From Joy to Trauma: The Story of Nadav & Avihu - Ari Abramowitz: The Land of Israel Fellowship

here let me try to paint a picture for you the jewish people had been through a roller coaster unlike any that i can imagine the only generation that i think comes close would be my grandparents generation for example my wife shayna's grandmother went from suffering the unimaginable evils of auschwitz of having much of her family murdered in the holocaust to witnessing the establishment of the state of israel before her eyes in a war that defied the natural order as you just saw she went from all of that all the way to sitting on the balcony of her granddaughter's home on the judean frontier overlooking her vineyards her olive groves and her day trees i still remember her eyes filling with tears i can only imagine what those eyes had seen and that's the only generation that i think comes close to experiencing what the generation of the exodus experienced in their lives you see the generation of the exodus was born into a deeply entrenched hundreds of years old multi-generational slavery and then before their eyes they saw the most powerful empire in the world crumble under 10 miraculous plagues that were inflicted upon them by the god of israel and then as they were yet again on the verge of destruction the waters parted for them to pass through on dry land followed immediately by those very waters converging on the egyptian army and destroying them all they then turned around and looked forward and found themselves in an uncharted path to an unknown location exposed to the elements and surrounded by enemies and armies that were threatening their very existence their leader and their savior moshe went up to the mountain to receive the ten commandments and because of their mistaken calculation and their confusion and their fear they built the golden calf i'm really bringing it all together and uh and this of course led to a devastating plague and a horrific shame at their sin and their failure and now they finally had a chance at redemption at having clear proof that the divine presence was truly among them that's what the mishkan the tabernacle was going to represent they were going to be able to see it and feel it think about the suspense think about that anticipation for seven days aaron and his sons were told to remain at the tent of meeting while moshe erected the tabernacle performed the service disassembled the tabernacle when the service was done it was almost like i picture it like rehearsals like preparations for the greatest ceremony of the generation perhaps the greatest ceremony of all time and after seven days on the eighth day the moment had come moshe sanctified the kohanim and he erected the tabernacle but this time permanently and from that moment onwards only the kohanim the priests were able to perform the tabernacle service so eighth day the eighth day the moment had arrived the people were finally going to be able to believe in their hearts and see with their eyes that they were forgiven and that god's presence would dwell amongst them it must have been hard for them to believe that the god of israel could be so compassionate and forgiving to love them again and dwell amongst them but it wasn't only hard for them to believe it it was hard for our own the kohen gadol the high priest himself to believe such a thing as a matter of fact in verse 7 we read moshe said come near come near to the altar and perform the service of your sin offering and your elevation offering and provide atonement for them as hashem had commanded now rashi explains that moshe needed to say to arun come near because arun was hesitant to even approach the altar because he felt ashamed and unworthy of such a task i can tell you i identify i often feel unworthy to be here with all of you honestly i'm speaking my heart there's so many rabbis that are wiser and holier than i and uh and i think our own felt that way too he felt ashamed and unworthy and particularly because of his role in the golden calf a sin that i don't think he ever really forgave himself for so our sages say that hashem despises haughtiness and that it was because of this attribute of shame that our own was the perfect choice and that it was particularly because of his part in the sin of the golden calf that our own personal sacrifice the one that he sacrificed for himself that day was out of all animals a calf to allude to the golden calf which haunted him for his entire life so aaron and his sons slaughtered the offerings they performed the service perfectly and wholeheartedly as the entire nation watched with absolute captivation and hopefulness at this point our own our own was so overcome with an overwhelming love for the people and his desire to bless them was so intense that he raised his hands toward the people and blessed them right exactly like this which by the way is the reason that kohanim raised their hands and blessed the people until this very day we sort of take it for granted but it was that what he did right there and raising his hands that that set the groundwork for the calling today and he blessed them for the very first time with the aaronic blessing the the same blessing my friends which we bless you with at the end of our fellowships and i'm so eager to do again there was just so much joy and healing and love and sanctity that filled the air then in verse 24 we read vatica and a fire came forth from before hashem and consumed upon the altar the elevation offering and the fats and the people saw and sang and a glad song uh fell upon and they fell upon their faces so the sifra teaches us that this fire that says the fire that comes from before hashem the fire came down like a pillar from heaven to the earth and it went directly into the holy of holies and from there it emanated out onto the altars causing the incense and the sacrificial parts to go up in a pillar of smoke back to heaven i mean it wasn't just a bonfire this was clearly divinely orchestrated and and the egel ben bakar that calf that our own sanctified was consumed in its entirety even its hide our sages tell us usually that's not consumed it was consumed in its entirety as a message from god to both aaron and the jewish people that the great sin from which they had suffered the golden calf had been forgiven the people were experiencing the greatest joy most probably i imagine in their entire lives possibly even more than the exodus itself because while the miracles of the exodus happened to them this was the tabernacle that they built a relationship with the divine was being born and it was through their actions through their efforts and it was such a joy and at that moment the sons of our own nadav navy who took their incense pans here let's look inside leviticus 10 1. each took his fire pan they put fire on them and they placed incense upon it and they brought before hashem an alien fire that he had not commanded them a fire came forth from from before hashem and consumed them and they died before hashem can you imagine in one moment the nation was plunged from ecstatic joy to devastating trauma as the two holy cherished and beloved sons of our own had their souls consumed within them with divine fire leaving them lying dead by the altar of the tabernacle this highlight was taken from the land of israel fellowship every week hundreds of families from literally around the world come together on our live zoom sessions to strengthen each other to inspire each other and to learn torah from the land of israel in which we connect the dots between the bible the hebrew language and the confusing events of our times go to www of backslash fellowship or click on the link below to join thank you