Shabbat shalom!

What makes something holy? First of all, to be holy is to be to be dedicated or set apart for some particular function or purpose. It may or may not involve something religious or spiritual, although it often does. What makes something holy is that we recognize it as such, either when we declare it special or treat it in a special way. In this week’s Torah reading, parashat Shemini, we read of the consecration of the mishkan, the portable sanctuary that the Israelites constructed and carried with them on their 40-year journey through the Sinai wilderness. This consecration – declaring the mishkan holy – effectively announced that the mishkan was open for business and ready for use. The consecration involved an 8-day ceremony of offerings and rituals, at the end of which daily offerings would be made in accordance with the prescriptions of the Torah.

At this point we learn:

Now Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before the Lord alien fire, which God had not enjoined upon them. And fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the Lord (Leviticus 10:1-2).

In short, Aaron’s two sons – who themselves were priests and therefore authorized to make offerings in the mishkan – were punished by God for offering “alien fire.” The commentators ask, what is “alien fire”? There are a number of possible answers. First, it is possible that the action that they performed – burning incense – was not something that was supposed to be done in the mishkan. It was an improper act. Second, it is possible that the act, itself, was acceptable, but it was performed the wrong way – either at the wrong time (when it was not prescribed) or by the wrong people (Aaron’s sons, rather than the High Priest – Aaron, himself). Third, it is possible that the right offering was performed in a technically correct way, but the brothers were drunk, making their ritual inappropriate because they could not perform it with clarity of mind and intent. Fourth, it is possible that the right offering was performed in the right way, but that a particular attitude accompanied the brothers’ ritual: they assumed a degree of importance they did not deserve. Either they displaced Moses and Aaron from their rightful positions of leadership, or they believed they could perform the offering better than their elders, or they schemed inappropriately about when they would become the legitimate leaders of the people after the deaths of Moses and Aaron.

What did Nadav and Avihu do wrong? It is impossible to know for certain, but what is clear is that their actions did not promote the holiness of the mishkan. They did not make the mishkan set apart, distinct, and important. They behaved in a way that diminished the holiness of the mishkan.

Final questions: did the punishment fit the crime? Ought God to have punished them so severely for offering this “alien fire”? What about the fact that this was the first day that the mishkan was even in use – it had just been dedicated? Was the “alien fire” offered inadvertently, because the brothers did not know the proper rituals yet? These questions remain and weigh heavily on us, as we attempt to know how to bring holiness into our own lives today.

How do we answer these questions? Let’s ponder the answers together. Post your responses here and we can discuss this as a community.

Shabbat shalom.