Shemini – Aharon’s Surviving Sons: Humility in the Face of Fire

Parsha Shimini is known for the deaths of Aharon’s oldest sons, Nadav and Avihu. With the inauguration of the Mishkan (the portable Temple also known as the Tabernacle) Aharon and his four sons assume their roles as priests (or kohanim) and perform their first sacrifices. Nadav and Avihu do something which results in a fire from the Holy of Holies burning their souls from the inside. What the older brothers did is discussed at length but that’s not what I want to explore. I’m focusing on a peculiar moment that happens shortly after.

Aharon and his other sons Elazar and Isamar are instructed by Moses to not mourn Nadav and Avihu for the moment, but instead continue the ritual. Once it is completed, Moses instructs them to eat the sacrifices made that day. But the very next verse has Moses checking their work to find that one of the sacrifices wasn’t eaten, but instead burned on the altar. Moses becomes furious. He zeroes in on Elazar and Isamar interrogating them like a Chief of Medicine grilling interns in an ER (Vayikra 10:16). Elazar and Isamar remain silent until Aharon chimes in, revealing he was the one who made the decision to burn the sacrifice and justifies the choice with Torah law. Moses concedes the point and according to Rashi admits he had forgotten the Torah law Aharon cited. Advertisement

Why does Moses lose his temper so quickly? But also, why do Elazar and Isamar particularly deserve Moses’s ire?

Moses shouldn’t have gotten angry. Rambam says, “Anger is also an exceptionally bad quality. It is fitting and proper that one move away from it and adopt the opposite extreme. He should school himself not to become angry even when it is fitting to be angry.” (Mishneh Torah: Hilchot De’os Chapter 2:3) The Talmud also faults Moses for his anger. (Pesachim 66b) “Reish Lakish said: Any person who becomes angry, if he is a [Torah] scholar, his wisdom departs from him, and if he is a prophet, his prophecy departs from him.” That being said, two of his nephews did just die for not following instructions, so for his other nephews to almost immediately disobey his next instructions is reasonably frustrating.

But it is how Elazar and Isamar react that is more notable. It appears as if they are targeted by Moses as he picks apart their mistake while they’re confounded, needing their father to intercede. However, the commentary paints a very different picture. Rashi comments on the sons’ silence on Vayikra 10:19 saying two ideas. One idea reads…

Perhaps [they were silent] because Elazar did not have the ability to respond? Rashi then cites a moment in the Torah where Elazar stands up to an army, knowledgeably instructing them on Torah law, implying he not only had moral clarity but also no problem with public speaking. So intimidation and lack of knowledge wasn’t the problem. The other idea Rashi expresses reads…

[Elazar and Isamar’s silence] was only by way of respect. They thought it is not proper that our father should sit silent while we speak in his presence and it is not proper that a disciple respond to their teacher. This opinion is important for two major reasons.

First off, the Talmud (Eruvin 63a) says that one of the reasons Nadav and Avihu were liable for death was because they made Torah law rulings in front of their masters (Moses and Aharon). Though this may seem unduly harsh, (the penalty is at the hands of Heaven meaning no court would put them to death, and Heaven gives plenty of chances to do teshuvah) it is to emphasize the importance of respect one should feel for their teacher and mentor. Arrogance is the most despised character trait in Judaism and to speak out in front of your Rabbi to show you think you know better means you care more about looking wise than acquiring wisdom.

Elazar and Isamar knew the correct Torah ruling, but they didn’t correct Moses or speak before their father Aharon. They humbly listened to Moses’s Torah and considered it even when they knew better. Their level of humility was extraordinary and was in stark contrast to their older brothers. Elazar and Isamar succeeded where Nadav and Avihu failed.

On top of that, Elazar and Isamar suffered humiliation by being chastised for something that wasn’t their fault. But they didn’t become defensive, they didn’t get angry, or retaliate. This showed their unparalleled character. As cited in Gitten 36b, “The Sages taught: Those who are insulted [ne’elavin] but do not insult [others,] who hear their shame but do not respond, who act out of love and are joyful in [their] suffering, about them the verse states: ‘ “’And they that love Him are as the sun going forth in its might’ (Judges 5:31)” It is often said that if you’re insulted publicly, especially if the accuser is dead wrong and you could put them in their place, and you don’t react… pray or make a blessing. Your words at that moment are pretty much as holy as they possibly could be.

According to Rashi on Vayikra 10:12, death had been decreed on all four of Aharon’s sons because of Aharon’s part in the golden calf. But in Bava Metzia 58a we find that “A Talmudic Sage taught the following in the presence of Rabbi Nachman bar Yitzchak: ‘“‘One who embarrasses another in public is as if he is committing murder.‘” When Elazar and Isamar suffered that humiliation and didn’t react, the decree against them was nullified and they escaped the fate of their older brothers. Advertisement

So it wasn’t that they deserved to be the subject of Moses’s ire, the ire was their ticket to salvation. We have a tendency to boil down the cause of misfortune to one singular mistake. The truth is it is usually from a myriad of factors from multiple parties. But sometimes, the misfortune is not our fault at all. At that point we can demand justice and appeasement or we can look at the bigger picture and find a tremendous opportunity. True strength isn’t putting someone in their place, it’s being able to control your emotions, knowing that your value has nothing to do with what someone says about you, and always behaving the way you know is right and dignified.

This post is dedicated to the merit of Tzvi Yitzchak ben Nachum Nutte ha-Levi. May his neshama have an aliyah. It originally appeared on my Torah blog SixDegreesofKosherBacon

posted 4 days ago

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