How Can we Avoid Offering a Strange Fire to Hashem?

 

Parashat Shemini
How Can we Avoid Offering a Strange Fire to Hashem?

Does Heading the Divine Voice within Override Keeping the Mitzvot to the Dot?
In our generation which emphasizes the importance of kavana (intention) in divine service, it can be challenging to find the right balance between deeply connecting to the mitzvot on an individual level, while keeping the Torah and Halacha to the dot. I experienced the tension between the two during this past Seder night when I surprisingly found myself singing the Haggadah at the top of my lungs together with not only my husband and sons but also my brother-in-law and nephew. In all past years, I would subdue my singing voice whenever a man other than my husband and sons was present. I even recall – being invited many years ago to the home of one of my Torah teachers – and being surprised and judgmental about her and her family’s singing zemirot in the presence of my husband. So, why did I not stop myself from singing this seder night? How was this night different than all other nights? Was it because I had drunk more wine than usual that I let go of more inhibitions? True, I could feel the effect of the wine, but in a good, elevating, liberating way, that brought me closer to the Divine voice within my heart, and I knew deeply that my singing was called for at this family seder table. Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner explains: “This is the root of the life of Yehuda to look to G-d in every matter and not to act in accordance with ‘a commandment performed by people by rote.’ Even though yesterday he performed a similar act, nevertheless today he does not want to rely on himself, but rather that G-d should illuminate His will to him anew. This sometimes obliges him to perform an action against Halacha, for “it is time to act on behalf of Hashem...” (Mei ha-Shilo'ach 1, Vayeshev). But isn’t this a dangerous road to take, one that we are warned against in the story of Nadav and Avihu who offered a strange fire? 

The Boundaries of Spiritual Enthusiasm
“Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon, took each of them his censer, and put fire in it, and put incense on it, and offered strange fire before Hashem, which He commanded them not. And a fire went out from Hashem, and devoured them, and they died before Hashem. Then Moshe said to Aharon, ‘This is that which Hashem spoke, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come near Me, and before all the people I will be glorified…’” (Vayikra 10:1-3).   

 When Nadav and Avihu, in their profound experience of love and Divine unification, offered the fire before G-d, their spiritually uplifting moment was shattered into pieces, for fire went out from before G-d and burned them to death. What could possibly be the problem in drawing near to G-d, through the inner desire to serve Him? Rebbe Nachman teaches that even when an act appears holy, it could be rooted in evil and defilement. We must not look only at the action, but at its source, its motive, and its catalyst. This is what G-d taught us when he rejected the offering of Nadav and Avihu. “By dancing, when he drinks the wine of joy, one can expel the external forces from there. This is the excitement in dance, ‘an offering by fire, a pleasing fragrance to G-d’ (Bamidbar 28:8). In contrast when someone dances with the excitement of the evil inclination, it is called the transgression of Nadav and Avihu. Concerning them it is written ‘They offered… a foreign fire’ (Vayikra 10:1). This fire is called wine that intoxicates, the excitement of the evil inclination. That is where the external forces have a hold, G-d forbid” (Rebbe Nachman, Likutei Moharan Kama 41). Although Nadav and Avihu were moved by fire to make an offering before G-d, it was a strange fire. Likewise, we must check ourselves to become aware from which source we are motivated.

The Power of the Torah Commandment Overrides Everything
The Sefat Emet teaches that the entire human reason is nullified by the Divine command. Although Nadav and Avihu were exceedingly righteous, and they acted for the sake of heaven; they offered a strange fire, “which He commanded them not.” This is the power of a mitzvah, as it states: “Who has sanctified us with His mitzvot and commanded us” (Sefat Emet, Shemini 5636). The essence of a blessing recited prior to the performance of a mitzvah does not focus on the content of the mitzvah over which the blessing is being recited, but on the very fact that it is a mitzvah – a Divine command. The power of the mitzvah is more important than anything else. This denies the validity of an action that is not based on G-d’s command, even if its intention is good and involves drawing near to G-d. It also heightens the value of an action that is in fact based on a Divine imperative, even if it is lacking the desired intention and knowledge of its reason. Although Nadav and Avihu did not act out of pride, yetzer, or lust, but rather for the sake of heaven in their pure and sincere desire to draw near to G-d, the command was missing. Nadav and Avihu represent the approach that gives preference to meaning over obedience, and their punishment teaches us to restore the command and the acceptance of Hashem’s yoke to the center of our Divine service. Religious excitement is important and meaningful, but it does not substitute acceptance of the yoke of the heavenly kingdom, which involves awe, acceptance, and response to G-d’s mitzvot. Although it is possible that Nadav and Avihu heard the empiric will of G-d, since the Torah and its mitzvot are absolutely true, they were obligated to waive their individual approach to that of the Torah community.

Rav Kook’s Teaching to Integrate the Paternal Principle with the Supreme Mother
In a family although the father traditionally has the last say, often the mother is intuitively more in touch with the Divine will. It is not by chance that as we enter the last stages of redemption, developing a personal deep connection with the mitzvot by listening to the Torah of the mother is becoming more vital. Yet just as a child needs both a father and a mother, our path must be enlightened by both the established halacha and the intuitive inner connection. In fact, Rav Kook teaches that the inner connection must adapt itself to the Torah of Moshe:

“When one follows the supernal feeling of the appearance of the holy spirit, or any wisdom or appearance in the world, without detailed connection to the Torah and its deeds, and the good traits that follow therefrom – this is the sin of Nadav and Avihu, the separation of the paternal principle from the supreme mother…  The great depth of this holiness must efface itself before the source of the Torah…” (ibid.).

Yet, on the other hand experiencing a personal connection with the Divine – a feeling of being guided, cannot be limited by conventional rules: “Those who know G-d cannot be limited by the great limits set by Moshe and Aharon… When they expand, they are rejected from the world, they do not build a family, and they have no children. And they return as Pinchas, he being Eliyahu, who is filled with the spirit of G-d and zealotry for the covenant” (Shemone Kevatzim, VI, 265; Orot ha-Kodesh, III, p. 360).

Joining Together Moshe and his Torah with Eliyahu and his Zealotry
Eventually Hashem will reconnect the world of limits – the world of the fathers, to the world of the mothers, connecting and allowing the very existence of both spiritual movements to establish our worship of G-d. Rav Kook notes that the prophet Malachi concludes his prophecy, joining together Moshe and his Torah with Eliyahu and his zealotry:

“The tradition and the sanctified service based on prophecy and the Torah, and the supreme elevation that respects the holiness and limits the conditions of spiritual life, but nevertheless elevates itself above all worldly values were combined in Israel, to bear with its great strength the burden of exile and all its toil and allow the penetration of the light of salvation and redemption. ‘Remember the Torah of Moshe My servant, which I commanded him in Chorev for all Israel, both statutes and judgments. Behold, I will you send you Eliyahu the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Hashem. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers’ (Malakhi 3:22-24).” (ibid.).

Integrating the Approaches of the Worldly with the Otherworldly
Nadav and Avihu are the constant movement of the power of youth implanted within us, that wishes to cleave to the Divine beyond the boundary of limits. As we approach the final redemption, this power, associated with “the world-to-come” will serve as an important foundation as it combines with the power of the order of the Torah and boundaries within this world. Together they will light a great fire, a flame of G-d, that will rise in a tempest to heaven, and illuminate the entire world in a new light:

“The stormy spirit of youth, which stirs up with strength and might, together with the orderly spirit of old age, that is filled with solemnity and caution, join together to impact upon life, spiritual and material, to hasten salvation and become the basis for the offspring of God, a shining light to the son of Yishai, the anointed of G-d, the spirit of our nostrils, when the two of them will come together, Eliyahu the prophet and the messiah, son of David” (Shemone Kevatzim, VI, 265; Orot ha-Kodesh, III, p. 360).

(This article is inspired by Rav Itamar Eldar, Parashat Shemini: The Sin of Nadav and Avihu)

See the full article here:  https://www.etzion.org.il/en/tanakh/torah/sefer-vayikra/parashat-shemini/parashat-shemini-sin-nadav-and-avihu

EmunaHealing Exercise for Integrating Personal Inspiration within the Parameters of Halacha
1. Make yourself comfortable within your space on a cushion, on the floor, or on a comfortable chair. You may even lie down on a bed or couch if you prefer. Center yourself and take several slow and mindful breaths.
2. Recall an exalted moment of your life, when you felt spiritually inspired by the Shechina (Divine Feminine Presence). Envision yourself in this place and get in touch with your elated feelings. Mentally recite: “I match my resonance in my current state with my elated state at (insert x time/place/situation).
3. Reenter your special highpoint and allow yourself to get in touch with the exhilarated feelings and inspirations you experienced. As you open yourself to reexperience this moment of divine inspiration, ponder an existential question in your current life situation.
4. While bringing your past highlight into your present moment, open yourself to receive inspiration from your past into your current quandary. Repeat your personal spiritual query and tap into the answer in your heart.  
5. You are at one with your personal Divine truth. Feel it penetrating every fiber of your being: From the top of your head, your truth illuminates your eyes, and nose and sweetens your mouth. Your ears hear the heavenly voice of truth and transport it into your entire head, even to your chin and throat.
6. Your truth is cascading down your shoulders and filling your arms, hands, and fingers, your diaphragm, and your chest.
7. Breath your truth into your lungs and heart and feel it reverberate in your entire upper body, all the way down until your belly button.
8. Now it’s time to filter your truth with the filter of Torah and Halacha. Imagine sifting your truth through the laws of the holy Torah and only allowing the parts that sift through this Torah filter to enter your inner organs: Your stomach, liver, spleen, and kidneys are now being permeated with your personal truth that passes through the filter of absolute Torah law.
9. Allow your personal truth now integrated with the Torah of Moshe to glide down into your thighs, knees, feet, and all your toes.
10. You are standing firm and grounded. You are standing in your truth, connected from top to toe with the Divine will for you. You feel elated and joyous, knowing that you are connected. You have integrated both the supreme mother and the paternal principle within your truth. You are planted in the earth of the supreme Mother, receiving the Paternal principle from the heavenly Torah!