Parsha 2 - Joseph Katinsky

I chose to report on parashat Shmini because it was my Bar Mitzvah portion. In this portion, Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu bring forth 'strange' fire during a burnt offering and G-d consumed them with that fire. As it turns out, Aaron's sons had been drunk or intoxicated when providing the fire, and G-d commanded that Moses and Aaron show no mourning lest the entire community be punished. It spoke to me because it was very shocking to read about, and made me even more intrigued as I read about Aaron not arguing with G-d over his dead sons. Something else that interested me was how Aaron stayed silent and did not react after seeing Nadab and Abihu die.

Here is a famous picture of the torah portion. It was done by James Tissat. The picture is entitled 'The Two Priests are Destroyed'.



A short summary of the story is that G-d is commanding Moses, Aaron, and Aaron's sons to prepare for the different offerings and rituals that were to take place. In seven days, the rituals take place. two of Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu bring forth strange fire, and are struck down and killed by G-d. Aaron starts to mourn, but Moses tells him not to because it might anger G-d even more. He is quiet. The offerings come to a conclusion and Aaron is faced with the burden of not being able to mourn for the death of his sons.

After researching this parsha, I found some commentary. Rashi said that " 'In their tunics, of the dead men.' This teaches that their clothes were not burnt, but [only] their souls; something like two threads of fire entered into their nostrils". This was very interesting because it shows exactly that G-d meant to kill them for their drunkenness and profane fire. One way this can compare to the other parsha is that in both, Aaron and Abraham are expressing their trust in G-d, with Aaron by being silent after his sons are killed, and with Abraham, attempting to kill his son with the knowledge that G-d commanded him to. This also makes for an interesting comparison in which one of the two were faced with a harder decision. In conclusion, this parsha was beneficial as a way that G-d expressed that there shall not be intoxication when dealing with rituals.