Shemini: fires

Shemini: fires

Not all fires are the same, although they have much in common. They produce heat and light and aroma and consequences.

In this week’s parsha, Nadav and Avihu, Aaron’s eldest ( and favored) sons, the sons that are mentioned at the end of Mishpatim ( eating in the glow of the Shechinah) , try to make an improvement  in the  incense service. They bring an uninvited offering and a foreign fire.  Were it not Gd telling the story, one would have said that they lost control of their fire  and were immolated.  Rather we are told that the fire that is native to the Sanctum, consumed them. Fire fought fire and won.

The story of the death of junior priests is followed by an exhortation not to enter the sanctuary drunk.  I think that the intoxication is not limited to alcohol ( a flammable substance)  but includes the intoxication of arrogance, the intoxication of youth. The desire to improve the world can lead to a loss of control, the fire that one brings to the sanctuary can get out of control; and sometimes it can invite a bigger, stronger fire that kills.

These sacrificial fires have a bad history.  The first fire consumes the offering of Hevel, igniting the envy of Cain, leading to the fratricide. ( Did Elazar and Ithamar know about their brothers’ plan?).  

Then the fire is used to create the bricks to build the tower of Bavel. Here is some irony. Mishael is one of the cousins that remove the burned bodies from the Mishkan. During the Babylonian exile ( the manifestation of the tower), Mishael  (aka Mishag [along with Shadrak and Abednigo]) is thrown into the world’s hottest furnace and he ( along with Chanania and Azaria)  is rescued from the fire. Gd can rescue from the fire.

My mother’s tombstone contains a quote from Zecharia: אוּד, מֻצָּל מֵאֵשׁ   a brand plucked out of the fire.

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2 years ago