Pĕsikta dĕ-Rab Kahăna: R. Kahana's Compilation of Discourses for Sabbaths and Festal Days (JPS Classic Reissues)

PISKA 26

523 PISKA 26 Summary On God’s judgment The death of Aaron’s two sons points up the fate which befalls all kinds of people—the good, the bad, and the indifferent (Sec. 1). Indeed, everywhere grief is mingled with joy. Thus a young man, as illustrated by a story, may die on the day he is to be wed. Even God’s joy in the beneficence which He bestowed upon the generation of the flood and upon the people of Sodom and Gomorrah came to be mingled with grief when justice demanded that the generation of the flood and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah be destroyed. So, too, God’s joy was mingled with grief when Aaron’s two sons who came to present their offerings had to die (Sec. 2). Nevertheless, human beings distracted by grief are not to let grief entwine itself permanently in their lives. At the same time, the wicked are not to suppose that they can find joy unmingled with grief in God’s world. Adam for all his splendor , Abraham for all his love of God, Elisheba for all the triumphs which were hers—each came to taste grief. How then can the wicked expect to escape it? (Sec. 3). As High Priest, Aaron could command God to mount up His presence upon the Ark or to remove it from the Ark. As High Priest, he could tell in advance the kind of year the people of Israel were to have. And when Aaron’s two sons died, God Himself remained as mourner (Sec. 4). How, then, is one to explain the death of Nadab and Abihu, a death which, Job said, made his heart leap out of its place in terror? 524 PESIKTA DE-RAB KAHANA (Sec. 5). The truth is that Aaron’s two sons were taken by way of punishing Aaron for his transgression. But they were also taken because they were guilty of a kind of presumptuousness which expressed itself in their daring to render a legal decision in the presence of Moses their master (Sec. 6/7). Some commentators suggest that Nadab and Abihu incurred the penalty of death because in bringing their offering they were guilty of certain infractions stemming in part from presumptuousness . But whatever their guilt, they were not guilty of dissolute practices in secret (Sec. 8). Other commentators suggest that Aaron’s sons were guilty of four offenses: tasting wine before entering the Sanctuary ; entering the Sanctuary without washing their hands and feet; entering it while lacking the prescribed number of garments; being childless at the time they entered it. They were childless because in utter disregard of the High Priest’s obligation to marry, they refused to take wives; in their presumptuousness, they deemed no maiden in Israel worthy of themselves. So great was the presumptuousness of Nadab and Abihu that they all but trod on Moses’ and Aaron’s heels, saying: “In no time at all we shall assume authority over Israel.” Even in God’s presence on Sinai the two brothers were not humble, for they feasted their eyes upon the Presence in the manner of a man who is eating and drinking without restraint. Moses, on the other hand, in his humility did not feast his eyes on the Presence and so was given the privilege of inspiring awe in others. Nadab’s and Abihu’s presumptuousness notwithstanding, their death —the death of children of a righteous man—was twice as grievous for God as it was for their father. Actually, according to one commentator, Nadab and Abihu received their sentence of death at Sinai, but God, not wishing to confound the day of Torah’s joy, preferred to have them punished on the day of His own joy, the day He was to enter the Tent of Meeting (Sec. 9). The question whether the son of a High Priest may or may not officiate as High Priest during the life of his father is discussed; and PISKA 26 525 the circumstances under which such officiating may take place is illustrated by the story of Kimhith whose seven sons all served in the office of High Priest (Sec. 10). The death of the righteous atones for Israel’s sins. Hence Scripture mentions the death of Nadab and Abihu in connection with the Day of Atonement, even though their death occurred on the first of Nisan (Sec. 11...