אַל תְּבַקֵּשׁ גְּדֻלָּה לְעַצְמְךָ, וְאַל תַּחְמֹד כָּבוֹד,
Do not seek greatness for yourself, and do not covet honor.
הַמַּכִּיר אֶת מְקוֹמוֹ...... וְאֵינוֹ מַחֲזִיק טוֹבָה לְעַצְמו...
[Learning of Torah is also acquired by] one who recognizes his place....who takes no credit for himself... Pirkei Avot 6:6
וַיְהִי֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁמִינִ֔י קָרָ֣א מֹשֶׁ֔ה לְאַהֲרֹ֖ן וּלְבָנָ֑יו וּלְזִקְנֵ֖י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֗ן קַח־לְ֠ךָ עֵ֣גֶל בֶּן־בָּקָ֧ר לְחַטָּ֛את וְאַ֥יִל לְעֹלָ֖ה תְּמִימִ֑ם וְהַקְרֵ֖ב לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃ וְאֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל תְּדַבֵּ֣ר לֵאמֹ֑ר קְח֤וּ שְׂעִיר־עִזִּים֙ לְחַטָּ֔את וְעֵ֨גֶל וָכֶ֧בֶשׂ בְּנֵי־שָׁנָ֛ה תְּמִימִ֖ם לְעֹלָֽה׃ וְשׁ֨וֹר וָאַ֜יִל לִשְׁלָמִ֗ים לִזְבֹּ֙חַ֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה וּמִנְחָ֖ה בְּלוּלָ֣ה בַשָּׁ֑מֶן כִּ֣י הַיּ֔וֹם יְהוָ֖ה נִרְאָ֥ה אֲלֵיכֶֽם׃
On the eighth day Moses called Aaron and his sons, and the elders of Israel. He said to Aaron: “Take a calf of the herd for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, without blemish, and bring them before the LORD. And speak to the Israelites, saying: Take a he-goat for a sin offering; a calf and a lamb, yearlings without blemish, for a burnt offering; and an ox and a ram for an offering of well-being to sacrifice before the LORD; and a meal offering with oil mixed in. For today the LORD will appear to you.”
וַיָּבֹ֨א מֹשֶׁ֤ה וְאַהֲרֹן֙ אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד וַיֵּ֣צְא֔וּ וַֽיְבָרֲכ֖וּ אֶת־הָעָ֑ם וַיֵּרָ֥א כְבוֹד־יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־כָּל־הָעָֽם׃ וַתֵּ֤צֵא אֵשׁ֙ מִלִּפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה וַתֹּ֙אכַל֙ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֔חַ אֶת־הָעֹלָ֖ה וְאֶת־הַחֲלָבִ֑ים וַיַּ֤רְא כָּל־הָעָם֙ וַיָּרֹ֔נּוּ וַֽיִּפְּל֖וּ עַל־פְּנֵיהֶֽם׃
Moses and Aaron then went inside the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the Presence of the LORD appeared to all the people. Fire came forth from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. And all the people saw, and shouted, and fell on their faces.
וַיִּקְח֣וּ בְנֵֽי־אַ֠הֲרֹן נָדָ֨ב וַאֲבִיה֜וּא אִ֣ישׁ מַחְתָּת֗וֹ וַיִּתְּנ֤וּ בָהֵן֙ אֵ֔שׁ וַיָּשִׂ֥ימוּ עָלֶ֖יהָ קְטֹ֑רֶת וַיַּקְרִ֜בוּ לִפְנֵ֤י יְהוָה֙ אֵ֣שׁ זָרָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹ֦א צִוָּ֖ה אֹתָֽם׃
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 [commanded]them.
(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׃
(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.
What does it mean "those close to me I will make holy"? How does one become close to God? In what ways would someone experience holiness? What is your response to Aaron's silence? What are the messages you're getting from the text?
דָּמַם (v) heb
-
- to be silent, be still, wait, be dumb, grow dumb
- (Qal)
- to be silent
- to be still, die
- to be struck dumb
- (Niphal) to be silenced, be made silent, destroyed
- (Poal) to make quiet
- (Hiphil) to make silent (cause to die)
- (Qal)
- to be silent, be still, wait, be dumb, grow dumb
לֹא־תַעֲל֥וּ עָלָ֛יו קְטֹ֥רֶת זָרָ֖ה וְעֹלָ֣ה וּמִנְחָ֑ה וְנֵ֕סֶךְ לֹ֥א תִסְּכ֖וּ עָלָֽיו׃
You shall not offer alien incense on it, or a burnt offering or a meal offering; neither shall you pour a libation on it.
Nadav and Avihu concentrated their efforts on their own spiritual attainments, without integrating the discipline of Torah. They were highly aware of their own spiritual greatness, but personal holiness must be negated before the higher light of Torah.
~ Rabbi Kook (1865 - 1935)
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 internalize 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.
2. The second is when a man suffers a great loss —or his children die — and he declares his faith in the Justice of God, Blessed be He, and receives His Judgment with love, as it is said: "And Aaron was silent" (Lev. 10:3). And this certainly teaches what humble and modest conduct is.
Know that the quality of being guarded cannot belong to those who are lacking in intelligence. For the Creator joins only with rational men, as it is said (Amos 3:2), “You only have I known of all the families of the earth.” Therefore, since the Creator does join in the companionship of rational men and brings them near to himself, he punishes them but does not punish the wicked ones who are far away from him. It is said (Leviticus 10:3), “Through them that are nigh unto Me I will be sanctified.”
This then is the deeper meaning of the words החטאים האלה בנפשותם, "these people who had sinned against their souls." The word חוטא, is usually applied to someone who commits an unintentional sin. The intention of these people had been to improve their spiritual level, i.e. "בנפשותם." In this respect they were not much different from Nadav and Avihu, who had been referred to as גדולי ישראל, great men among Israel, and concerning whom Moses himself had quoted G–d as saying בקרובי אקדש, "I must be sanctified by those who are close to Me" (Leviticus 10,3). Rashi explains there that Moses described these two people as superior to himself and to Aaron. We are told in Sanhedrin 52a, that Nadav and Avihu anxiously awaited the death of Moses and Aaron in order to become heirs to their lofty positions. At first glance, that statement suggests that their desire was criminal. The truth is, however, that they committed a sin לשמה, for a higher purpose, they yearned for this position in order to come closer to G–d. This is why the Torah describes their death as בקרבתם לפני ה' "because of their closeness to G–d" (Leviticus 16,1). Were it not so, the Torah should have written בהקריבם, "when they offered, etc." The Torah wanted us to understand, however, that what happened was due to their offering themselves before G–d. They died while bringing incense, which is of a spiritual dimension [since only the fragrance is of the essence]. The function of the incense is to create a close relationship between the "upper"' and the "lower" world. The fact that only their souls and not their bodies were burned testifies to the nature of their error. What happened to the two hundred and fifty men who offered incense was quite similar. Their sin, too, just as the death of Nadav and Avihu was due to their desire to elevate their souls, נפשותם. Their death was due too to their having offered incense.
Let us return to the subject of Nadav and Avihu. These two sons of Aaron did not restrain themselves and, as a consequence beheld a vision that was beyond the capacity of their bodies; this was what caused their death. Theirs was the death described as precious to the Lord in Psalms 116,15. Their "death" should not be considered a regular death, and we must not think of it in terms of their being punished for a sin and having to die. On the contrary, they had achieved such a close affinity with G–d that their souls simply remained in the Celestial Regions, i.e. בקרבתם לפני ה'. This is the reason Moses told Aaron that theirs was an example of בקרובי אקדש, "I will be sanctified through those who are close to Me" (10,3). What this means is that their very death was the beginning of their life in the Hereafter.... Here too we find that Aaron remained silent after Moses had explained the nature of his sons' "deaths" to him. This then is the explanation of the first Mishnah in Avot.
(א) ויקחו בני אהרן נדב ואביהוא ... וידום אהרן כתב הרב רבי משה בר נחמן שהיה אהרן בוכה וצועק במר רוחו וכאשר דבר משה שתק ולא בכה עוד ואינו נכון שירים קולו ויצעק לפני האלהים ביום חתונתו וביום שמחת לבו. אבל פירוש וידום אהרן הוא שנהפך לבו והיה כאבן דומם ולא נשא קולו בבכי ובמספד כאבל אב על בנים. גם לא קבל תנחומים ממשה כי לא נותרה בו נשמה והדבור אין בו ולכן אמר וידום אהרן שהוא מלשון דומם ושותק.
... "Vayidom Aharon" Rabbi Moshe bar Nachman [Nachmanides] wrote that Aharon was crying and weeping with all the bitterness of his heart, and when Moshe said 'be quiet', he stopped weeping. And this is not right, would Aharon lift his voice and weep in front of God in the day of his inauguration and complete happiness of heart? Rather, 'vayidom Aharon' means that his heart was turned upside down, and became like a lifeless stone (domem - mineral), and he did not weep and mourn like a bereaved father, nor did he accept Moses' consolation for his soul had left him and he was speechless, and therefore it says 'vayidom', from the expression domem ve'shotek, lifeless and silent.
לא אמר "וישתוק", כי הבדל בלשון הקודש בין הפעלים הנרדפים "דממה", "שתיקה": "שתיקה" אינו מורה אלה שתיקה לבדה מדיבור או מבכי ואנחה וכן הפסקה משאר תנועות חצוניות, כמו: אחר שאמר (תהלים קז, כז): "יחגו וינועו כשכור", אומר אחר כך (שם שם, ל): "וישמחו כי ישתקו": אבל דממה מורה גם שקט הלב ומרגוע הנפש בפנמיות, כמו שביארו חוקרי הלשון: לכן העיד הכתוב על אהרן קדוש ה' שלא שתק לבד, אלא "וידום", שגם לבו שקט ונפשו הרגיעה בפנימיותה, כי לא הרהר אחר מידותיו של הקדוש-ברוך-הוא כלל, אלא צידק עליו את הדין.
R. Eliezer Lipman Lichtenstein - Shem Olam http://www.jewishagency.org/he/leviticus/content/22409]
Scripture chose "vayidom" rather than "vayishtok", because there is a difference in the holy language between these similar verbs [denoting silence]. Shetikah only signifies the abstention from speaking, weeping, moaning or any other outward manifestation as "They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man" (Ps. 107:27), followed by, "then are they glad because "yishtoku" - they are quiet" (ibid., 30). The verb "domem" however, connotes inner peace and calm, as the researchers of the Language explained. Accordingly Scripture describes Aaron, holy to God, that he was not simply "quiet"(vayishtok) but actually "vayidom" emphasizing that his heart and soul were at peace within, that he did not engage in questioning the standards of the Holy One of Blessing at all, rather he justified the Diving verdict.
(5) A person is obligated to bless upon the bad just as he blesses upon the good. As it says, “And you shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart and all your soul and with all that you have.” (Deut. 6:5) “With all your heart” – with your two inclinations, with the inclination of good and the inclination of evil. “And in all your soul” – even if He takes your soul. “And with all that you have” – with all your money. Alternatively, “With all that you have” – with every measure that is measured for you thank Him very much.
(א) ויקריבו לפני ה' אש זרה אשר לא צוה אותם. במהות חטא זה רבו הדעות בילקוט (שמיני תקנד) מסיק בשם ר' מני על שנכנסו שתויי יין, וע"י שנכנסו בלא רחיצת ידים ורגלים, וי"א שהיו מחוסרי בגדים והיינו המעיל, וי"א על שלא היה להם בנים, וי"א על שלא נשאו נשים, וי"א על שהורו הלכה בפני משה רבן, וי"א על שהיו מהלכים ואומרים מתי ימותו ב' זקנים הללו ואני ואתה ננהיג שררה על הציבור, וי"א שעון העגל שעשה אהרן גרמה להם ודרשו על זה פסוק ישלם שנים לרעהו (שמות כב ט) וכל הדעות הללו אע"פ שיש להם קצת סמך מפסוקים אחרים מ"מ הרי מקרא זה מכחיש כל הדעות ההם שנאמר ויקריבו לפני ה' אש זרה אשר לא צוה אותם, ש"מ שלא היה בהם חטא אחר כ"א זה.
And they offered before Ad-nai alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them. Regarding the essence of this sin there are many there are many opinions in the Yalkut. In the name of Rabbi Mani, that [they were punished because] they entered drunk; and because they did not wash their hands and feet; and there are those who say that they were not wearing all the [priestly] clothing and were missing the outer layer; and there are those who say that they did not have children; and there are those who say that they weren't married; and there are those who say that they taught Jewish law in front of their teacher Moshe; and there are those who say that they were walking and asking when will those two oldies die so we can be the leaders of the group; and there are those who say that the sin of the Golden Calf, and use the verse "he shall pay twice" (Exodus 22:9) to prove this. And all those opinions, even though they have some support in a few other verses, in any instance this verse disavows all those opinions, since it says 'they offered before Ad-nai an alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them' - from here you must conclude that they had no other sin besides this one.
(א) ויקחו בני אהרן נדב ואביהוא - קודם שיצא האש מלפני יהוה 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 God would be glorified by all the people becoming aware of Divine approval of their offerings, by God accepting same by means of heavenly fire.
(מה) כִּ֣י ׀ אֲנִ֣י ה' הַֽמַּעֲלֶ֤ה אֶתְכֶם֙ מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לִהְיֹ֥ת לָכֶ֖ם לֵאלֹקִ֑ים וִהְיִיתֶ֣ם קְדֹשִׁ֔ים כִּ֥י קָד֖וֹשׁ אָֽנִי׃
(45) For I am Ad-nai, the One who brings you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; and you shall be holy, for I am holy.