Maghen Abraham - Thoughts From Mayer Sasson

Clinging to G-d

"And G-d spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aharon; it was in their coming near before G-d…"

In one verse the Torah mentions "after the death of the two sons of Aharon" and immediately thereafter goes into the details of Laws pertaining to the Service of the Cohen Gadol on Yom Kippur.

The holy Or Hachaim asks: The Torah described the death of Aharon's sons in great detail in the Parsha of Shmini and it said they "offered strange fire before G-d". What does the Torah want to teach us in this verse?

We know that the Rabbis said that Nadav and Avihu – why were they hit by a divine fire? Because they had drunk, they were not married, they stated the Law before their teacher, they offered a strange fire that G-d had not ordered – and there are other things said about them. G-d forbid, they committed so many sins? One was not enough? This shows that all the things mentioned were not enough of a justification for them to die and their death is not explained.

The holy Or Hachaim says that in this Parsha the Torah reveals to us why they died. And this explains the words "by them that are near to Me will I be sanctified". How did Moshe Rabeinu console Aharon HaCohen? Moshe said – "Now I remember that G-d told me concerning the work in the Mishkan, he said "by them that are near to Me will I be sanctified". On that day the Divine Presences will dwell in Israel, the Mishkan will be built – by them that are near to me will I be sanctified. And I thought – who are those that are near to G-d? Either you or me. And now I see that they are greater than me and you. "By them that are near to Me will I be sanctified."

The holy Or Hachaim says that the righteous always day with "kiss of death". Not through the Angel of Death, not from external reasons of This World. They are healthy and complete, they don't have any problem. They don't die because of some matter; their entire death is a "kiss of death". What does this mean? G-d says – You have done a wonderful job, it's enough. Come to me. So G-d comes to them – "A person shall not see Me and live". They wanted so much to know and understand Who G-d is, what true Service of G-d is, and as much as a person can perceive within a body, it cannot be the total understanding. G-d comes and says to him – Here I am. You looked for me, here I am. The person just looks at G-d, cleaves to Him, and goes. This is the kiss of death.

The holy Or Hachaim says. By Aharon's sons, it was not death, not the kiss of death that came near to them. G-d did not come near to them. The Torah comes to explain the death of Aharon's sons. "And G-d spoke to Moshe" – He revealed to Moshe how Aharon's two sons died – "their coming near before G-d"! They themselves became nearer and nearer until they connected with G-d. The kiss did not come near to them; they came near to the kiss.

SHABBAT SHALOM!!