{"id":44807,"date":"2018-11-28T17:17:47","date_gmt":"2018-11-28T15:17:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=44807"},"modified":"2022-06-22T20:16:56","modified_gmt":"2022-06-22T17:16:56","slug":"too-enthusiastic-too-passionate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/too-enthusiastic-too-passionate\/","title":{"rendered":"Too Enthusiastic, Too Passionate?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[363,750,354],"acf":{"old_id":"44807","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33923,"related_cahpter":"100","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Too much holiness can be a problem too","content":"

Clearly the Torah regards the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, the two elder sons of Aaron, as highly significant because it refers to it on no less than four occasions (Lev. 10:1-2, 16:1, Num. 3:4, 26:61). It was a shocking tragedy, occurring as it did on the day of the inauguration of the service of the Mishkan, a moment that should have been one of the great celebrations in Jewish history.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sages themselves were puzzled by the episode. The text itself merely says that \u201cthey offered unauthorized fire [esh zarah<\/em>] before the Lord, that He had not commanded. \u00a0So fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.\u201d Evidently the sages felt that there must have been something else, some further sin or character flaw, to justify so dire and drastic a punishment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Putting together clues in the biblical text, some speculated that they were guilty of entering the Holy of Holies; that they had given a ruling of their own accord without consulting Moses or Aaron; that they had become intoxicated; that they were not properly robed; that they had not purified themselves with water from the laver; that they were so self-important that they had not married, thinking no woman was good enough for them; or that they were impatient for Moses and Aaron to die so they could become the leaders of Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n

These are all midrashic interpretations: true, valid and important but not the plain sense of the verse. The text is clear. On each of the three occasions where their death is mentioned, the Torah says merely that they offered \u201cunauthorized fire\u201d. The sin was that they did something that had not been commanded. They did so, surely, for the highest motives. Moses said to Aaron immediately after they died that this is what God had meant when he said, \u201c\u2018Among those who are near me I will be sanctified\u201d (Lev. 10:3). A midrash says that Moses was comforting his brother by saying, \u201cThey were closer to God than you or me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The history of the word \u201centhusiasm\u201d, though, helps us understand the episode. Nadav and Avihu were \u201centhusiasts\u201d, not in the contemporary sense but in the sense in which the word was used in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Enthusiasts were people who, full of religious passion, believed that God was inspiring them to do deeds in defiance of law and convention. They were very holy but they were also potentially very dangerous. David Hume in particular saw that enthusiasm in this sense is diametrically opposed to the mindset of priesthood. In his words, \u201call enthusiasts have been free from the yoke of ecclesiastics, and have expressed great independence of devotion; with a contempt of forms, ceremonies, and traditions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\nFrom: The Dangers of Enthusiasm (Covenant & Conversation, Shemini 5776)<\/em><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64970,"id":64970,"title":"is6-holy-holy-holy","filename":"is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/is6-holy-holy-holy.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/holy-holy-holy\/is6-holy-holy-holy\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is6-holy-holy-holy","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64969,"date":"2019-10-30 14:59:15","modified":"2022-07-20 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