The Greatest Comfort

By Rabbi Joshua (temperantly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

After the deaths of the two sons of Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, Moshe commands Aharon and his remaining sons not to engage in the usual mourning practices, such as rending their clothing and the like, and not to leave the entrance of the Ohel Moed (Vayikra 10:6-7). Shortly afterwards, he tells them to continue with the service of the mishkan, the eighth day of the inauguration (Vayikra 10:12). In-between these two segments, however, God speaks directly to Aharon, giving him the command that the kohanim are forbidden to drink intoxicating wine when entering the Ohel Mo’ed, “to distinguish between the sacred and the profane, and the impure and the pure, and to teach the B’nei Yisroel all the decrees that the Lord had spoke to them through Moshe (Vayikra 10:8-11). These intervening verses seem to be out of place, unrelated to what precedes and follows them, and it would therefore be instructful to look at some of the explanations that have been given for their appearance here.

Rashi mentions the opinion of Rabbi Yishmael in the midrash, who says that the sin of the sons of Aharon was that they entered a holy place while intoxicated, and therefore, in reaction, Aharon was told that kohanim are forbidden to do so. The Rashbam offers a different explanation. He mentions an old practice, reflected in a verse in Mishlei (31:6), discussed in the Talmud, and brought in the codes, to give cups of wine to mourners to drink in order to provide them with comfort from their grief. Here, however, says the Rashbam, the kohanim were told not to engage in this practice. Rav Amnon Bazak, in his Nekudas Pesicha, mentions the explanations of Rashi and the Rashbam, and finding difficulties in both of them, suggests another one of his own, which points to the greatness of Aharon and his sons.

Rav Bazak says that Aharon and his sons exhibited tremendous restraint in their reaction to the deaths of Nadav and Avihu. When Moshe told Aharon, after their deaths, that this was what God was referring to when he said, “I will be sanctified through my close ones,” the meaning was that God was sanctified by the fact that His close ones, the kohanim, continued in their service of Him and their teaching of His Torah, in the face of their grief. Rav Bazak further suggests that perhaps that is why the prohibition of drinking wine when entering the mikdash to rule on Torah matters was given directly to Aharon, rather than through Moshe, as a reward for his self-control, which demonstrated that he was worthy to issue rulings.

I would like to suggest another explanation, based on some of the ideas we have already seen. As mentioned by the Rashbam, drinking wine was viewed as a means of comforting people who had experienced a loss. The deportment of Aharon and his sons after the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, however, demonstrated that the kohanim were on a higher level, and could derive comfort through learning Torah. King David, in Tehillim (119:92) articulated this comforting effect when he wrote “Were it not for your Torah, my delight, I would have perished in my suffering.” The Talmud tells us that the highest level of Torah learning is that which leads to practical halachic decisions. This was exactly the kind of Torah learning that the kohanim were engaged in, issuing rulings that distinguished between the sacred and the profane, the impure and the pure. The message being conveyed to Aharon and his sons, then, was that they did not need to drink wine to be comforted, because learning and teaching of Torah would bring them the greatest comfort.