon accepted the deaths of his sons with accepting silence, so, too, Iyov now realized that he could not fathom the ways of God, and fell silent. 




Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) at the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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