(א) וַיִּקְח֣וּ בְנֵֽי־אַ֠הֲרֹן נָדָ֨ב וַאֲבִיה֜וּא אִ֣ישׁ מַחְתָּת֗וֹ וַיִּתְּנ֤וּ בָהֵן֙ אֵ֔שׁ וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ עָלֶ֖יהָ קְטֹ֑רֶת וַיַּקְרִ֜בוּ לִפְנֵ֤י יְהוָה֙ אֵ֣שׁ זָרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹ֦א צִוָּ֖ה אֹתָֽם׃ (ב) וַתֵּ֥צֵא אֵ֛שׁ מִלִּפְנֵ֥י יְהוָ֖ה וַתֹּ֣אכַל אוֹתָ֑ם וַיָּמֻ֖תוּ לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ (ג) וַיֹּ֨אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן הוּא֩ אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֨ר יְהוָ֤ה ׀ לֵאמֹר֙ בִּקְרֹבַ֣י אֶקָּדֵ֔שׁ וְעַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָעָ֖ם אֶכָּבֵ֑ד וַיִּדֹּ֖ם אַהֲרֹֽן׃
(1) Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before the LORD alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them. (2) And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the LORD. (3) Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: Through those near to Me I show Myself holy, And gain glory before all the people.” And Aaron was silent.
(א) וישימו עליה קטרת. משלהם. היינו ויקריבו לפני ה׳ אש זרה שהרי אי אפשר לקטרת בלא אש וכל קטרת שאינה משל צבור נקראת זרה.
(1) .וישימו עליה קטורת, “they placed incense on it.” They had taken this from the table. This is what is meant by the line: ויקריבו לפני ה' אש זרה, “they tendered before the Lord alien fire.” Incense without fire is an impossibility. Any incense offering that is not presented in the name of a community is called: “alien.”
(ב) אשר לא צוה אתם. פי׳ אשר לא לעשות צוה אותם כדכתיב ולא תעלו עליו קטרת זרה דוגמת לשרוף את בניהם ואת בנותיהם אשר לא צויתי אותם.
(2) אשר לא צוה אותם, “which He had not commanded them (to offer)”. The meaning, as opposed to the translation, is: “that He had commanded them not to offer.” Proof of this is tobe found in Exodus 30,9: לא תעלו עליו קטורת זרה, “do not offer alien incense upon it.!” An example of a similar construction is found in Jeremiah 7,31: לשרוף את בניהם ואת בנותיהם באש אשר לא צויתי, “to burn their sons and daughters, which I did not command.”
(ב) אש
זרה אשר לא צוה אותם. כלו' כבר הזהיר עליהם שלא לעשות כדכתיב ולא תעלו אש זרה וגם לא
צוה אותם שלא התירה עתה להם לפי שעה כי לפעמים הקב"ה אוסר דבר ומתירו לפי שעה לגדל שמו
בגוים כמו שמצינו באליהו בהר הכרמל שהקריב בבמה על פי הדבור בשעת איסור הבמות. וכן נוכל
לפרש לשרוף את בניה' באש אשר לא צויתי וגו':
(2) אש זרה אשר לא צוה אות, “strange fire which He had not commanded them (to use).” The Torah implies that they had already been warned not to use such fire as is written in Exodus 30,9: [Actually, in that verse, the prohibition is not to offer strange fire, but not to use a strange mixture of incense. Ed.] The reason the Torah uses the unusual formulation “which he had not commanded them,” instead of ”which He had forbidden them,” is that on occasion, in exceptional circumstances, G–d does permit something which is ordinarily prohibited. The Torah underlines that this was not such an occasion. An example of such an exception would be what Elijah did on Mount Carmel in his confrontation with the 400 hundred priests of the Baal. (Kings I 18). He used a private altar something which was strictly forbidden since the Temple had been erected. We also find a verse in Jeremiah 7,31, where the prophet uses this expression as having been used by G–d. In that example the prophet chides the people for sacrificing their children to G–d saying that this had never occurred for G–d to have them do. (Compare Talmud, tractate Taanit, folio 4 on that subject)
(ב) ויתנו בהן אש. לא מהאש שיצאה וזה טעם אש זרה:
(2) put fire in it this fire was not taken from the fire that had descended from God [9:24] — it was “unconsecrated fire”.
(ג) וטעם אשר לא צוה אותם. שמדעתם עשו ולא בצווי להקטיר קטורת גם באש זרה:
(3) which He had not commanded them both the burning of the incense and the use of unconsecrated fire were their own idea, not a commandment.
(א) ויקחו בני אהרן נדב ואביהוא וגו'. ירצה להודיע מקום טעותם שהיא לב' סיבות, האחד להיותם כהנים שאליהם תאות העבודה וזהו שהתחיל לומר בני אהרן, ב' היותם גדולים במעשה ושקולים הם כמשה ואהרן כאוז''ל (תו''כ הכא אחרי נג) וכאומרם בספר הזהר הקדוש (אחרי נו) שהיו במדרגה גדולה מצד מעשיהם, וזה אומרו נדב ואביהוא, ובחינ' זו אינה באלעזר ואיתמר שהגם שהם בני אהרן אין להם מדרגה מצד עצמם כנדב ואביהוא, וכן תמצא שדרשו ז''ל (תו''כ להלן פסוק טז) במה שכתוב ויקצוף משה על אלעזר וגו' הנותרים וגו' יעויין שם דבריהם ובכח זה נכנסו, ודקדקו ליכנס שניהם יחד להגדיל זכותם, ולא רצו לקחת מאש המזבח, אמרו אולי אין ראוי לקחת ממנה אלא לקטורת החיוב, לזה הביאו מבחוץ:
וישימו עליה. ולא אמר עליהן כאומרו ויתנו בהן וגו', וישימו עליהן, חוזר אל האש שהזכיר בסמוך, להיות שהקפדה היא על אש זרה לזה כינה בה המעשה:
זרה אשר לא צוה. פירוש ומה היא זרותה, שלא צוה ה' אותה. ואולי שאם היו לוקחים אש מעל המזבח לא היה ה' מקפיד על הדבר כל כך. או אפשר שהיה מקפיד מאופן אחר. עוד ירצה על זה הדרך אש זרה אשר לא צוה אותם לעשות כן וזה היא זרותה:
וישימו עליה. ולא אמר עליהן כאומרו ויתנו בהן וגו', וישימו עליהן, חוזר אל האש שהזכיר בסמוך, להיות שהקפדה היא על אש זרה לזה כינה בה המעשה:
זרה אשר לא צוה. פירוש ומה היא זרותה, שלא צוה ה' אותה. ואולי שאם היו לוקחים אש מעל המזבח לא היה ה' מקפיד על הדבר כל כך. או אפשר שהיה מקפיד מאופן אחר. עוד ירצה על זה הדרך אש זרה אשר לא צוה אותם לעשות כן וזה היא זרותה:
(1) It seems to teach that the place of their error was for two reasons. The first was that in becoming priests, they erred in their service, and this ( is implied in the text) beginning by saying they were 'sons of Aaron'; the two of them (thought) they were great in deeds and should be weighted like Moses and Aaron [Torat Kohanim Achrei Mot 53]. And as the Zohar teaches, they were on a high spiritual level in the realm of deeds, hence they were called ('sons of Aaron') Nadav and Abihu, and this trait is not so for Elazar and Itamar (the Torah does not refer to them as 'sons of Aaron'); they too are 'sons of Aaron', but are not at the spiritual level themselves that Nadav and Abihu were. So too we find this explanation where (the Torah) says
(א) ויתנו בהן אש וישימו עליה קטורת. על דרך הפשט החטא שנענשו בו נדב ואביהוא הוא שהביאו אש זרה מן החוץ, כי משפט הקטרת היה לקחת אש מן המזבח ולהקטיר בו את הסממנין, שנאמר (ויקרא טז) ולקח מלא המחתה גחלי אש מעל המזבח, והם חשבו שהאש של מזבח היה צריך לעצמו לכלות הקרבן,ועל כן הביאו אש מן החוץ, והיה זה עבירה בידם, כי היה נראה מעוט אמונה שהרי האש יורדת מן השמים, ועל שהחלישו בלבם כח הנס ובעיני רואיהם נענשו, כי היה קצת חלול השם בדבר, כך פירש הראב"ד ז"ל.
(ב) וע"ד המדרש שתויי יין נכנסו למקדש, ולכך סמך לו מיד יין ושכר אל תשת וגו', אמר להן הקב"ה אני אכבד אתכם יותר ממה שכבדתם אותי, אתם הקרבתם לפני אש טמאה אני אשרוף אתכם באש טהורה, כיצד היתה מיתתן, שני חוטין של אש יצאו מבית קדש הקדשים ונחלקו לארבעה, שנים נכנסו בחוטמו של זה ושנים בחוטמו של זה.
(ג) וע"ד הקבלה תבין חטאם ממה שאמר הכתוב וישימו עליה ולא אמר וישימו עליהם כשם שאמר בענין קרח (במדבר טז) ויתנו עליהם אש וישימו עליהם קטרת, וכן הזכיר עוד (שם) ונתתם עליהם קטרת, כי מלת עליה תרמוז למדת הדין, והכתוב הודיענו מחשבתם בזה, וידוע כי הקטרת למדת הדין, שנאמר (דברים לג) ישימו קטורה באפך, ולשון קטרת התקשרות הרוח במדות, תרגום (בראשית לח) ותקשור, וקטרת. ומתוך ההתקשרות ההוא בא שפע ההמשכה ממעלה למדת הדין, וממדת הדין יבא שפע הברכה על המקטיר, והמקטיר למדת הדין אין ראוי לו שיכוון אלא לשם המיוחד לבדו, נדב ואביהוא טעו בכאן אחרי מדת הדין ולא כוונו אל השם המיוחד אלא למדת הדין בלבד, ולכך לא היה אשה ריח ניחוח לה', ומדת הדין עצמה פגעה בהם, הוא שכתוב ותצא אש מלפני ה' ותאכל אותם.
(ד) ולדעת רוב המפרשים ז"ל הכניסו קטרת זה לפני ולפנים, וראייתם על זה פרשת אחרי מות, כי שם הוזהר אהרן שלא יכנס לפנים אלא בקטרת שלא ימות כדרך שמתו בניו, וזה דעת רש"י והחכם רבי אברהם בן עזרא ז"ל.
(ה) אבל דעת הרמב"ן ז"ל כי לא הכניסו לפני ולפנים אלא באהל מועד, וכן כתב בתחלת פרשת אחרי מות, איך יעלה על דעתם לבוא היום אל המקום אשר לא נכנס שם אביהם, ולמה יכניסו שם הקטרת שלהם לפנים משלו, כי אהרן לא הקטיר קטרת על מזבח הפנימי אלא באהל מועד, שכן כתיב ויבא משה ואהרן אל אהל מועד, וביאה זו ללמדו מעשה הקטורת.
(1) ויתנו בהן אש וישימו עליה קטורת, “they put fire in them (the censers) and placed incense in them.” According to the plain meaning of the text Nadav and Avihu’s sin consisted in that they introduced alien, i.e. man-made, fire into the sacred precincts. The regulations pertaining to the incense offering required that the fire be taken from the Altar and that the incense be burned up by that fire. The Torah had spelled this out in Leviticus 16,12: ”he shall take a shovelful of fiery coals from atop the Altar that is before Hashem.” Nadav and Avihu thought that the actual fire from the Altar was required to totally consume the animal sacrifices. This was a sin as they demonstrated a lack of faith, not trusting G’d to make heavenly fire descend on the sacrifices and able to consume the sacrifices; this is why they brought additional fire to consume the incense. By bringing their own fire they made the miracle of heavenly fire descending seem less relevant, thereby causing a desecration of the name of the Lord in the eyes of all those who had observed what they did. This is why their punishment fitted their sin, as that same heavenly fire they did not trust to materialise consumed their own insides. This is the explanation of Rabbi Aderet (ראב'ד) of what happened . (2) A Midrashic approach (Tanchuma Acharey Mot 6). They entered the Sanctuary while in a state of intoxication. This accounts for the fact that the Torah spells out the prohibition of priests entering the Sanctuary while drunk immediately after having reported this incident (compare 10,8-11). The Sifra Shemini Miluim 22-23 writes as follows: “G’d said to them: ‘I have honoured you more than you honoured Me. You introduced impure fire into My holy Place, whereas I will burn you with pure, heavenly fire.’” How exactly did they die? Two threads of fire came out of the Holy of Holies and entered their nostrils becoming divided into four “threads.” Two entered the nostrils of Nadav and the other two entered the nostrils of Avihu.’” (3) A kabbalistic approach: We can gain a clearer picture of the sin of these sons of Aaron when noting that the Torah wrote: וישימו עליה, instead of writing וישימו עליהם, “they placed on it” instead of: “they placed on them.” [There had been two censers, each brother having entered with his own censer. Ed.] When you compare what the Torah writes in connection with the 250 men who offered incense (Numbers 16,18) you will find that the fire and incense is described with the words “they placed it on them, (the censers, plural). When the instructions as to the correct procedure is issued in the Torah (Numbers 16,17) Moses had told these men ונתתם עליהם קטורת “place on them incense.” (No mention had been made of fire although the 250 men added their own fire) The word עליה as distinct from עליהם is an allusion to the attribute of Justice. The Torah is trying to give us an insight into the thinking of Nadav and Avihu at that time. They knew that incense was intended to counter, to stop the attribute of Justice in its tracks, as we know from Moses in Deuteronomy 33,10: “they place incense to placate Your anger.” The word קטורת itself means התקשרות רוח במדות, “establishing a spiritual affinity.” The Aramaic translation of the word ותקשור, (Genesis 38,25) “she tied” is וקטרת. The spiritual affinity established by means of the incense is meant to draw down an abundance of heavenly blessings by means of the attribute of Justice, which in turn will confer these blessings on the person burning up the incense. The sin of the person offering incense with such considerations consists in the fact that it is not permissible to direct one’s offering to any other attribute of G’d than the tetragram, i.e. Hashem. Seeing that Nadav and Avihu erred in the address to which the offered their incense, we do not find it described as אשה ריח ניחוח לה', “as a fire-offering of pleasing fragrance to the Lord,” but the very attribute of Justice to whom they addressed their offering smote them. This is the meaning of the words ותצא אש מלפני ה' ותאכל אותם, “fire came forth from the presence of the Lord and consumed them so that they died” (verse 2). (4) Most of the commentators claim that Nadav and Avihu brought their incense into the Holy of Holies. As proof for their opinion they offer what is written in Leviticus 16,2 that even Aaron must not enter the Holy of Holies on any day other than the Day of Atonement on pain of death. The only occasion on which the High Priest is allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, equipped with incense, is the Day of Atonement. The warning of the death penalty there is linked to the death of the two sons of Aaron, suggesting that this is precisely what they had been guilty of. This is also the opinion of Rashi. Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra (on Leviticus 16,1) agrees. (5) However, Nachmanides (Leviticus 16,2) does not believe that Nadav and Avihu entered the Holy of Holies but that they only entered the outer Sanctuary. He finds it impossible to believe that these sons would be arrogant enough to enter holy precincts which even their father and Moses had not entered. Why should they offer their own incense in a place holier than where their father had offered his own? The Torah mentions specifically that Aaron presented his incense in the Sanctuary; (compare 9,23: “Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting).” The expression ויבא in that verse refers to the preparation and offering of the incense.
(א) ויקחו בני אהרן נדב ואביהוא - קודם שיצא האש מלפני ה' כבר לקחו איש מחתתו להקטיר קטורת לפנים על מזבח הזהב, שהרי קטורת של שחר קודמת לאיברים ונתנו בהן אש זרה אשר לא צוה אותם משה ביום הזה, שאף על פי שבשאר ימים כתיב: ונתנו בני אהרן הכהן אש על המזבח - היום לא צוה ולא רצה משה שיביאו אש של הדיוט, לפי שהיו מצפים לירידת אש גבוה ולא טוב היום להביא את זה, כדי להתקדש שם שמים שידעו הכל כי אש באה מן השמים, כמו שאמר אליהו: ואש לא תשימו - לפי שהיה רוצה לקדש שם שמים בירידת האש מלמעלה.
(1) ויקחו בני אהרן נדב ואביהוא, before the fire had emanated from the Holy of Holies they each took his own pan planning to offer incense on the golden altar, seeing that this offering precedes (timewise) the disposal of not totally burned leftovers from the previous day’s sacrificial meat. They placed “alien” fire on these pans, something which had not been commanded by Moses to be done on this day. Even though on ordinary days the rule of “the sons of Aaron will place in these pans fire on the altar” (Leviticus 1,7) was in effect, this rule did not apply to the day of inauguration, and Moses had not wanted any man made fire to be introduced into the Tabernacle. This was because he expected heavenly fire to manifest itself so that the addition of man made fire would have completely ruined the impact of the miracle. On this day the name of G’d would be glorified by all the people becoming aware of Divine approval of their offerings, by G’d accepting same by means of heavenly fire We find a parallel to this in Kings I 18,25 when the prophet Elijah on Mount Carmel ordered the priests not to put any fire on the altar.
(א) ויקחו בני אהרן איש מחתתו. חשבו שכמו שאחר התמיד, אשר בו תשרה שכינה, כאמרו עולת תמיד לדורותיכם פתח אהל מועד לפני ה', אשר אועד לכם שמה תבא הקטרת, כך היה ראוי להקטיר קטרת חדשה עתה על הגלות כבוד ה' אל כל העם ועל ירידת האש ולכן הקריבוהו:
(1) ויקחו שני בני אהרן איש מחתתו, they thought that just as after the daily communal offering which was accompanied by the manifestation of G’d’s Presence as we know from Exodus 29,42 עולת תמיד לדורותיכם פתח אהל מועד לפני ה' אשר איועד לכם שמה, “the regular communal burnt offerings for your generations in the presence of the Lord, where I will manifest Myself there,” there would come the incense, so it would also be in order on this occasion to present a new incense offering honouring the manifestation of the Lord to the whole people and in honour of the heavenly fire having descended.
(ב) לפני ה' במזבח הפנימי שנאמר בו ולא תעלו עליו קטרת זרה וגם אם היה ראוי לעשות כך אם היו מצווים בזה, חטאו לעשותו עתה:
(2) This is why they offered it in the sanctuary, i.e. 'לפני ה, on the golden altar. The Torah had stipulated that no foreign incense [nor other unauthorised offerings. Ed.] was to be offered on that altar (Exodus 30,9). Even assuming that the golden altar would qualify for additional incense offerings when a specific command to do so would be issued, the sons of Aaron sinned by doing this now and not having consulted with their mentors. This is why the Torah stresses
(ג) אשר לא צוה אותם כאמרם ז''ל (עירובין פרק הדר) שהורו הלכה בפני משה רבם:
(3) אשר לא צוה אותם, “which He had not commanded them (to do).”
(א) ותצא אש בתחלה סתם ואח״כ פי׳ האיך יצאה ויקחו בני אהרן נדב ואביהוא וגו׳ ותצא אש מלפני ה׳ ותאכל אותם היא יציאת האש האמורה למעלה כי דרך יציאתה מלפני ה׳ מבית קדש הקדשים מצאה נדב ואביהוא לפני מזבח הזהב שבהיכל מקריבים עליו אש זרה ושרפתם ויצאה אותה האש מן ההיכל לחוצה על מזבח העולה ותאכל עליו את העולה וגו'
(1) ותצא אש, “Fire came forth;” the Torah first reports the fact that fire originated in heaven, before going into details, i.e. that this fire was triggered by actions taken by the two sons of Aaron mentioned here. The fire mentioned here is the fire mentioned in verse 24 of the previous chapter. The “details” commence with verse 1 in our chapter, i.e. “the two sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu each took his own censer and placed man made fire and incense on them, fire that G-d had forbidden to be put on these censers.” It was the custom of that heavenly fire to travel first to the Holy of Holies and from there to the golden altar in the Sanctuary and there to consume the incense offered. In this instance, the heavenly fire did not stop there, but travelled beyond the boundary of the Sanctuary to the copper altar in front of the Sanctuary and consumed these two sons of Aaron there.
(ב) ותצא אש פרש״י רבי אליעזר אומר לא מתו בני אהרן אלא על ידי שהורו הלכה בפני משה רבן. פירוש דרשו אע״פ שהאש יורדת מן השמים מצוה להביא מן ההדיוט שנאמר ונתנו בני אהרן אש וגו׳ ולא שאלו את פי משה רבן כדכתיב אשר לא צוה אותם והיה להם לימלך במשה רבן כמו ששנינו במסכת תענית שנענש יאשיהו ונהרג על שהיה לו לימלך בירמיה ולא נמלך כשהעביר פרעה נכה חרב בארצו. וי״א טעו בהוראתו להקריב באותו יום אש זרה ומה שכתוב ונתנו בני אהרן הכהנים אש שאעפ״י שהיא יורדת מן השמים מצוה להביא מן ההדיוט, היינו מאותו יום ואילך שכבר ירדה מן השמים אבל באותו יום שעדיין לא ירדה מן השמים ורצה הקב״ה להתכבד בה לעיני כל העם לא צוה אותם והיינו דכתיב אשר לא צוה אותם שלא למעט כבוד שכינה כמו שמצינו באליהו ואש לא תשימו.
(2) ותצא אש; according to Rashi, quoting Rabbi Eliezer, the reason why the sons of Aaron were killed was that they had arrogated to themselves the right to render halachic rulings while their mentor Moses was alive and well, to do this himself. What prompted them to do this? They reasoned that although the fire to burn up the incense was provided by heaven it was still a mitzvah to add manmade fire, seeing that the Torah has written in Leviticus 1,7, “the sons of Aaron are to put fire on the altar.” ונתנו בני אהרן הכהן אש על המזבח. They failed to confirm with their teacher Moses that they had correctly interpreted this verse. This is why the Torah wrote: “which He had not commanded them.” We have a clear statement in the Talmud, tractate Taanit folio 22, that the King Yoshiahu, [the most observant King the Kingdom of Yehudah ever ruled, was punished and killed by enemy troops for having failed to check with the prophet Jeremiah if to go to war against the Egyptians, who only wanted right of passage. Ed.] There is another opinion according to whom the sin of Nadav and Avihu was not the fact that they brought alien fire into the Sanctuary, but that they had done it on that day. As far as the verse we quoted from Leviticus 1,7, is concerned, the instructions of that verse were to become effective only after the first day on which the Tabernacle operated under the leadership of the High Priest, Aaron. They were also misled as heavenly fire on previous days when Moses performed the service in the Tabernacle had occurred earlier in the day. The reason why G-d had delayed was that He wished to be honoured by a large turnout of the people who would witness that event. This would then be the meaning of the words in verse 1: “that He had not commanded them.” G-d had waited, not as on the occasion of the revelation on Mount Sinai when in spite of having previously announced that He would manifest His glory on the Mountain, He had done so but the people had not bothered to rise early. (Compare Exodus19,11, 16, 1718) Nadav and Avihu meant to avoid G-d’s honour not being sufficiently appreciated by the people. We find something parallel in Kings I 18,25, where the prophet Elijah tells the priests of the Baal not to set fire to their offerings.
(ג) ותאכל אותם וימתו מדה כנגד מדה נענשו כאן באש לפי שמצינו במראה כבוד שכינה שהוא כאש אוכלת והוזהרו בה בסיני כמו שפרש״י בפרשת משפטים גבי ויחזו את האלהים, ולזקני ישראל באש תבערה בפרשת בהעלותך. ד״א מדה כנגד מדה חטאו כאן באש ולקו באש.
(3) ותאכל אותם וימותו, “it consumed them so that they died (on the spot)”. The punishment fitted the crime. They were killed by heavenly fire as they had diminished the glory of the Lord which is described as being comparable to אש אוכלת “consuming fire.” (Exodus 24,17) Both Nadav and Avihu had been warned on that occasion not to look upon the G-d of Israel, as we know from verse 10 in the above quoted chapter, where the Torah added or hinted that on that joyful occasion G-d did not want to kill the happy mood of the people by punishing those who had transgressed the warning not feast their eyes on what they thought was the true image of G-d. They were warned again in Numbers 11,1 when badmouthing G-d and being killed by heavenly fire.
(ד) וימתו לפני ה'. ר׳ אליעזר אומר לא מתו אלא בחוץ מקום שהלוים מותרים להכנס שם שנאמר ויקרבו כל העדה וישאום בכתנותם א״כ למה נאמר וימתו לפני ה׳ שנגפן המלאך ודחפן לחוץ והוציאם. רבי עקיבא אומר לא מתו אלא בפנים שנאמר וימתו לפני ה' א״כ למה נאמר ויקרבו וישאום בכתנותם מלמד שהטילו חנית של ברזל וגררום והוציאום לחוץ.
(4) 'וימותו לפני ה, “They died in the presence of the Lord. This is an unusual expression. Are we not all, at any given moment, “in the Presence” of the Lord? Rabbi Eliezer says this expression teaches that they did not die until having left the sacred precincts and being in the antechamber where Levites were permitted. We have proof of this from verse 4 where the cousins of these brothers, by the names of Mishael and Eltzafan were charge with removing their bodies from there for burial. Not only that. They were moved while still wearing their garments which had not been burned by the heavenly fire. Apparently, their cousins hooked their spears into the outer garments and dragged them until they were outside the sacred parts of the Tabernacle.
(א) ותצא. לפי שלא עשו כהוגן דאע"ג דמצוה
להביא אש מן ההדיוט כדכתי' ונתנו בני אהרן אש וגו' היינו לאחר שירדה מן השמים פעם אחת אבל
קודם לכן לא היה להביא מן ההדיוט שממעטי' בכבוד שמים שיאמרו באש של הדיוט נאכל הקרבן
ולפי' כשהביאו אותה פגעה בהן האש היורדת מן השמים. וק"ל שהרי קודם לכן כתיב ותצא אש מלפני
ה' מיהו אז"ל במסכת יומא שמתו מפני שהורו הורא' בפני משה רבן שדרשו ונתנו בני אהרן אש אע"פ
שהאש יורדת מן השמים מצוה להביא מן ההדיוט:
(1) 'ותצא אש מלפני ה, “and fire came forth from before the Lord, etc.” this was because they had not acted appropriately. Even though it is in order to use man made fire, as we have read specifically in Leviticus 1,7: ונתנו בני אהרן אש על המזבח, “the sons of Aaron are to put fire on the altar, this was in addition to the heavenly fire which had come down a single time. Before G–d had demonstrated acceptance of the Israelites’ offerings in the Temple precincts, they were not allowed to use man made fire, as it would have belittled the miracle G–d provided. People would have argued that their offerings had been consumed by man made fire. This is why G–d struck these two sons of Aaron with fire emanating in heaven. Our author has difficulty with this interpretation, as the Torah had written in Leviticus 9,24: ותצא אש מלפני ה' ותאכל על המזבח, “fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and its fat parts.” How could the sons of Aaron therefore have belittled G–d’s fire by what they did? This is why the sages in the Talmud tractate Yuma folio 53, state that the sons of Aaron did not die because of this, but because they had dared to usurp the authority of Moses and Aaron by making halachic decisions without first having consulted with these leaders.
(ב) וימותו לפני ה'. פלוגתא איכא בתורת כהני' רא"א
שמתו בחוץ במקום שהלוים מותרים ליכנס שנא' ויקרבו וישאום בכתנות' וא"כ מאי לפני ה' שנגפן
המלאך והוציאן לחוץ רע"א לא מתו אלא בפנים שנא' לפני ה' ומאי ויקרבו וישאום בכתנות' מלמד
שנתנו חכה של ברזל לתוך פיהם וגררום והוציאום לחוץ. ותימה לדברי ר' עקיבא א"כ נטמא המשכן
דאיקרי אוהל מטומאת מת וצריך הזאה שלישי ושביעי ולא מצינו שפסקו מעבודתם כלל וכן כתוב
בפירוש ומפתח אהל מועד לא תצאו דבשלמא לר"א א"ל שדחפן המלאך לחוץ קודם יציאת נשמה
אלא לר' עקיבא קשיא וצ"ע:
(2) 'וימותו לפני ה, “as a result they died before the Lord.” We find a dispute recorded in the Torat Kohanim concerning the meaning of this phrase. According to Rabbi Eliezer, they died outside the Tabernacle in an area that the Levites were permitted to enter; he bases himself on the wording in verse five, in which the Torah describes how their bodies were removed from the spot where they died. The Torah describes the sons of Elitzafan, an uncle of Aaron as performing this task, with the words: ויקרבו וישאם בכתנתם אל מחוץ למחנה, ”they approached and lifted them up by their tunics and carried them out of the camp as they had been instructed to do by Moses.” If that is so, why did the Torah write that they died “before the Lord,” i.e. on sacred ground, not accessible to the Levites? This is why Rabbi Akiva disagreed and said that they had actually died inside sacred ground, and that the sons of Elitzafan had to use a long iron spear in order to pull placing that spear in their mouths and dragging their bodies to less sacred ground before they could lift them up, as they were only Levites and not priests. This presents us with a different problem, as in that event the Tabernacle itself would have become ritually impure as it formed a tent over the bodies of Nadav and Avihu, and it would have required purification rites which would last seven days. The Torah does not, however, report that the service in the Tabernacle had been interrupted for that length of time. Our author concludes that the subject needs further study. [Since the ash of the red heifer for cleansing oneself from impurity caused through contact with a dead body was not yet available, this editor does not see where the problem is.]
(א) וימותו לפני ה׳. כי חשבו שעשו דבר רצוי לפניו:
(1) they died before God thinking they were doing something acceptable to God.
(א) ותצא אש מלפני ה' ותאכל אותם וימותו לפני ה'. חטאו באש ולקו באש, ומיתה זו שהזכיר הכתוב וימותו לפני ה', היתה פרוד הנשמה מן הגוף, שנכנסה האש בתוך גופם דרך חוטמיהם ואז נפרדה נפשם מגופם, כי אין לומר שנשרפה נשמתם ח"ו שהרי קרובי קראם הכתוב (ויקרא י) בקרובי אקדש, ואמרו רז"ל אמר משה לאהרן אחי יודע הייתי שיקדש הבית והייתי סבור או בי או בך, עכשיו יודע אני שהם גדולים ממני וממך. ואין ספק כי מעלת נפשם גדולה לעוה"ב, שהרי מיתתם היתה כפרה על עונותם שלכך נזכרה מיתתם ביוה"כ בפרשת אחרי מות. וכן מצינו בירושלמי דמסכת יומא (א, א), מפני מה נזכרה מיתתן של נדב ואביהוא ביום הכיפורים ללמדך שמיתת צדיקים מכפרת. וגם אין לומר שנשרף גופם ומלבושם, שהרי הכתוב מעיד וישאום בכתנותם, כי חק הכהונה להיות להם כתונת כענין שנאמר (שמות כח) ולבני אהרן תעשה כתנות, ומיתה זו קראה הכתוב שרפה הוא שכתוב (ויקרא י) יבכו את השרפה אשר שרף ה'. (ב) ונראה שמזה למדו רז"ל מיתת שרפה שהיא מכלל ארבע מיתות בית דין, ומיתת השרפה היתה שהיו מתיכין עופרת ופותחין פיו של זה שנתחייב שרפה ומלעיטין אותו לתוך גרונו, והסימנין נשרפים ונשמתו מסתלקת. כי אין דין תורה לשרוף את גופו אלא דוגמת מיתת בני אהרן בידי שמים שלא נשרף גופם כלל. וכן אמרו רז"ל כמין שני חוטי אש נכנסו לתוך שני נקבי חוטמיהן ויצאה נשמתם. וכענין זה היתה מיתת חילו של סנחריב שהתנבא עליו ישעיה ע"ה, שנאמר (ישעיה ט) כי כל סאון סואן ברעש ושמלה מגוללה בדמים והיתה לשרפה מאכולת אש, מלת סאון הפוכה כמו אסון, ובאור הכתוב כל שאר המלחמות ההרוגים הם הנהרגים ברעש וקול המולה ובגדי אנשי המלחמה הם צבועים ומגוללים בדם, אבל מלחמה זו של סנחריב תהיה לשרפה ומאכולת אש ולא כשאר הרוגי מלחמות, וזהו שכתוב (מלכים ב יט) ויצא מלאך ה' ויך במחנה אשור מאה ושמונים וחמשה אלף וישכימו בבקר והנה כלם פגרים מתים. וכל המגפה הזאת היתה לסנחריב בכח התפלה שהתפלל חזקיהו וישעיה אל השמים ונשמעה תפלתם, הוא שכתוב בדברי הימים (ב לב) ויתפלל יחזקיהו המלך וישעיהו בן אמוץ הנביא על זאת ויזעקו השמים, וישלח ה' מלאך ויכחד כל גבור חיל ונגיד ושר במחנה מלך אשור וישב בבושת פנים לארצו ויבא בית אלהיו ומיוצאי מעיו שם הפילוהו בחרב. ומפני שמיתתן היתה מיתת שרפה שנשרפה נשמתם מבפנים ונשארו הם ובגדיהם שלמים, לכך אמר הנביא (ישעיה י) ותחת כבודו יקד יקוד כיקוד אש כלומר כיקוד אש, של נדב ואביהוא, ואמר ותחת כבודו כאלו אמר ותחת בגדיו וכמו שאמרו רז"ל ר' יוחנן הוה קרי להו למאני מכבדותי, כי בגדיהם היו קיימים כבגדי נדב ואביהוא שהזכיר בהם הכתוב וישאום בכתנותם. ועל זה אמר הנביא (שם) וכבוד יערו וכרמילו, הם חיילותיו המרובים כעצי היער מנפש ועד בשר יכלה והיה כמסוס נוסס, כלומר והיה כבוד יערו הנזכר כמו סס, הוא תולעת שנוסס בעץ מבפנים ומשייר הקליפה שלמה מבחוץ, כמו שנאמר (שם נא) וכצמר יאכלם סס, והכוונה בזה ששרף נשמתם ושייר גופם ובגדיהם, והחיל הזה היה מבני יפת שהיה להם זכות הבגדים, בשכר שכתוב (בראשית ט) ויקח שם ויפת את השמלה, שכסה את ערות אביו, ושם שאנחנו מבניו זכה על זה למצות ציצית. ומלת אותם שהוא מלא ירמוז לאש הששי דשכינה, שכן אמרו במסכת יומא שש אשות הן, אש אוכלת ואינה שותה, שותה ואינה אוכלת, אוכלת ושותה, אוכלת לחים ויבשים, אש דוחה אש, אש אוכלת אש. אוכלת ואינה שותה דידן, שותה ואינה אוכלת דחולין, אוכלת ושותה דאליהו, אוכלת לחים ויבשים דמערכה, אש דוחה אש דגבריאל, אש אוכלת אש דשכינה, דאמר מר הושיט אצבעו ביניהם ושרפם. ועוד יש בו רמז משש דעות שבאו לרז"ל בחטאם.
(1) 'ותצא אש מלפני ה' ותאכל אותם וימותו לפני ה, “Fire came forth from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died in the presence of the Lord.” Seeing that they had sinned by abusing fire, they were punished by fire. The kind of death described here by the words “in the presence of the Lord” means that their body and soul underwent a “surgical” separation, the fire entering their bodies through their nostrils separating soul from body. We must be careful not to understand the verse as saying that their souls were burned, i.e. that they lost their claim to the hereafter. If that were so the words בקרובי אקדש, “by those very close to Me I become sanctified,” which Moses told Aaron in G’d’s name, would not make any sense. Why should the souls of people G’d describes as close to Him be destroyed, burned?
In reference to verse 3 our sages (Tanchuma Shemini 1) quote Moses as saying to his brother Aaron: “I knew all along that the Sanctuary would be sanctified (that someone prominent would die), but I thought it would be either I or you. Now I know that Nadav and Avihu are greater than either you or I, as G’d has chosen them to sanctify His name.” No doubt such statements are not made concerning people who have lost their claim to the hereafter. There cannot be any doubt that their very death was the atonement for their sin, that they were elevated to the celestial regions immediately and that this is the reason the story of their death is repeated in connection with the atonement rites described in Acharey Mot (Leviticus chapter 16).
In the Jerusalem Talmud Yuma 1,1 the question is raised why the death of Nadav and Avihu is mentioned in connection with Yom Kippur, seeing their deaths occurred on the first of Nissan? The answer given is that the (premature) death of the righteous acts as atonement for the people left alive.
Just as it is wrong to understand the “burning” of these sons of Aaron literally as far as their souls are concerned, so it is wrong to understand the word as referring to the burning of their bodies or even their clothing. After all, the Torah writes (verse 5) that “they carried them (out of the Sanctuary) in their tunics.” Each of these sons of Aaron had his individual tunic as we know from Exodus 28,40. The text refers to their death as “burning,” as we know from verse 6 where the Children of Israel as a whole are commanded to weep “for the conflagration which had befallen, which the Lord had ignited.” (2) It would appear that this wording is the source for our sages (Sanhedrin 52) stating that one of the four death penalties, called שרפה, burning, is to consist of the victim having molten lead poured down his throat. As a result of this procedure the victim’s windpipe and gullet would be burned and his soul would leave his body. There is no law in the Torah which decrees that someone’s body be burned. The only example of anyone dying by what is described as “burning,” are the sons of Aaron and their bodies clearly were not burned.
The army of Sancheriv which perished on a Passover night (185,000 of them) also died in the same manner as did Nadav and Avihu as we have been told in Sanhedrin 94. The prophet Isaiah 9,4 had predicted this when he said: כי כל סאון סואן ברעש ושמלה מגוללת בדמים והיתה לשרפה מאכולת אש, the meaning of this verse is that whereas in all other wars and battles victory and defeat are earmarked by deafening noise and the soldiers uniforms are tainted with blood, in the case of Sancheriv the soldiers of his army will suffer burning, being devoured, not like soldiers in other battles. Kings II 19,35 reports that on that night (anniversary of the Exodus) “an angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 of the Assyrian camp and the following morning they were all dead corpses.” The plague which struck the Assyrian army was the result of the combined prayers of King Chizkiyahu and the prophet Isaiah as reported in Chronicles II, 32,20-21: “Then King Chizkiyahu and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amotz, prayed about this, and cried out to heaven. The Lord sent an angel who annihilated every mighty warrior, commander, and officer in the army of the King of Assyria, and he returned in disgrace to his land. He entered the house of his god, and there some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword.”
Seeing that the deaths of the sons of Aaron consisted of their souls being “burned,” on the inside, their bodies and clothing remained intact. This is why the prophet Isaiah 10,16 in describing heavenly fire when predicting the downfall of Assyria uses the word יקוד several times in describing that fire, i.e. it is not fire in the physical sense as we understand it, but it is like the fire that killed Nadav and Avihu, leaving no outward trace. The words תחת כבודו in that verse mean that the כבוד of a person, i.e. his clothing which lends him a measure of dignity will be untouched as the “fire” operates beneath the clothing and the body, even. The Talmud (Sanhedrin quotes Rabbi Yochanan as referring to his clothing by the description כבודי, “my honour, my dignity.” Concerning the phenomenon we have just described Isaiah said in verse 18 of the chapter quoted וכבוד יערו וכרמלו, “it will burn its great army which looks like a forest wiping it out body and soul, so that it will remain like something that has been eaten by worms.” The simile of the worm was used by the prophet to describe something destroyed from the inside though until the last moment none of that destructive process had been visible on the outside. The woodworm leaves the bark of the tree untouched providing no warning of what goes on inside the trunk. The word סס occurs also in connection with the moth devouring woolen garments. The word was borrowed in this verse of Isaiah to describe a silent process unnoticed by outsiders. This entire army of the Assyrians was composed of descendants of Japhet, second son of Noach who had enjoyed the protective merit that their clothing was saved as their ancestor had been a party to his brother Shem when he covered the nude body of his father by walking into the tent backwards (Genesis 9,23). His brother Shem, who initiated that move and whose descendants we are, merited the commandment of wearing ציצית on our garments (compare Tanchuma Noach 13).
The word אותם at the end of our verse which is spelled with the letter ו in this instance, is an allusion to the “sixth fire of the Shechinah.” We are told in Yuma 21 that there are a total of six different categories of heavenly fire. They are: “a fire which eats” but does not “drink;’ fire which “drinks” but does not “eat;” fire which both “eats and drinks; fire which consumes both dry and wet material;” fire which supplants another category of fire; fire which consumes another category of fire. The fire which “eats but does not drink,” is the fire of which the Torah says that it descended on the altar and consumed the meat of the offerings. Fire which “drinks” but does not eat is fever, which dries out a person at the same time killing his appetite. Fire which eats and drinks was the fire that consumed both Elijah’s sacrifice and the water in the moat he had made around it. The fire which consumed both wet and dry matters was that on the woodpile of the altar which was not extinguished by rain. Fire which supplanted competing fire is the fire of the angel Gavriel which descended into the kiln where Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah had been thrown by Nebuchadnezzar. The latter had stoked the kiln for seven consecutive days (Daniel 3). The angel used “fire” to cool man-made fire. Fire which consumes fire is the fire of the Shechinah. The Midrash tells of G’d burning angels who had opposed Him when He wanted to create man. The letter ו in the word אותם, may also allude to the six sins which our sages claim that Nadav and Avihu were guilty of and which combined to cause their deaths.
In reference to verse 3 our sages (Tanchuma Shemini 1) quote Moses as saying to his brother Aaron: “I knew all along that the Sanctuary would be sanctified (that someone prominent would die), but I thought it would be either I or you. Now I know that Nadav and Avihu are greater than either you or I, as G’d has chosen them to sanctify His name.” No doubt such statements are not made concerning people who have lost their claim to the hereafter. There cannot be any doubt that their very death was the atonement for their sin, that they were elevated to the celestial regions immediately and that this is the reason the story of their death is repeated in connection with the atonement rites described in Acharey Mot (Leviticus chapter 16).
In the Jerusalem Talmud Yuma 1,1 the question is raised why the death of Nadav and Avihu is mentioned in connection with Yom Kippur, seeing their deaths occurred on the first of Nissan? The answer given is that the (premature) death of the righteous acts as atonement for the people left alive.
Just as it is wrong to understand the “burning” of these sons of Aaron literally as far as their souls are concerned, so it is wrong to understand the word as referring to the burning of their bodies or even their clothing. After all, the Torah writes (verse 5) that “they carried them (out of the Sanctuary) in their tunics.” Each of these sons of Aaron had his individual tunic as we know from Exodus 28,40. The text refers to their death as “burning,” as we know from verse 6 where the Children of Israel as a whole are commanded to weep “for the conflagration which had befallen, which the Lord had ignited.” (2) It would appear that this wording is the source for our sages (Sanhedrin 52) stating that one of the four death penalties, called שרפה, burning, is to consist of the victim having molten lead poured down his throat. As a result of this procedure the victim’s windpipe and gullet would be burned and his soul would leave his body. There is no law in the Torah which decrees that someone’s body be burned. The only example of anyone dying by what is described as “burning,” are the sons of Aaron and their bodies clearly were not burned.
The army of Sancheriv which perished on a Passover night (185,000 of them) also died in the same manner as did Nadav and Avihu as we have been told in Sanhedrin 94. The prophet Isaiah 9,4 had predicted this when he said: כי כל סאון סואן ברעש ושמלה מגוללת בדמים והיתה לשרפה מאכולת אש, the meaning of this verse is that whereas in all other wars and battles victory and defeat are earmarked by deafening noise and the soldiers uniforms are tainted with blood, in the case of Sancheriv the soldiers of his army will suffer burning, being devoured, not like soldiers in other battles. Kings II 19,35 reports that on that night (anniversary of the Exodus) “an angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 of the Assyrian camp and the following morning they were all dead corpses.” The plague which struck the Assyrian army was the result of the combined prayers of King Chizkiyahu and the prophet Isaiah as reported in Chronicles II, 32,20-21: “Then King Chizkiyahu and the prophet Isaiah, son of Amotz, prayed about this, and cried out to heaven. The Lord sent an angel who annihilated every mighty warrior, commander, and officer in the army of the King of Assyria, and he returned in disgrace to his land. He entered the house of his god, and there some of his own offspring struck him down with the sword.”
Seeing that the deaths of the sons of Aaron consisted of their souls being “burned,” on the inside, their bodies and clothing remained intact. This is why the prophet Isaiah 10,16 in describing heavenly fire when predicting the downfall of Assyria uses the word יקוד several times in describing that fire, i.e. it is not fire in the physical sense as we understand it, but it is like the fire that killed Nadav and Avihu, leaving no outward trace. The words תחת כבודו in that verse mean that the כבוד of a person, i.e. his clothing which lends him a measure of dignity will be untouched as the “fire” operates beneath the clothing and the body, even. The Talmud (Sanhedrin quotes Rabbi Yochanan as referring to his clothing by the description כבודי, “my honour, my dignity.” Concerning the phenomenon we have just described Isaiah said in verse 18 of the chapter quoted וכבוד יערו וכרמלו, “it will burn its great army which looks like a forest wiping it out body and soul, so that it will remain like something that has been eaten by worms.” The simile of the worm was used by the prophet to describe something destroyed from the inside though until the last moment none of that destructive process had been visible on the outside. The woodworm leaves the bark of the tree untouched providing no warning of what goes on inside the trunk. The word סס occurs also in connection with the moth devouring woolen garments. The word was borrowed in this verse of Isaiah to describe a silent process unnoticed by outsiders. This entire army of the Assyrians was composed of descendants of Japhet, second son of Noach who had enjoyed the protective merit that their clothing was saved as their ancestor had been a party to his brother Shem when he covered the nude body of his father by walking into the tent backwards (Genesis 9,23). His brother Shem, who initiated that move and whose descendants we are, merited the commandment of wearing ציצית on our garments (compare Tanchuma Noach 13).
The word אותם at the end of our verse which is spelled with the letter ו in this instance, is an allusion to the “sixth fire of the Shechinah.” We are told in Yuma 21 that there are a total of six different categories of heavenly fire. They are: “a fire which eats” but does not “drink;’ fire which “drinks” but does not “eat;” fire which both “eats and drinks; fire which consumes both dry and wet material;” fire which supplants another category of fire; fire which consumes another category of fire. The fire which “eats but does not drink,” is the fire of which the Torah says that it descended on the altar and consumed the meat of the offerings. Fire which “drinks” but does not eat is fever, which dries out a person at the same time killing his appetite. Fire which eats and drinks was the fire that consumed both Elijah’s sacrifice and the water in the moat he had made around it. The fire which consumed both wet and dry matters was that on the woodpile of the altar which was not extinguished by rain. Fire which supplanted competing fire is the fire of the angel Gavriel which descended into the kiln where Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah had been thrown by Nebuchadnezzar. The latter had stoked the kiln for seven consecutive days (Daniel 3). The angel used “fire” to cool man-made fire. Fire which consumes fire is the fire of the Shechinah. The Midrash tells of G’d burning angels who had opposed Him when He wanted to create man. The letter ו in the word אותם, may also allude to the six sins which our sages claim that Nadav and Avihu were guilty of and which combined to cause their deaths.
(א) ותצא אש מלפני ה' ותאכל אותם - והוא ותצא אש של פסוק ראשון. כמו שפירשתי אצל וישב משה את דברי העם. וכן: וישב את הכסף לאמו, שכתוב ב' פעמים בפסל מיכה ששניהם אחד הם. אף כאן ב' הפסוקים אחד הם. כשיצא האש ותאכל את השלמים של מזבח החיצון, כשלקחו בני אהרן והקריבו אש זרה על המזבח הפנימי.
(1) ותצא אש מלפני ה' ותאכל אותם, this is a reference to the fire mentioned in 9,24 The construction is similar to the one in Exodus 19,8 which we explained at the time, as well as the verse in Judges 17,3-4 where the fact that Michah returned the money to his mother is also mentioned twice in successive verses. In neither of these verses does the author refer to an additional event. Here too, the two verses refer to the same fire.
(ב) ותצא אש מלפני ה' - להקטיר קטורת לפנים תחלה ופגעה [ב]בני אהרן שם ומתו, ואח"כ יצאה משם ובאה אל מזבח החיצון ותאכל את העולה.
(2) At the time the heavenly fire emanated in order to consume the sacrificial meat on the altar in the courtyard of the Tabernacle, it consumed the two sons of Aaron on its way. This fire had meant to consume only the incense, but seeing that the sons of Aaron had been in its way it consumed them also and they died as a result. This is the meaning of
(ג) וימותו לפני ה' - ומיד כששמע אהרן היה רוצה להניח העבודה ולהתאבל על בניו.
(3) 'וימותו לפני ה, “they died in the section of the Tabernacle described as ‘in the presence of the Lord.’” As soon as the news reached Aaron he wanted to interrupt performing the service in order to mourn his sons;
(א) ותצא אש. רַ' אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר לֹא מֵתוּ בְנֵי אַהֲרֹן אֶלָּא עַל יְדֵי שֶׁהוֹרוּ הֲלָכָה בִּפְנֵי מֹשֶׁה רַבָּן, רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל אוֹמֵר שְׁתוּיֵי יַיִן נִכְנְסוּ לַמִּקְדָּשׁ, תֵּדַע, שֶׁאַחַר מִיתָתָן הִזְהִיר הַנּוֹתָרִים שֶׁלֹּא יִכָּנְסוּ שְׁתוּיֵי יַיִן לַמִּקְדָּשׁ, מָשָׁל לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁהָיָה לוֹ בֶן בַּיִת וְכוּ', כִּדְאִיתָא בְּוַיִּקְרָא רַבָּה:
(1) ותצא אש AND THERE WENT OUT FIRE — Rabbi Eleizer said: the sons of Aaron died only because they gave decisions on religious matters in the presence of their teacher, Moses (Sifra, Shemini, Mechilta d'Miluim 2 32; Eruvin 63a). Rabbi Ishmael said: they died because they entered the Sanctuary intoxicated by wine. You may know that this is so, because after their death he admonished those who survived that they should not enter when intoxicated by wine (vv. 8—9). A parable! It may be compared to a king who had a bosom friend, etc., as is to be found in Leviticus Rabbah 12:1, 4 (cf. Biur).
(א) אלא ע"י שהורו. מה שקשה על זה והא אין עונש בלא אזהרה, אפרשנו בסמוך:
(1) Only because they rendered. This raises a difficulty: There is no [liability for] punishment without a warning! I will answer this difficulty in the next comment.
(ב) שתויי יין נכנסו. ופירוש אשר לא צוה אותם אינו סיבת מיתתם, אלא להודיע שמעצמם התנדבו בו ולא שצוה אותם כמו שצוה את אהרן קח לך עגל וגו', ופירוש בקרבתם בעת קרבתם, ולא שבעבור אש זרה מתו, אלא עיקר מיתתם היה מפני שתויי יין, ולולי שרצה הקב"ה להתקדש על ידם לא הי' מיתתם עכשיו, אע"פ שכבר נגזרה עליהם מיתה בשעה שהציצו. וכן לא היו מתים ביום זה שהיה שמחה לישראל אם לא הורו הלכה ביום זה, עיין עוד מזה לקמן: והג"א מתרץ כיון דעברו פנים של זעם כמו שכתוב חבי כמעט רגע עד יעבור זעם, כיון שעבר אותו פנים של זעם צריך להגרמת מיתה ענין אחר. הרא"ם הקשה עוד, דהא מזמן העגל נתחייבו מיתה בשביל עונש אהרן, ותפילת משה הועילה מחצה שימותו שני בניו: והנח"י מתרץ דאס"ד משום חטא העגל בלבד מתו ה"ל למות אלעזר ואתמר דמסתמא לא היו כ"כ צדיקים ולא היה להם זכות כל כך כמו נדב ואביהוא: והג"א, י"ל דכמו שאצל הרשע כשאוחזין מעשה אבותם משלם להם הקב"ה מעשה אבותם, כך בצדיק גמור אם בנו עשה שום חטא משלם לו מעשה אביו, ואם לא חטאו הם כלל אין מביא על בנו חטא הצדיק, לכך צריך ג"כ שיהיה חטא לבנים, וכאשר יש חטא לבנים ואז יתוסף על חטא האבות ונענשו הבנים אף על חטא האבות, וחטא הבנים גרם ביחד להענישם: ועיין בקצ"מ כי שם הביא עוד דעת ר' יוסי הגלילי, שאמר על הקריבם שנכנסו לפני ולפנים מתו, ור' עקיבא שאמר על הקריבה שהקריבו אש זרה מתו, ור' אלעזר בן עזריה שאמר שמפני שניהם מתו, ודברי בר קפרא שאמר בשם ר' ירמיה בן אליעזר בשביל ארבע דברים מתו, על הקריבה, ועל ההקרבה שהקריבו קרבן שלא נצטוו, ועל אש זרה אש מבית הכירים הכניסו, ועל שלא נטלו עצה זה מזה:
(2) Intoxicated with wine they entered. [According to this] the explanation of “which He had not commanded them” is not the reason for their deaths. Rather, it only informs that they volunteered themselves to bring the incense, and not that He commanded them, as He had commanded Aharon (9:2): “Take, for yourself, a young calf...” And the explanation of (16:1): “[After the death of two sons of Aharon] in their coming close (בקרבתם),” is: At the time of their bringing an offering, and not that they had died because of [using] a strange fire. Rather, the main reason for their death was because they were intoxicated with wine. If it were not that Hashem wanted to be sanctified by means of Nodov and Avihu, they would not have died now, even though death had already been decreed upon them at the time they peered [See Shemos 24:11, Rashi there: “They envisioned Hashem.” They (Nodov and Avihu) gazed at Him insolently while engaged in eating and drinking]. Similarly, they would not have died on this day which was a joyous occasion for Israel, if they had not rendered a halachic decision on this day. (See more about this in the following). Gur Aryeh answers that [although death was already decreed at the time of Matan Torah] since Hashem’s anger passes, as it is written (Yishayahu 26:20): “Hide for almost a moment, until the anger passes,” and since that anger had passed, another cause was necessary to be liable for death. Re’m poses another difficulty: They were liable for death from the time of the Golden Calf, as punishment for Aharon, and Moshe’s prayer only helped for half the decree — that two [of Aharon’s four] sons would die [see Rashi 10:12]. Nachalas Yaakov answers: According to the assumption that Aharon’s sons would die solely for the sin of the Golden Calf, Elozor and Isomor should have died, for they were presumably less righteous than, and they did not have as much merit as, Nodov and Avihu. Gur Aryeh answers: We find concerning the wicked that if they continue the deeds of their forefathers, Hashem punishes them for their forefathers’ deeds, so too, concerning a completely righteous person. If his son does any sin, Hashem punishes him for the deeds of his father, and if the son does not sin at all, Hashem does not bring the sin of the righteous man upon the son. This [concept] necessitates that when the sons sin, it is added to the forefathers’ sins and then the sons are punished even for the sin of the forefathers. [Thus,] the sin of the sons together [with the sin of the forefathers] causes the punishment. See Kitzur Mizrachi where he brings additional views: Rabbi Yossi HaGelili said: For drawing close, in which they entered the innermost (Holy of Holies) they died. Rabbi Akiva said: For drawing close, in that they brought a strange fire they died. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah said: Because of both reasons they died. Bar Kappara said in the name of Rabbi Yirmeyah ben Eliezer: Because of four things they died: 1) For coming close, 2) for the offering that they brought without being commanded, 3) for the strange fire, a fire from the Beis HaKirayim (house of ovens), and 4) because they did not ask advice from one another.
(א) הוא אשר דבר ה׳ לאמר בקרבי אקדש והיכן דבר, ונועדתי שמה לבנ״י ונקדש בכבודי וגו'. ד״א היכן דבר וגם הכהנים הנגשים אל ה׳ יתקדשו פן יפרץ בם ה׳ בכהנים גדולים הקרבים אלי לשרתני אני רוצה להתקדש ולא יתחלל שמי ועבודתי כדכתיב והכהן הגדול מאחיו וגו׳ ובגדיו לא יפרום ומן המקדש לא יצא ולא יחלל את מקדש אלוקיו, הא אם יצא חלל ואין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה.
(1) הוא אשר דבר ה׳ לאמור: בקרובי אקדש, “this is what the Lord said: “I will be sanctified through those who are near Me.” Where had the Lord said this? In Exodus 19,22: ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל ונקדש בכבודי, “this is where I will make Myself known to the Children of Israel, and where My glory will be sanctified.” (Exodus 29,43) An alternate interpretation: where is the verse proving this? (Exodus 19,2) וגם הכהנים הנגשים אל ה׳ יתקדשו פן יפרוץ בהם ה׳, “and also the priests who came close to the Lord have to sanctify themselves” [by not doing what they think is best, but by what G-d had thought best. Ed.], “so that the Lord will not break out against them.” This verse is addressed specifically to the High Priests whom G-d warns that they especially have to be on guard not to infringe on the rules laid down for them even in the slightest. Any deviation on their part would have to result in G-d becoming “sanctified” through His immediate, and for the priest in question fatal, punishment, as otherwise it would be seen as a desecration of the Lord’s name. Concerning the High Priest, the Torah had therefore written: in Leviticus 21,10: “and he must not let his hair grow loose, nor rend his clothes, and not leave the Temple in order to follow the bier of his father on the way to burial, etc.” (verse 12 there) The point that Moses is making to his brother in our verse is that the higher one’s rank, the more strictly G-d applies the rules laid down for their conduct. A High Priest, exactly by not leaving G-d’s Temple in order to attend his father or mother’s funeral, demonstrates that G-d’s honour comes first, and he cannot take time out for his personal concerns. There is no better way to demonstrate this than the example mentioned in the Torah. It is true that the subject has not been dealt with sequentially, but we must remember that the Author of the Torah[maybe because “Time” is subservient to Him and not vice versa, as it is to His creatures, deliberately demonstrated this by not revealing what He has to say to us in chronological order, on occasion. Ed.]
(ב) ועל פני כל העם אכבד רואה בניו מתים ומניח אבילתו בשביל עבודתי.
(2) ועל פני כל העם אכבד, “and I will be honoured in the presence of the whole nation.” They will all be witness to how and where and why Aaron’s sons had died.
(ג) וידם אהרן כמו שמצינו ביחזקאל האנק דום אבל מתים לא תעשה אף כאן וידם אהרן ממה שהיה רוצה להתאבל.
(3) וידום אהרן, “Aaron responded by accepting this silently.”This response is repeated by the prophet Ezekiel quoting G-d saying to him after the death of his wife (Ezekiel 24,17: האנק דום אבל מתים לא תעשה, “moan softly, do not observe the ritual of mourning for the dead.” (Rash’bam)
(א) בקרובי אקדש. על ידי מיתת קרובין הללו אתקדש ואתגדל לעיני כל
העם שישאו ק"ו בעצמם מאלו וישמרו עצמן מלעשות כן וייראו ממני:
(1) בקרובי אקדש, “I will become sanctified by means of the people who had been close to Me.” The very death of these people is an event which sanctifies Me. How so? If the Israelites will internalise how strict I have been with these highly placed individuals, they will know how careful they have to be not to deviate from My commandments.
(א) הוא אשר דבר ה׳. כבר אמר לי השם שהוא יראה קדושתו בקרובים אליו כטעם רק אתכם ידעתי וכאשר אראה בם קדושתי אז אהיה נכבד ועל פני כל העם אכבד וייראו ממני:
(1) This is what God has told me God has already told me that He will manifest His holiness through those who are near Him — even if they must suffer for it, as in the passage “You only have I known…” [Amos 3:2]. Thus the verse means, “When I manifest myself in holiness among them, then I shall be glorified; and I shall be glorified in the face of all the people, and they shall fear Me.”
(א) הוא אשר דבר ה' לאמר בקרובי אקדש. והיכן דבר, אלא בשני מקומות דבר, האחד במעמד הר סיני שהזהיר הכהנים שלא יסתכלו יותר מדאי, הוא שכתוב (שמות יט) וגם הכהנים הנגשים אל ה' יתקדשו פן יפרץ בהם ה', כשם שמצינו בנדב ואביהוא שפרץ בהם, וזהו שאמר בכאן בקרובי אקדש, ושם אמר הנגשים אל ה', ושתי לשונות אלו מצאנום סמוכים ביחד בפסוק (ירמיה ל) והקרבתיו ונגש אלי. והשני באהל מועד שאמר (שמות כט) ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל ונקדש בכבודי, וזה רמז גלוי שכינה לבני אהרן באמרו ונקדש בכבודי, הזכיר ונקדש לרמוז בקרובי אקדש, והזכיר בכבודי לרמוז ועל פני כל העם אכבד. ומלת בקרובי בלשון רבים שהקב"ה מתקדש בקרוביו, כלומר ע"י הדברים הקרובים לו, אבל בספר תורה שאינה נקוד אפשר לקרוא בקרבי לשון יחיד והוא המלאך הקרוב לו, יהיה בקרבי אקדש כמו ונקדש בכבודי, ותמצא המלה חסרה וא"ו, בקרבי כתיב, כענין (הושע יא) בקרבך קדוש, וכן (דברים לא) על כי אין אלהי בקרבי, וזה לפי שמדת הדין פגעה בהם על שלא כוונו אל הוי"ו, וכמו שהזכיר למעלה.
(1) הוא אשר דבר ה' לאמור בקרובי אקדש, “this is what the Lord had said, saying: ‘I will be sanctified by those nearest Me.’” Where had G’d ever made such a statement that Moses could now refer to it? The first time was in Exodus 19,22 at the time of the revelation at Mount Sinai, where G’d had warned the Priests not to look too much at supernatural phenomena. The Torah had written: “even the Priests who approach Hashem should sanctify themselves lest Hashem will burst forth against them.” [The expression יתקדשו used in this verse always implies imposing restrictions upon oneself. Ed.] This was a warning that the Priests are at greater risk than ordinary Israelites because they are in a preferred position, being closer to Hashem. The expression יפרוץ בהם, “He might burst forth against them,” describes precisely what happened to Nadav and Avihu who were killed immediately they committed this sin. The words used in Exodus 19,22 are that the Priests are coming close to Hashem, i.e. 'הנגשים אל ה, whereas in Leviticus 16,2 the word used by the Torah is בקרבתם לפני ה, “when they approached the presence of the Lord.” Proof that both expressions are more or less identical is found in Jeremiah 30,21 where the prophet uses both expressions in one breath, saying: והקרבתיו ונגש אלי, “I will bring him near that he may approach Me.”
The second time G’d indicated that He would be sanctified by those closest to Him was in Exodus 29,43 (compare Rashi) where the Torah writes (quoting G’d) ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל ונקדש בכבודי, “and there I will meet with the Israelites, and it shall be sanctified by My glory.” The word ונקדש in that verse is an allusion to what would happen, i.e. a revelation of G’d’s Shechinah to the sons of Aaron. The word לכבודי is a further reference to what Moses told Aaron his brother that G’d had said ועל פני כל העם אכבד, “and I shall be glorified in the presence of the whole nation,” at the end of our verse. The expression בקרובי, “through those close to Me,” in the plural, hints at a variety of matters which could trigger such a sanctification of the Lord’s name. However, seeing that the Torah does not have vowels, it is possible to read this word as a singular i.e. be-kirbi, seeing the word has been spelled without the letter ו which is common to the spelling of the word karov, קרוב. The word would then be a reference to an angel (attribute) attached, within Hashem. We would then have an even more literal allusion in the words quoted from Exodus 29,43 ונקדש בכבודי, meaning ונקדש בקרבי,”I will be sanctified by means of this attribute (angel) within Me.” Similar constructions are found in Hoseah 11,9 בקרבך קדוש, “the Holy One in your midst.” Another similar expression is found in Deuteronomy 31,17 where the people suffering a lot of disasters blame the fact that אין אלו-הי בקרבי, “that it demonstrates that my G’d is not near me” (not “within” me). In that case also, Israel, instead of addressing itself to the essence of G’d, i.e. Hashem, addressed itself to a lesser attribute of G‘d, i.e. the attribute of Justice.” Failure to address one’s prayers or offerings to Hashem, the tetragram, results in retribution by the very attribute of Justice to which one addresses oneself. (Compare what we wrote on verse 1 under the heading “a kabbalistic approach”).
The second time G’d indicated that He would be sanctified by those closest to Him was in Exodus 29,43 (compare Rashi) where the Torah writes (quoting G’d) ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל ונקדש בכבודי, “and there I will meet with the Israelites, and it shall be sanctified by My glory.” The word ונקדש in that verse is an allusion to what would happen, i.e. a revelation of G’d’s Shechinah to the sons of Aaron. The word לכבודי is a further reference to what Moses told Aaron his brother that G’d had said ועל פני כל העם אכבד, “and I shall be glorified in the presence of the whole nation,” at the end of our verse. The expression בקרובי, “through those close to Me,” in the plural, hints at a variety of matters which could trigger such a sanctification of the Lord’s name. However, seeing that the Torah does not have vowels, it is possible to read this word as a singular i.e. be-kirbi, seeing the word has been spelled without the letter ו which is common to the spelling of the word karov, קרוב. The word would then be a reference to an angel (attribute) attached, within Hashem. We would then have an even more literal allusion in the words quoted from Exodus 29,43 ונקדש בכבודי, meaning ונקדש בקרבי,”I will be sanctified by means of this attribute (angel) within Me.” Similar constructions are found in Hoseah 11,9 בקרבך קדוש, “the Holy One in your midst.” Another similar expression is found in Deuteronomy 31,17 where the people suffering a lot of disasters blame the fact that אין אלו-הי בקרבי, “that it demonstrates that my G’d is not near me” (not “within” me). In that case also, Israel, instead of addressing itself to the essence of G’d, i.e. Hashem, addressed itself to a lesser attribute of G‘d, i.e. the attribute of Justice.” Failure to address one’s prayers or offerings to Hashem, the tetragram, results in retribution by the very attribute of Justice to which one addresses oneself. (Compare what we wrote on verse 1 under the heading “a kabbalistic approach”).
(ב) וידום אהרן. השתיקה אחת ממשפטי האבלות, והם מפורשים ע"י יחזקאל ע"ה דכתיב (יחזקאל כד) בן אדם הנני לוקח ממך את מחמד עיניך במגפה ולא תספד ולא תבכה ולא תבוא דמעתך, האנק דם מתים אבל לא תעשה פארך חבוש עליך ונעליך תשים ברגליך ולא תעטה על שפם ולחם אנשים לא תאכל, אמור לבית ישראל וגו' הנני מחלל את מקדשי גאון עזכם מחמד עיניכם וגו', ועשיתם כאשר עשיתי, כי היה מתנבא על חרבן בהמ"ק ועל הגלות שיהיו גולים בארצות אויביהם ואין מספיקין בידם להשלים ולעשות חקי האבלות וכתיב, והיה יחזקאל לכם למופת.
(ג) ודע כי בכלל "אבל לא תעשה" יכנסו חמשה דברים, רחיצה סיכה תשמיש המטה משא ומתן של סחורה למוד התורה, כי כל אלו נקראים שמחה והשמחה הפך האבלות, ושמחת התורה והסחורה תמצאם בפסוק אחד, הוא שכתוב (תהלים קיט) שש אנכי על אמרתך כמוצא שלל רב, למד ששניהם נקראים שמחה, וכתיב (ישעיה ט) כאשר יגילו בחלקם שלל.
(2) וידום אהרן, “Aaron remained silent.” Silence is one of the ways in which mourning is expressed; the various ways in which mourning is to be expressed have been spelled out by Ezekiel 24,16-17: “O mortal man, I am about to take away the delight of your eyes from you through pestilence; but you shall not lament or weep or let your tears flow. Moan, softly; observe no mourning for the dead. Put on your turban and put your sandals on your feet; do not cover your upper lip, and do not eat the bread of the comforters.” During the next few verses the death of Ezekiel’s wife is reported. From verse 21-22 G’d continues His instructions to the prophet saying: “Tell the house of Israel: ‘thus said the Lord, G’d: I am going to desecrate My Sanctuary, your pride and glory, the delight of your eyes and the desire of your heart; .....and you shall do as I have done. You shall not cover your upper lips or eat the bread of comforters, and your turbans shall remain on your head and your sandals on your feet. And Ezekiel shall be become a portent for you.’”
Ezekiel had been prophesying the forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the exile of the population to the lands of their enemies so that they would not have time to observe the normal rites of mourning. (3) The prohibition of things a mourner must not do mentioned in that chapter comprises five items: 1) washing oneself, 2) anointing one’s skin with oil or other lotions; 3) sexual intercourse, 4) attending to one’s business, 5) study of Torah. Anyone of the aforementioned activities comes under the heading of שמחה, an activity which causes joy. Seeing that joy is the opposite of mourning, it stands to reason that these items are forbidden to people observing mourning. Attending to business and the study of Torah are lumped together in a single verse when David said in Psalms 119,162: שש אנכי על אמרתך כמוצא שלל רב, “I rejoice over Your words as one who has found a great spoil.” This proves that both pursuits are described as resulting in joy. Isaiah 9,2 also makes it plain that joy, גילה, is associated with the acquisition of spoils.
Ezekiel had been prophesying the forthcoming destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction of the Temple, and the exile of the population to the lands of their enemies so that they would not have time to observe the normal rites of mourning. (3) The prohibition of things a mourner must not do mentioned in that chapter comprises five items: 1) washing oneself, 2) anointing one’s skin with oil or other lotions; 3) sexual intercourse, 4) attending to one’s business, 5) study of Torah. Anyone of the aforementioned activities comes under the heading of שמחה, an activity which causes joy. Seeing that joy is the opposite of mourning, it stands to reason that these items are forbidden to people observing mourning. Attending to business and the study of Torah are lumped together in a single verse when David said in Psalms 119,162: שש אנכי על אמרתך כמוצא שלל רב, “I rejoice over Your words as one who has found a great spoil.” This proves that both pursuits are described as resulting in joy. Isaiah 9,2 also makes it plain that joy, גילה, is associated with the acquisition of spoils.
(א) ויאמר משה אל אהרן - אל תתאבל ואל תבכה ואל תחדל מן העבודה, כי הדבר הזה אשר אני אומר לך: הוא אשר דבר ה' בקרובי אקדש - בכהנים גדולים הקרובים אלי לשרתני אני רוצה להתקדש ולא שיתחלל שמי ועבודתי, שכן אמר לי הקב"ה: והכהן הגדול מאחיו וגו' את ראשו לא יפרע ובגדיו לא יפרם. ומן המקדש לא יצא ולא יחלל את מקדש אלהיו. הא אם לא יצא קידש. ואין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה, ולכך אל תניח העבודה שאתה כהן גדול ולא תצא ולא תחלל, אלא יתקדש הקב"ה ועבודתו על ידך.
(1) this is when Moses said to Aaron: “do not mourn nor weep, and do not desist from carrying on with your priestly duties; I am telling you what I am saying in the name of G’d Who has said: בקרובי אקדש, I want to be sanctified by the High Priests, the ones who are “near” to Me and who perform the service for Me. I do not want that they should desecrate My name and My holy service by letting their private concerns take precedence.” Moses added that G’d had specifically given him instructions concerning such events as had just happened by saying (Leviticus 21,10-12) “the priest who is exalted above his fellows, on whose head the anointment has been poured and who has been ordained to wear the vestments, shall not bare his head nor rend his vestments. He shall not go in where there is a dead body; he shall not defile himself even for his father or mother. He shall not go outside the sanctuary and profane the sanctuary of his G’d, for upon him is the distinction of the anointing oil of his G’d, Mine the Lord’s.” It follows that by not leaving the holy precincts at this time Aaron did in fact sanctify the name of the Lord. This is the meaning of בקרובי אקדש, “I will be sanctified by those close to Me.” The fact that the legislation we just quoted appears only in chapter 21 is no argument as the Torah is not bound to record its message to the Jewish people in chronological sequence. At any rate, Moses told Aaron not to abandon the service in the Tabernacle while in circumstances which imposed mourning on other priests, even.
(ב) ועל פני כל העם אכבד - זהו כבוד השכינה, שרואה בניו מתים ומניח אבלו בעבודת בוראו.
(2) ועל פני כל העם אכבד, this is the “honour” accorded to G’d’s Presence that even when one sees one’s sons dying one ignores one’s personal grief and continues with the service to one’s Creator.
(ג) וידום אהרן - מאבלותו ולא בכה ולא התאבל, שכן כתיב ביחזקאל: בן אדם הנני לוקח ממך את מחמד עיניך במגפה וגו' האנק דום מתים אבל לא תעשה.
(3) וידום אהרן, he desisted from his mourning, did not weep and did not perform rites of the mourning.
(ד) אף כאן וידום - ממה שהיה רוצה להתאבל ולבכות. וזה מוסר ואמיתת פשוטו. אבל האגדה שאומרת: שהיה מנחמו משה לאהרן על שאמר לו הקב"ה: ונקדש בכבודי - וסבור הייתי או אני או אתה, עכשיו תדע שהם גדולים ממני וממך, אין זה לפי הפשט וכי היה מבשר הקב"ה למשה: עשו לי משכן - ובו ביום ימותו הגדולים שבכם?!
(4) We find a replay of this incident with variations in the Book of Ezekiel 24-16-17 [although Ezekiel a priest lived in Babylonia and had never had a chance to actively practice the priesthood, not to mention the chance of being a High Priest, Ed.]. We read there as follows: “o mortal, I am about to take away the delight of your eyes from you through pestilence; but you shall not lament or weep or let your tears flow. הענק דום מתים, Moan softly; observe no mourning for the dead. Put on your turban and put on your sandals on your feet; do not cover your upper lip, and do not eat the bread of comforters.” In our verse too, the meaning of וידום אהרן is that he abstained from voicing his anguish, his sorrow. There is, of course, an allegorical interpretation quoted in Zevachim 115 according to which Moses comforted Aaron in respect of G’d’s statement “it shall be sanctified by My Presence,” ונקדש בכבודי, (Exodus 29,43) Moses consoled Aaron by reading the word not as bichvodee, but as bichvuday, “by those whom I have honoured.” Moses continued that up until the recent bereavement he had thought that either he or Aaron would have to die in such a scenario. Now he had found out that Nadav and Avihu were the ones whom G’d had referred to as being so close to Him.
(א) הוא אשר דבר וְגו'. הֵיכָן דִּבֵּר? וְנֹעַדְתִּי שָׁמָּה לִבְנֵי יִשְֹרָאֵל וְנִקְדַּשׁ בִּכְבֹדִי (שמות כ"ט), אַל תִּקְרֵי בִּכְבֹדִי אֶלָּא בִּמְכֻבָּדַי; אָמַר לוֹ מֹשֶׁה לְאַהֲרֹן, אַהֲרֹן אָחִי, יוֹדֵעַ הָיִיתִי שֶׁיִּתְקַדֵּשׁ הַבַּיִת בִּמְיֻדָּעָיו שֶׁל מָקוֹם, וְהָיִיתִי סָבוּר אוֹ בִי אוֹ בָךְ, עַכְשָׁיו רוֹאֶה אֲנִי שֶׁהֵם גְּדוֹלִים מִמֶּנִּי וּמִמֶּךָּ (ספרא):
(1) 'וגו 'הוא אשר דבר ה THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SPOKE, etc. — Where had He spoken this? In the statement (Exodus 29:43), “And there I will be met by the children of Israel and it (the Tabernacle) shall be sanctified by My glory (בכבודי).” Read not here בִכְבוֹדִי, “by My Glory” but בִּמְכֻבָּדַי, “through My honoured ones” (Zevachim 115b). Moses here said to Aaron: “My brother, Aaron! I knew that this House was to be sanctified by those who are beloved of the Omnipresent God and I thought it would be either through me or through thee; now I see that these (thy sons who have died) are greater than me and than thee!” (Leviticus Rabbah 12 2).
(ב) וידם אהרן. קִבֵּל שָׂכָר עַל שְׁתִיקָתוֹ, וּמַה שָּׂכָר קִבֵּל? שֶׁנִּתְיַחֵד עִמּוֹ הַדִּבּוּר — שֶׁנֶּאֶמְרָה לוֹ לְבַדּוֹ פָּרָשַׁת שְׁתוּיֵי יָיִן (ויקרא רבה י"ב):
(2) וידם אהרן AND AARON WAS SILENT — He received a reward for his silence. And what was the reward he received? That the subsequent Divine address was made to him alone and not to Moses also — for to him alone was spoken the section (vv. 9—11) dealing with those who are intoxicated by wine (see v. 8) (Zevachim 115b; Leviticus Rabbah 12 2).
(ג) בקרבי. בִּבְחִירָי:
(3) בקרבי IN THEM THAT COME NEAR UNTO ME — i. e. in My chosen ones.
(ד) ועל פני כל העם אכבד. כְּשֶׁהַקָּבָּ"ה עוֹשֶׂה דִין בַּצַּדִּיקִים מִתְיָרֵא וּמִתְעַלֶּה וּמִתְקַלֵּס, אִם כֵּן בָּאֵלּוּ, כָּל שֶׁכֵּן בָּרְשָׁעִים; וְכֵן הוּא אוֹמֵר נוֹרָא אֱלֹהִים מִמִּקְדָּשֶׁיךָ (תהלים ס"ח), אַל תִּקְרֵי מִמִּקְדָּשֶׁיךָ אֶלָּא מִמְּקֻדָּשֶׁיךָ:
(4) ועל פני כל העם אכבד AND BEFORE ALL THE PEOPLE I WILL BE HONOURED — When the Holy One, blessed be He, executes judgment upon the righteous He becomes feared, and exalted and praised. If this be so in the case of these (when He judges the righteous) how much more is it so in the case of the wicked (i. e. when He punishes the wicked)! And in a similar sense it says (Psalms 68:36) “Thou art feared, O god, ממקדשיך”. Read not here מִמִּקְדָשֶׁיךָ, “from out of Thy sanctuaries”, but מִמִּקֻדָּשֶׁיךָ“because of Thy sanctified ones” (Zevachim 115b).
(א) וידום אהרן שהתנחם בקידוש ה' שנקדש במותם:
(1) וידום אהרן, seeing he consoled himself after having been told that the death of his sons represented a sanctification of the name of the Lord.
(א) שהם גדולים ממני וממך. מקשים דלמא הוצרך להתקדש בשניהם דאחד מהם לא סגי ושניהם כאחד טובים, לכן הוצרך ב', והם טובים ממשה לבד או אהרן לבד, ומנ"ל שהם טובים ממשה ואהרן ביחד, ועוד קשה היאך יטעה משה טעות גדול כסבור שהוא ואהרן גדולים מהם והמה גדולים, הלא די' שהי' סבור שכולם שוים ויטעה מדריגה אחת, ונראה דכתיב בקרובי אקדש, בקרובי בפתח הוא לשון רבים, ומשה הי' סבור שכולם שוים לטובה, ואמר יודע הייתי שיתקדש הבית במיודעיו של מקום, במיודעיו לשון רבים, ר"ל ב' ב' בדבר בקרובי ל' רבים, ואם כן הייתי סבור או בי ואחד מהם או בך ואחד מהם, כיון שכולנו שוין, ועכשיו שלא חפץ באחד מאתנו רואה אני שהם גדולים ממני וממך, וק"ל נלי"ט:
(1) That they are greater than I or you. The difficulty is raised: Perhaps the sanctification needed to be with both of them [Nodov and Avihu], for one of them would not be sufficient, and the two of them together were greater. Thus, two were needed, and they were better than Moshe alone or Aharon alone. How does Rashi know they were greater than Moshe and Aharon together? Another difficulty: How could Moshe make such a big mistake in thinking that he and Aharon were greater than them, and yet [in truth] Nodov and Avihu were greater? It would be enough if Moshe thought that they were all equal, and he erred in [only] one level? It seems [that the answer is:] It is written: “בקרובי אקדש (through those that are near me I shall be sanctified),” and בקרובי with a pasach is in the plural form. Moshe thought that they were all equal in goodness, and he said: I had known that the Temple would be sanctified with those singled out as special (במיודעיו) by the Omnipresent, and במיודעיו is in the plural form. I.e., two pairs are in the matter of “בקרובי אקדש” which is plural. If so, I thought: either me, and one of them, or you, and one of them, since we are all equal. But now that He did not want any of us, I see that they are greater than me or you (Rav Yaakov Trivash).
(ב) קבל שכר. ר"ל למה כתיב וידם אהרן, מה הי' לו לומר על גזירות הש"י העם ה' יריב, ועל זה פירש קבל שכר על שתיקותו, כלומר ומש"ה כתיב וידום משום שקבל שכר על שתיקותו מש"ה כתב הכתוב וידום וגו'. [ג"א] ומה שהפך לפרש וידום אהרן קודם בקרובי כדי להודיע למה שתק אהרן, לפי שהי' שומע שבניו היו יראי שמים וקרובים ומיודעים להקב"ה לכך שתק, וכן הוא במ"ר. [ד"ד] הא דמהפך רש"י הוא ראיה על קיבול שכר על השתיקה, דמצד הטבע דהמנחם אינו משבח את המת בפני קרוביו, אדרבה אומרים דברים שלא יצטער כמו שמצינו אצל ברתיה דר' שמואל בר יהודה בפרק הפרה, ואמר לו אלו היתה ראויה לצאת ממנה דבר טוב לא היתה מתה, וכאן ששבח משה להמתים בפני אהרן שהם קרובים להקב"ה יותר מהם והי' לו להוסיף בכיה ואפ"ה שתק, ע"כ ראוי לשכר טוב:
(2) He received a reward. Rashi is answering the question: Why is it written, “and Aharon was silent”? What could he have said about the decrees of Hashem? Could he challenge Hashem? With regard to this Rashi explains: He received a reward for his silence, i.e., for this reason it is written, “and [Aharon] was silent,” because he received a reward for his silence, for this reason Scripture writes, “and [Aharon] was silent.” Rashi reverses the order and explains “and Aharon was silent” before “through those that are near Me” in order to inform why Aharon was silent. Because he heard that his sons were Heaven fearing, near to, and singled out as special by Hashem. Therefore, he was silent. So, too, it is in the Midrash Rabboh (Gur Aryeh). The reason Rashi reverses the order is to prove why Aharon received reward for his silence. This is because in the natural order of things one who consoles does not praise the departed person in the presence of his relatives. On the contrary, they say words that are not painful to the mourner, such as we find concerning the daughter of R. Shmuel bar Yehudah (Bava Metzia 38a), where they told him that if something good was destined to come from her she would not have died. But here Moshe praised the departed ones in front of Aharon, [saying] that they were closer to Hashem than them. Aharon, then, should have intensified his crying, nevertheless, he was silent. Therefore, he was worthy of good reward (Divrei Dovid).
(ג) לו לבדו. כלומר תרתי קאמר, מפני שתיקותו זכה ששמע מפי השם מה שלא זכה עד עתה, שי"ג דברות נאמרו למשה ולאהרן וכנגדן י"ג מיעוטין, ללמדך שלא לאהרן נאמרו אלא למשה שיאמר לאהרן. ועוד זכה שנאמרה לו לבדו ולא נשתתף עם משה עד שיראה שמפני זכותו של משה יזכה לשמוע הוא מפי הגבורה, ואתי שפיר אפי' אליבא דרבנן דר' יהודה שהביא רש"י לעיל ריש פ' ויקרא:
(3) To him alone. I.e., [“To him, alone”] implies two [rewards]. Because of his silence he merited that he heard directly the Divine command which he had not been privileged until now. This is because: “[Rabbi Yehudah says:] Thirteen instances of ‘speaking’ are recorded in the Torah [directed] to Moshe and Aharon, and thirteen exclusions corresponding to them, [in order] to teach you that they were not said to Aharon but to Moshe, for him to tell Aharon” [see Rashi 1:1]. Furthermore, he merited that this section was said to him alone, and he did not share with Moshe, so that it would not seem that because of Moshe’s merit he heard the Divine command. Thus, it goes well even according to the Rabbis who disagree with Rabbi Yehudah, who is cited by Rashi above at the beginning of Vayikro.
(ד) מתעלה. הא דלא פירש"י זה על בקרובי אקדש כיון שהביא ראיה מנורא אלקים ממקדשיך, עיין (בקצ"מ):
(4) Exalted. See Kitzur Mizrachi as to why Rashi did not give this explanation on the phrase “בקרובי אקדש (through those that are near Me I shall be sanctified)” since he brings the proof from the verse (Tehillim 68:36): “נורא אלקים ממקדשיך (“You are awesome, O God, from Your Sanctuaries).”
(א) הוא אשר דבר ה' לאמר. פירש"י והיכן דבר ונקדש בכבודי וכו'. וי"מ היכן דבר וגם הכהנים הנגשים אל ה' יתקדשו פן יפרץ בהם ה'. והרמב"ן כתב אין צורך לכל זה כי דבר ה' הם מחשבותיו וגזירותיו כמו ותהי אשה לבן אדוניך כאשר דבר ד' פי' כאשר גזר ה' אף כאן אמר משה המקרה הזה אשר גזר ה' לאמר בקרובי אקדש שלא יהרסו אל קדושתו:
(1) הוא אשר דבר ה' לאמור, “of this did G’d speak, saying:” Rashi claims that G’d referred to Exodus 29,43 ונועדתי שמה לבני ישראל ונקדש בכבודי, “I shall set My meeting there with the Children of Israel, and I will be sanctified with My glory.” Some commentators hold that G’d referred to Exodus 19,22 וגם הכהנים הנגשים אל ה' יתקדשו, “even the priests who approach Hashem shall sanctify themselves lest He burst forth against them.” Nachmanides writes there is no need to search for relevant verses, for G’d can issue decrees at any time in any place, such as when the angel speaking through the mouth of Bethuel announced (Genesis 24,51) “let her become the wife of your master’s son.” [This is strange as Nachmanides does not offer this comment in his commentary on that verse. Presumably, the fact that a man such as Bethuel quoted G’d as having said this, showed that he was being manipulated by G’d. Ed,. The expression כאשר דבר ה' in the mouth of Bethuel means “as G’d has decreed.” Here too Moses means to tell Aaron that what happened was nothing else but a decree of Hashem. He softens the blow by saying that G’d, by killing the sons of Aaron at this stage, had tried to prevent them who are so near to Him by dint of being priests, i.e. בקרןבי, from becoming guilty of an unforgivable trespass, i.e. their ruining His sanctity.
(ב) ועל פני כל העם אכבד. שיהיה נוהגים כבוד במשכני:
(2) ועל פני כל העם אכבד, “so that I will be honoured in full view of all the people.” In order that the people will treat My Residence with the proper reverence in future.
(ג) וידום אהרן. פי' הרמב"ן שהי' בוכה בקול ואז שתק כמו אל תדום בת עיני:
(3) וידום אהרן, “Aaron remained silent.” Nachmaides writes that Aaron wept aloud, after which he remained silent. We find the same meaning of the word וידום in Lamentations 2,18 אל תדום בת עיניך, “give your eyes no rest (from weeping)!”
בשלמא למ"ד זו פרישות נדב ואביהוא היינו דכתיב (ויקרא י, ג) הוא אשר דבר ה' לאמר בקרובי אקדש
The Gemara asks: Granted, according to the one who says that the command for the priests to sanctify themselves is referring to the separation of Nadav and Avihu, this is the meaning of that which is written after their death on the eighth day of the inauguration of the Tabernacle: “Then Moses said to Aaron: This is it that the Lord spoke, saying: Through them that are near to Me I will be sanctified…and Aaron held his peace” (Leviticus 10:3). Nadav and Avihu had already been warned not to draw too close: “Lest the Lord break forth upon them.”
דבר זה אמר הקב"ה למשה ולא ידעו עד שמתו בני אהרן כיון שמתו בני אהרן אמר לו אהרן אחי לא מתו בניך אלא להקדיש שמו של הקב"ה כיון שידע אהרן שבניו ידועי מקום הן שתק וקבל שכר שנאמר (ויקרא י, ג) וידום אהרן
The Holy One, Blessed be He, said this statement to Moses, but Moses did not know its meaning until the sons of Aaron died. Once the sons of Aaron died, Moses said to him: Aaron, my brother, your sons died only to sanctify the name of the Holy One, Blessed be He. When Aaron knew that his sons were beloved by the Omnipresent, he was silent and received a reward, as it is stated: “And Aaron held his peace [vayidom].”
(א) ויהי בחודש השנים עשר בעשרים ושלושה בחודש, ויקח משה את אהרון ואת בניו וילבישם את הבגדים וימשח אותם ויעש להם כאשר ציוה ה׳ אותו. ויקרב משה את כל הקורבנות, כאשר ציוה ה׳ אותו ביום ההוא. ואחרי כן לקח משה את אהרון ואת בניו ויאמר אליהם, פתח אוהל מועד תשבו שבעת ימים ולא תצאו כי כן צויתי. ויעש אהרון ובניו את כל אשר ציוה ה׳ ביד משה, וישבו פתח אוהל מועד שבעת ימים. ויהי ביום השמיני באחד לחודש הראשון בשנה השנית לצאת בני ישראל ממצרים, ויקם משה את המשכן. ויקם משה את כל כלי אוהל מועד וכל כלי המשכן, ויעש ככל אשר ציוה ה׳ אותו. ויקרא משה אל אהרון ואל בניו ויקריבו את העולה ואת החטאת להם ולבני ישראל, כאשר ציוה ה׳ את משה. ביום ההוא לקחו שני בני אהרון נדב ואביהוא אש זרה ויקריבו לפני ה׳ אשר לא ציוה אותם, ותצא אש מלפני ה׳ ותאכל אותם וימותו לפני ה׳ ביום ההוא. אז החלו נשיאי בני ישראל ביום ההוא ביום כלות משה להקים את המשכן, להקריב את קורבנותיהם לפני ה׳ לחנוכת המזבח. ויקריבו את קורבנותיהם נשיא אחד ליום נשיא אחד ליום, שנים עשר יום. ויהי כל הקורבנות אשר הקריבו איש איש ביומו, קערת כסף אחת מאה ושלושים משקלה מזרק אחד כסף שבעים שקל בשקל הקודש, שניהם מלאים סולת בלולה בשמן למנחה. כף אחת עשרה זהב משקלה מלאה קטורת. פר אחד בן בקר איל אחד כבש אחד בן שנתו לעולה. ושעיר עזים אחד לחטאת. ולזבח השלמים בקר שניים אילים חמישה עתודים חמישה כבשים בני שנה חמישה. ככה יעשו יום יום שנים עשר נשיאי ישראל, איש איש יומו. ויהי אחרי כן ביום שלושה עשר לחודש, ויצו משה את בני ישראל לעשות הפסח. ויעשו בני ישראל את הפסח במועדו. בארבעה עשר יום לחודש כאשר ציוה ה׳ את משה, כן עשו בני ישראל.
(1) And in the twelfth month, on the twenty-third day of the month Moses took Aaron and his sons, and he dressed them in the official garments, and he anointed them, and he did unto them according to the commandment of the Lord, and Moses brought up all the offerings, as the Lord had commanded him on that day. And afterwards Moses took Aaron and his sons, and he said unto them: Keep within the doors of the tabernacle for seven days for thus am I commanded; and they did all as the Lord had commanded through Moses, and they remained within the doors of the tabernacle for seven days. And on the eighth day, the first day of the first month of the second year since the Israelites’ departure from Egypt, Moses erected the tabernacle and all the furniture, and he did all as the Lord had commanded unto him. Then called Moses, Aaron, and his sons, and they brought up the burnt offering and the sin offering for themselves and the people, as the Lord had commanded unto Moses. And on that day, Nadab and Abihu the two sons of Aaron offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not, and there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord on that day. And the offerings, which each man brought in his day, were: One silver charger, the weight whereof was a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver bowl of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour, mingled with oil for a meat offering. One spoon of gold of ten shekels, full of incense. One young bullock, one ram, one lamb of the first year. One kid of the goats for a sin offering. And for a sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five he goats and five lambs of the first year. Thus did the princes of Israel bring their offerings day after day, each man on his day; and after this Moses commanded the children of Israel to celebrate the Passover. And the children of Israel observed the Passover in its season, on the fourteenth day of the month; as the Lord had commanded unto Moses so did the children of Israel. And in the second month, on the first day of the month, the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: Number the heads of all the males among the children of Israel from twenty years and upwards, thou and Aaron thy brother and the twelve princes of Israel; and Moses did so, and Aaron came with the twelve princes of Israel, and they numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai, and the numbers of the children of Israel, according to the houses of their fathers from twenty years and upwards were six hundred and three thousand and five hundred and fifty. But the children of Levi were not numbered amongst their brethren the children of Israel. And the number of all the first born male children in Israel from one month and upwards was twenty-two thousand and two hundred and seventy three, and the number of the children of Levi, from one month and upwards, was twenty-two thousand. And Moses stationed the priests and Levites, every man to his duties to serve in the sanctuary of the tabernacle, as the Lord had commanded unto Moses.