{"id":46501,"date":"2018-12-26T17:36:46","date_gmt":"2018-12-26T15:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=46501"},"modified":"2022-07-20T22:38:26","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T19:38:26","slug":"a-meditation-on-over-enthusiasm-self-renunciation-and-the-holy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/a-meditation-on-over-enthusiasm-self-renunciation-and-the-holy\/","title":{"rendered":"A Meditation On Over-Enthusiasm, Self-Renunciation And The Holy"},"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":[480,354],"acf":{"old_id":"46501","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33923,"related_cahpter":"120","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Had Nadav and Avihu used their own initiative to fight injustice they would have been heroes","content":"

Celebration turned to tragedy. The two eldest sons of Aaron die. The sages and commentators offer many explanations. Nadav and Avihu died because: they entered the holy of holies; they were not wearing the requisite clothes; they took fire from the kitchen, not the altar; they did not consult Moses and Aaron; nor did they consult one another. According to some they were guilty of hubris. They were impatient to assume leadership roles themselves; and they did not marry, considering themselves above such things. Yet others see their deaths as delayed punishment for an earlier sin, when, at Mount Sinai they \u201cate and drank\u201d in the presence of God (Ex. 24: 9-11).<\/span><\/p>\n

These interpretations represent close readings of the four places in the Torah which Nadav and Avihu\u2019s death is mentioned (Lev. 10:2, 16: 1, Num. 3: 4, 26: 61), as well as the reference to their presence on Mount Sinai. Each is a profound meditation on the dangers of over-enthusiasm in the religious life. However, the simplest explanation is the one explicit in the Torah itself. Nadav and Avihu died because they offered unauthorized (literally \u201cstrange\u201d) fire \u2013 meaning \u201cthat which was not commanded.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

To understand the significance of this we must go back to first principles and remind ourselves of the meaning of kadosh, \u201choly\u201d, and thus of mikdash as the home of the holy.<\/span><\/p>\n

The holy is that segment of time and space God has reserved for His presence. Creation involves concealment. The word olam, universe, is semantically linked to the word neelam, \u201chidden\u201d. To give mankind some of His own creative powers \u2013 the use of language to think, communicate, understand, imagine alternative futures and choose between them \u2013 God must do more than create homo sapiens. He must efface Himself (what the kabbalists called tzimtzum) to create space for human action. No single act more profoundly indicates the love and generosity implicit in creation. God as we encounter Him in the Torah is like a parent who knows He must hold back, let go, refrain from intervening, if his children are to become responsible and mature\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

The holy is that point of time and space in which the presence of God is encountered by tzimtzum \u2013 self-renunciation \u2013 on the part of mankind. Just as God makes space for man by an act of self-limitation, so man makes space for God by an act of self-limitation. The holy is where God is experienced as absolute presence. Not accidentally but essentially, this can only take place through the total renunciation of human will and initiative. That is not because God does not value human will and initiative. To the contrary: God has empowered mankind to use them to become His \u201cpartners in the work of creation\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, to be true to God\u2019s purposes, there must be times and places at which humanity experiences the reality of the divine. Those times and places require absolute obedience. The most fundamental mistake \u2013 the mistake of Nadav and Avihu \u2013 is to take the powers that belong to man\u2019s encounter with the world, and apply them to man\u2019s encounter with the Divine. Had Nadav and Avihu used their own initiative to fight evil and injustice they would have been heroes. Because they used their own initiative in the arena of the holy, they erred. They asserted their own presence in the absolute presence of God. That is a contradiction in terms. That is why they died.<\/span><\/p>\n

\nFrom: <\/span>Fire: Holy and Unholy<\/span><\/i> (Covenant & Conversation, <\/span><\/i>Shemini <\/span>5773)<\/span><\/i><\/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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