Subtle Psychology (Shemini)

Parshat Shemini contains the details of the tragedy of the death of Nadav and Avihu. Commentator after commentator, including the sages of the Talmud, piece together details from the brief text in order to understand what the two sons of Aaron did wrong when they brought forth their fire pans during the first service in the Mishkan.

Before one can talk about the deaths of Nadav and Avihu or their father’s reaction to it, it is interesting to look at the underlying insights into Aaron that are subtly woven into Leviticus 9. On first reading the perek, it is easy to focus on “shemini,” on the fact that it was the eighth day and the day of the inauguration of the sacrificial service. But Moshe has to call Aaron forward, address him step by step until he is fully involved in the service, because, according to many commentaries, Aaron was still full of shame and insecurity after his involvement with the Chait Haegel (see Rashi on 9:7).

Any of us who have ever felt insecure or “unworthy” of an honor can relate to what occurred at the end of the first sacrificial ceremony. Moshe had instructed Aaron to inform the people that “today the Lord will appear to you” (9:4), and even explained that “This is what the Lord has commanded that you do, that the Presence of the Lord may appear to you” (9:6). But at the end of the service: “Aaron raised his hands toward the people and blessed them; then he descended from having performed the sin-offering, the elevation-offering, and the peace-offering” (9:22).  Where was the presence of the Lord? One can only imagine how shaken Aaron was, in his heart, that the entire service might have been invalidated by his lack of worthiness. But Moshe did not hesitate at all. “Moshe and Aaron came to the Tent of Meeting, and they went out and they blessed the people and the glory of Hashem appeared to the entire people” (22-23).

Leviticus 9 concludes with a Divine fire consuming the burnt offering and fat parts and the people falling upon their faces in awe.  Now think about what was going on with Aaron and his sons. The day, for them, had been an intense emotional roller coaster. But it worked! The sacrifice had been accepted and they had proven themselves in the role of the Kahuna. For Aaron, a man of peace and a man struggling with accepting the errors of the past, this was a great relief. His sons had watched his struggle, but it wasn’t their struggle. Once it was clear that the incident with the Golden Calf would not be held against their family, they became “intoxicated” with the headiness of the day and stopped thinking about each detail.

“Intoxicated” is an excellent segue to the fact that one of the most well-known commentaries on the deaths of Nadav and Avihu is that they brought their offering while they were intoxicated. The connection is the fact that, several verse later, God Himself instructs Aaron and his two remaining sons that they must never perform the service while under the influence, and yet, based on the verses in Vayikra 9 and their immediate action and death in Vayikra 10, there doesn’t appear to be enough time for them to have gotten drunk. It is possible, however, that Nadav and Avihu were drunk on their own egos, and thus feeling the exaltation and lack of inhibition that people feel when they’ve had a bit to drink.

The text of Vayikra 9, in which Moshe shepherds Aaron through the actions of the day, also influenced his role in Vayikra 10. One could read Moshe’s immediate act of telling Aaron to stay his reaction as being cold and unfeeling. Upon reading Vayikra 10, however, one might feel a sense of awe witnessing Moshe, the devoted brother, rushing around to make certain that his brother was taken care of. He jumps in:

Verse 3: Moshe comforts and restrains Aaron.

Verse 4: Moshe makes immediate arrangements for the bodies, and, in verse 5, they are carried out to his specifications.

Verse 6: Moshe instructs Aaron, Eleazar, and Itamar not to mourn publicly but to allow the kinsmen to do so for them…and, in verse 7, to stay in the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

Verse 12: Moshe tells Aaron and his two sons to eat the meal offering, giving them very detailed instructions.

Verse 8-11, by the way, is God’s interjection of the prohibition of doing the service while intoxicated and the instruction that the children of Aaron would teach the laws to the Israelites.

Moshe kept Aaron and his two surviving sons busy and moving. This helped maintain the significance of the day for klal Yisrael. One interesting idea found in a book of the Chatam Sofer’s commentaries was that “If Aaron showed over signs of mourning, then any mourning on the part of Klal Yisrael would be interpreted as an indication of sympathy to Aaron, rather than genuine remorse on the passing of these tzaddikim.” 

The death of Nadav and Avihu was both shocking and tragic, all the more so because the idea of the inauguration of the sacrificial service in the Mishkan must remain a day we think about with joy-filled awe. Herein there are many small lessons: helping another person overcome their fears (Moshe and Aaron), the importance of humility (Aaron, Nadav and Avihu), the need of a public leader to be a leader in his family (Moshe), and the incredible strength one can muster in the service of the Divine (Aaron). May we each find the message that is right for us and be inspired by all of the words of the Torah.