Parshat Shemini
24 Nisan 5762
April 6, 2002
Daf Yomi: Baba Batra 17


Guest Rabbi:
Rabbi Pesach Lerner
Executive Vice President, National Council of Young Israel

�And they (Nadov and Avihu) brought before HaShem a foreign fire that He had not commanded them.� (Vayikra 10:1)

�And you shall protect HaShem�s charge so that you will not die; for so I have been commanded� (Vayikra 8:35)

�This is the thing that HaShem has commanded you to do; then the glory of HaShem will appear to you.� (Vayikra 9:6)

Our Sages and Torah commentators offer a wide range of interpretations regarding the actual deed of Nadav and Avihu, why they did it and why the action caused their death.

The Sifra comments that they �added love upon love�; their actions exceeded that which they were commanded to do. The love that Nadav and Avihu had for the Al-Mighty was indeed great. They sacrificed themselves, like a korban. (Haksav V�hakabalah). Their death was like a �kiss� from HaShem. (Rav Chaim Vital). Their action was so holy that it drew their souls from their physical bodies; they were too holy for the physical world.

Perhaps that was their sin. They did more than they were commanded. Had they done that which they were commanded, they would have lived. The Torah wants man to live, to be part of the spiritual and physical worlds. Nadav and Avihu exceeded the commands of HaShem.

The Sfas Emes explains: The Mitzvot are to be done as commands from HaShem. Doing that which HaShem wants is greater than the greatest of good intentions. Nadav and Avihu were great people, they had deep reasons and rationales for their actions but since they exceeded that which HaShem commanded them, they were punished.

�This is the thing that HaShem has commanded you to do; then they glory of HaShem will appear to you�.

Love without boundaries, without restrictions, without the fear of heaven can create destruction. Too much love can misdirect a person. Good intentions that are not subservient to the will of G-d, can turn into actions that are not accepted by G-d.

HaShem does not want man to die in the service of the Al-Mighty. �And you shall protect HaShem�s charge so that you will not die; for so I have commanded.� �You shall observe my decrees and my laws which man shall do and by which he shall live...� (Vayikra 18:5). HaShem wants man to live. When he exceeds G-d�s commands and that which HaShem wants, then man will no longer live. In the Yehe Rotzon Tefilla we say each morning, after the 15 berachot we say at the beginning of the service, we pray �and compel our inclination to be subservient to you�. Asks Rav Shimon Schwab zt�l, that we already requested �Let not the evil inclination dominate us� so what inclination are we now discussing?

Rather �And compel our inclination to be subservient to You� is referring to the good inclination, the Yetzer Tov. Even the Yetzer Tov must be subservient to G-d. We pray that our great love for HaShem not cause us to do more than He has commanded us; we pray that our great love not bring us to transgress the will of G-d.