וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה אַחֲרֵ֣י מ֔וֹת שְׁנֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֑ן בְּקָרְבָתָ֥ם לִפְנֵי־יְהוָ֖ה וַיָּמֻֽתוּ׃
The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they drew too close to the presence of the LORD. (Leviticus 16:1)
1)Why is it relevant when Hashem spoke to Moshe that Aaron's sons died?
- Rashi comments that Hashem included the death of Aaron's two sons in order to ‘put him on his guard’. Rashi brings down a mashal to illustrates this: A doctor said to a man not to eat cold things or sleep in a wet place. Then another doctor came and said the exact same things but also said because another man died when he did it. The second doctor was more effective because he said that someone died. This can be applied to our case and that is why Hashem included the death of Aaron’s two sons. I like this answer because the Mashal really helped with my understanding.
2) What else could this phrase mean /What are other interpretation of this pasuk?
3) Where else in the Torah do we see that Hashem speaks to Moshe after someone dies.
4) What does it mean that the sons of Aaron died after they “drew too close to the presence of the LORD”
5) What is interesting about the tenses/ letters used in this Passuk
Rashbam comments on this Pasuk by saying that the reason this conversation specifically happened after Aaron's sons death is because Hashem told Moshe to warn Aaron so that he would die just like his sons had died. I agree with this answer because it gives a clear interpretation of the Pasuk as well as give an explanation that is simple and understandable
ReplyDeletethe Or Hachaim says that the torah writes that they die after hashem speaks to moshe was to show us that hashem was telling moshe, even though he is higher up and closer to hashem that he is not able to enter the Biet Hamikdash whenever he wanted. he then adds how moshe would think that he could. he brings a proof of when it says that moshe's nevuah was superior to all other navi's specifically Aharon's so hashem was speaking to moshe now to warn him not to misunderstand his position and ability to go into the Beit Hamikdash.
ReplyDeleteI like this answer because it makes sense and goes through most of the questions that one would have on his answer.
The Ibn Ezra explains that the reason Hashem telling Moshe that Aaron's sons dies is relevant, is because now Moshe has to go warn Aaron not to die like his sons. I like this answer because it is simple and very pshat based. It makes complete sense with the pasuk and context.
ReplyDeleteSora Newmark
ReplyDeleteI went to a mishmar where the speaker talked about what Nadav and Avihu’s mistake was and whether or not it’s possible to come to close to Hashem. He gave talked about the answer that they were drunk and that’s what their mistake was but he pointed out that this is a slightly confusing answer because they were great people and the teacher of Bnei Yisroel so it’s unlikely they were getting drunk. However, he talked about another answer that is that they gave an extra karban (and maybe they did this because they had a little to drink) and they would hav edone this in order to get closer to Hashem. So it’s not really possible to get too close to Hashem however it is possible to try to come closer to Him in the wrong way.
Ramban comments on what Hashem was warning Moshe against in this passuk. Hashem told Moshe to be careful not to make the same mistake as Aharon’s sons, by drinking too much, or by confronting Hashem when the time isn’t right. I find this answer really interesting because rather than Hashem giving just Aharon a lesson to learn from this experience, Moshe and all of Bnei Yisrael are shown what can happen if one is not careful and respectful toward Hashem.
ReplyDeleteThe Kli Yakar comments on why it says they drew close to Hashem. He says that the pasuk can be translated as "IN their closeness"-they were extremely close to Hashem and they were therefor judged severely. This is based off of the idea that the closer one is to G-d, the more careful one must be in their behavior
ReplyDeleteTovi Malek
ReplyDeleteThe Tur HaAroch says that the reason why the Torah again refers to this event in this pasuk is because seeing the Torah had just (15,31) concluded by warning us to be extremely careful not to become guilty of death through being impure in the Mishkan, the Torah uses the death of Aaron’s sons as an example designed to serve as a deterrent to anyone else who is daring enough to disobey what Hashem said.