exercise, discipline, and affection. If we consider HaShem our calm
(more or less)-assertive leader, then it falls to G-d to set up
Cesar's other favorite trinity: rules, boundaries, and limitations.
And that's what Leviticus is all about. Rules. And boundaries and
limitations. This parsha is an excellent example.
Our opening scene is dramatic, a continuation of last parsha's Mishkan
dedication ceremonies gone horribly wrong. Aaron's sons, Nadab and
Abihu, bring an incense offering before HaShem, and they get frizzled.
The text doesn't offer much in the way of explanation. There are two
pretty good possibilities.
One: G-d required sacrifice to dedicate the Mishkan. The evidence for
this is that the two men are killed by fire in the same way that fire
consumes the animal sacrifice in the previous chapter. Moses also
implies that he thought he and Aaron would have to die for the cause.
Of course, there's some pretty strong evidence against it, as well:
HaShem doesn't like human sacrifice. It could be that it's just not
okay for humans to sacrifice humans, but it is established in the
Tradition that HaShem doesn't like people created in the image dying.
Two: G-d punished them for incorrect behavior. The description of
Nadab's and Abihu's offering says they brought "strange fire". There's
no explanation of what that means, or why that means they had to die
for it. It could be something as simple as the ceremonial flame they
carried from the Ner Tamid went out, so they lit the incense with a
flint; they used regular fire instead of sacred fire. Or it could be
that they mimicked a trick they'd seen Egyptian priests do to conjure
fire and that made HaShem angry because they didn't follow directions
and they referenced a different god. The best I can tell for sure is
that they didn't follow directions and they got frizzled.
Rules, boundaries, and limitations.
Immediately after that, the parsha starts teaching us about what we
can eat and what is forbidden. Most of what we can eat is the same as
what we can feed to G-d in the form of sacrifice. The two exceptions I
can think of are also the two exceptions to the meat rule: fish and
locusts. I'm not sure if it's because these two are references to
other things or if it's just because they're efficient food sources
that don't depend on climate conditions (like drought, famine, or
flood).
Fish are given the first commandment in the Torah: to be fruitful and
multiply and fill the seas. They were a symbol of fertility and
fortune. They were also only ever referred to in the Biblical texts in
a general sense and not by species, which is interesting, given how
specific the rest of this passage is.
Locusts featured heavily in the plagues. Maybe they're okay to eat
because they're a symbol of HaShem's power? I don't know.
The last rule, boundary, or limitation in the parsha is given to Aaron
instead of Moses. He's told that the priests are not to consume
alcohol before performing their duties. This brings us back to the
beginning of the parsha, and the third possible explanation for why
HaShem frizzled Nadab and Abihu: they were drunk. I would tend to
disagree with this idea, because HaShem usually likes to give fair
warning. This limitation was never previously mentioned, so it seems
like a new, additional, responsibility. It could be a rule put in
place to prevent further frizzling, like perhaps they were tipsy and
grabbed the wrong fire by mistake?
So, like a good pack leader, HaShem set rules, boundaries, and
limitations on the chosen pack.
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