Shemini : Leviticus 10:2-4

Now Aaron’s sons Nadav and  Abihu each took his fire pan, and put fire  in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before the Lord alien fire, which HE had not enjoined upon them. And fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the Lord meant when He said:

“Through those near to Me I show myself Holy, and gain glory before all people. ” And Aaron was silent.

This part of the Torah is cryptic at best. We really do not know why this horrible thing occurred. This is a troubling passage. The Rabbis too were troubled by it, but this of course gave them much to discuss. The Rabbis came up with a myriad of reasons to explain Nadav and Abihu and their untimely demise.

From the outset we are led to believe in the passages preceding the ones we read that these sons of Aaron were not supportive sons. Many children of important  people have trouble following in the footsteps of their parents. It seems Nadav and Abihu were children who could not handle the success of Aaron. While Aaron was only concerned with doing God’s will and ministering to his flock Nadav and Abihu were grandstanders interested in the glory not the responsibility of leadership. They each took their own fire pan, not consulting each other or their father or uncle for that matter. They put fire in it and laid incense on it. They did not wait for God to accept their initial offering. Aaron’s offerings were accepted by God because God made the fire appear. God did not ask for incense. The intent of Nadav and Abihu was not to serve God but was to make a big splash and impress everyone. This to God is alien fire. If you are the sh’liach tzibbur of the people the representative of the Israelites to God your intent is most important. God is impressed by humble people ready to serve God and the Jewish people. Nadav and Abihu were not like that. They were ambitious in the extreme. The Rabbis took Nadav and Abihu’s lack of collaboration to indicate that they were not respectful. They did not follow Aaron’s lead and do what he did. They had to break from tradition for no apparent reason and do it their way.

The fact that they did all of this without waiting for God to light the fire as He did with Aaron’s sacrifice also shows a lack of faith. This is unacceptable for a religious leader.

For all these character flaws God could not allow Nadav and Abihu to serve His chosen people as High Priests, a position of great honor, respect, and responsibility. God therefore made an example of them and in effect vaporized them.

There were some additional commentaries on this portion that are stories about the characters. The Rabbis said they were casually dressed thereby not  looking the part of the High Priest. They also were unmarried and refused to have children. This was troubling to the Rabbis, not because they refused to have children, which sometimes people do but the fact that they seemed to have no interest in the future. They also did not want to teach children or be role models for children. L’Dor Vador, from generation to generation, we must always consider our future. Nadav and Abihu did not, to God that is unforgivable.