Parshat Shemini5 min read

Aaron Keeps Two Sons After Moses Prays Hard

Nadab and Abihu refused to marry. No woman was fit, they said, for sons of the High Priest and nephews of the king. Their line ended in strange fire.

Curated by Arthur · Told by Maggid ·
Table of Contents
  1. The Hated Well With Beloved Water
  2. Why These Two Fell
  3. The Censer Between Dead and Living
  4. Half a Prayer, Whole a Priest

At the golden calf the LORD's anger blazed against Aaron "to destroy him," and destruction meant more than one man's death. All four of his sons stood under the sentence. Total annihilation of the house.

Aaron Keeps Two Sons After Moses Prays Hard Click for full size

Moses prayed. The prayer succeeded by half. Two sons would fall. Two would be spared. Aaron had, in a sense, set hatred between Israel and their Father in heaven, and hatred stirs up strife. Love covers over transgressions, and that love was the prayer Moses offered on his brother's behalf (Deuteronomy 9:20).

The Hated Well With Beloved Water

Moses noticed something in the opening of Leviticus. Again and again the verses honor "the sons of Aaron" who offer and arrange and burn, while Aaron himself stands unnamed. Moses argued with an image. A hated well, yet its waters are beloved. You granted honor even to ordinary wood for the sake of the trees it came from, ruling olive and vine unfit for the altar out of regard for their fruit. Will You not grant Aaron honor for the sake of his sons?

The answer reversed the field. By your prayer, said the Holy One, I draw Aaron near, and more than that, I make him the essence and his sons the secondary ones. "Command Aaron and his sons." A brother's prayer turned a man marked for ruin into the head of the priesthood. The footnote became the name the command addresses first.

Why These Two Fell

Nadab and Abihu would not marry. Our father is High Priest, our uncle is king, our mother's brother is chief, who is fit to wed us? Their line ended in fire. Others say they fed their eyes on the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence), boasting they needed neither food nor drink, though "they beheld God, and ate and drank." God stayed His hand until the Tabernacle stood and they brought strange fire. Then justice came. Twice Scripture records their death, that Israel may know how the righteous fall (Leviticus 10:1-2).

The ox, the donkey, the sheep, the garment, the lost thing: each word of the law of restitution rose as a charge against the calf. "They exchanged their glory for the likeness of an ox." The mixed multitude bowed. Israel, the scattered sheep, cried, "These are your gods." Moses, called elohim in judgment, sat the case, and the verdict of paying double fell on two of Aaron's house. Half the prayer's mercy. Half the calf's debt.

The Censer Between Dead and Living

Years later wrath blazed again and plague devoured Israel. Moses cried, "Take the censer, put fire upon it!" Aaron recoiled. "My brother, would you kill me? My own sons brought a strange fire and were consumed, and you send me with a censer?" Moses urged him to go quickly. Aaron steeled himself. Even if I must die for Israel, I will not delay. He ran into the midst of the assembly and stood between the dead and the living until the plague stopped at his feet.

The Holy One told Moses, as Aaron took My children out of the plague, exalt him with the word "take." "Take" is the speech of coaxing. Aaron fled from honor as he fled from no danger. Some the Holy One chose and let draw near on their own. Aaron was happy twice over: chosen and brought near both. So God said: open with gentle words, draw him in. "Take Aaron."

Half a Prayer, Whole a Priest

Four sons under a calf's sentence. Two lost to strange fire. Two spared to carry the name. Aaron, once the unnamed father in the sacrificial lists, becomes the essence by a brother's prayer, then becomes the man who runs toward plague with a pan of coals because Israel is dying behind him.

He never forgot the fire that took Nadab and Abihu. He ran into fire anyway. That is the priesthood the prayer bought: not a man without fear, but a man who moves while afraid. When the people count who stood between death and the camp, they name the brother Moses would not let Heaven erase.

Eleazar and Ithamar lived. The service continued. The censer that could have been Aaron's death became Israel's life. Half a destruction left a whole priest standing in the smoke.

On the day Nadab and Abihu died, Aaron was silent. Moses spoke words of comfort that were also words of law. The bodies were carried out by their cousins in their tunics. The anointing oil on Aaron's head kept him from mourning in the ordinary way. Half a destruction left him standing in the sanctuary with two sons alive and two sons gone, a priest whose first public grief was bound by the same service that had just killed part of his house. The later run with the censer was the shape of a man who already knew what fire costs and still chose the camp over safety.

AaronNadabAbihuMosesPriesthood
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From the tradition

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The texts behind this telling. Some cards carry a translation of the source; others are our own retelling of it, and each card says which. Every card links out to the original.

Midrash Aggadah, Leviticus 16:1Midrash Aggadah

Translation of the source text.Midrash Aggadah (Buber), Public Domain, on Sefaria · CC-BY-SA

"After the death of the two sons of Aaron" (Leviticus 16:1). All four of them were fit to die, and Moses prayed on their behalf, and his prayer accomplished half. When was this? At the time when Israel made the calf. What is written there? "And against Aaron the Lord was very angry, to destroy him" (Deuteronomy 9:20). And "destruction" means nothing other than annihilation, as it is said, "And I destroyed his fruit above" (Amos 2:9). Since Moses prayed, his prayer accomplished half: "After the death of the two sons of Aaron."

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Aaron, did I not thus write in My Torah, "For every matter of trespass, for an ox, etc." (Exodus 22:8)? Do you not remember what I did concerning the ox, as it is said, "And they exchanged their glory for the likeness of an ox" (Psalms 106:20)? "For a donkey", those Egyptians, of whom it is written, "whose flesh is the flesh of donkeys" (Ezekiel 23:20), you made for them a calf so that they would bow down to it, as it is said, "And the mixed multitude that was in its midst" (Numbers 11:4). "For a sheep", these are Israel, as it is said, "Israel is a scattered sheep" (Jeremiah 50:17). "For a garment (salmah)", that one of whom it is written, "You have a cloak (simlah), be a ruler over us" (Isaiah 3:6). "For any lost thing" (Exodus 22:8), as it is written of them, "My people have been lost sheep" (Jeremiah 50:6). "Of which one says, This is it" (Exodus 22:8), that they said, "These are your gods, O Israel" (Exodus 32:4). "The matter of them both shall come before the judges (ha-elohim)" (Exodus 22:8), this is Moses, of whom it is written, "See, I have made you a god (elohim), etc." (Exodus 7:1), for Moses sat and judged them. "Whom the judges shall condemn shall pay double to his neighbor" (Exodus 22:8), these are the two sons of Aaron. Rather, it was because of the sin that they did not occupy themselves with being fruitful and multiplying, and from David, peace be upon him, we have learned it. This is what is said, "Fire consumed his young men, etc." (Psalms 78:63), for they used to say: Nadab and Abihu, our father is the High Priest, our uncle is king, our mother's brother is the chief, and we are the flowers of the priesthood; marriage is unfitting for us, as it is said, "and his maidens were not given in marriage" (Psalms 78:63).

And our Rabbis say that they fed their eyes on the Divine Presence (Shekhinah). They said: Thus did Moses do, who ascended to the firmament and gazed upon the Divine Presence and needed neither food nor drink; we too, since we shall gaze upon the Divine Presence, will need neither food nor drink. Nevertheless, "And they beheld God, and ate and drank" (Exodus 24:11). At that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to stretch out His hand against them, but the Holy One, blessed be He, said: I will wait until the Tabernacle is made and they enter to offer, and I will execute upon them the attribute of justice, as it is said, "And they offered strange fire which He had not commanded them" (Leviticus 10:1). And why is death written of them two times? For one verse says, "And Nadab and Abihu died, etc." (Numbers 3:4), and in another place it says, "And they died" (Leviticus 10:2), until you know that righteous ones...:

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Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 479:17Yalkut Shimoni on Torah

Translation of the source text.Torat Emet (Yalkut Shimoni) · CC-BY-NC

This is what Scripture says: "Hatred stirs up strife" (Proverbs 10:12). The "hatred" that Aaron placed between Israel and their Father in heaven "stirs up strife", it stirred up against them severe judgments. Rabbi Assi said: this teaches that Aaron used to take their offering and slacken it for them, saying to them, "Know that these have no substance." This is what the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book" (Exodus 32:33). This is what is written, "And the LORD was very angry with Aaron, to destroy him" (Deuteronomy 9:20). Rabbi Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: the destruction written here means nothing but the loss of his children, as you say, "And I destroyed his fruit above" (Amos 2:9).

"And love covers over all transgressions" (Proverbs 10:12), the prayer that Moses prayed for him. What did he pray for him? Rabbi Mani of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: from the beginning of the book until here it is written, "And the sons of Aaron shall offer," "And the sons of Aaron shall put," "And the sons of Aaron shall arrange," "And the sons of Aaron shall burn" (Leviticus 1-3). Moses said before the Holy One, blessed be He: "A hated well, yet its waters are beloved. To the wood You apportioned honor for the sake of their offspring, as we have learned: all kinds of wood are fit for the arrangement on the altar except that of the olive and the vine. To Aaron will You not apportion honor for the sake of his sons?" The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "By your life, at your prayer I draw him near; and not only that, but I make him the essence and his sons secondary," as it is said, "Command Aaron and his sons."

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Midrash Aggadah, Leviticus 8:2Midrash Aggadah

Translation of the source text.Midrash Aggadah (Buber), Public Domain, on Sefaria · CC-BY-SA

"Take Aaron." As Scripture says, "Happy is the one You choose and bring near, that he may dwell in Your courts" (Psalms 65:5). Happy is everyone whom the Holy One, blessed be He, has chosen, even though He has not brought him near; and happy is the one whom He has brought near, even though He has not chosen him. The best of the patriarchs whom the Holy One, blessed be He, chose but did not bring near, this is Abraham our father. You find that the Holy One, blessed be He, chose him, and he brought himself near, as it is said, "You are the Lord God, who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and changed his name to Abraham, and found his heart faithful before You" (Nehemiah 9:7-8). Jacob the Holy One, blessed be He, chose, as it is said, "Jacob whom I have chosen" (Isaiah 41:8), and it is written, "For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel for His treasured possession" (Psalms 135:4); yet He did not bring him near, and he brought himself near, as it is said, "And Jacob was a wholehearted man, dwelling in tents" (Genesis 25:27). Moses the Holy One, blessed be He, chose and brought near, as it is said, "Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him" (Psalms 106:23), and it is written, "And Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was" (Exodus 20:18). And David, peace be upon him, the Holy One, blessed be He, chose, as it is said, "And He chose David His servant" (Psalms 78:70), and he brought himself near, as it is said, "I am a companion to all who fear You" (Psalms 119:63). Happy are these whom the Holy One, blessed be He, chose, even though He did not bring them near. Jethro the Holy One, blessed be He, brought near but did not choose; Rahab the harlot the Holy One, blessed be He, brought near but did not choose; Ruth He brought near but did not choose. Happy is Aaron doubly, for He chose him and brought him near. And from where do we know that He chose him? As it is said, "And it shall be that the man whom I choose" (Numbers 17:20). And from where do we know that He brought him near? As it is said, "And you, bring near to yourself Aaron" (Exodus 28:1).

"Take Aaron and his sons." And when did he take Aaron? At the time when the wrath went forth from above to destroy the enemies of Israel; and when Moses saw it, he said to him, "Why do you stand? Take the censer and put fire upon it" (Numbers 17:11). Aaron said to Moses, "My brother, do you wish to kill me? My sons, because they offered before Him a common fire, were burned, as it is said, 'And they offered before the Lord a strange fire which He had not commanded them' (Leviticus 10:1), and what is written after it? 'And fire went forth from before the Lord and consumed them' (Leviticus 10:2); and you say to me, 'Take the censer'?" Moses said to him, "Go, do it quickly," as it is said, "And carry it quickly" (Numbers 17:11). When Aaron heard this, he said, "Even if I am to die for Israel, I will not delay." Immediately, "And Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly" (Numbers 17:12). He went for the sake of Israel. Immediately the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "You go first and exalt Aaron with 'taking.' As Aaron took my children out of the midst of the plague, so you too exalt him with 'taking.'" Therefore it is said, "Take Aaron."

Another interpretation: "Take Aaron." As Scripture says, "The righteous man who walks in his integrity, happy are his children after him" (Proverbs 20:7). And who was this? This was Aaron and his sons. And if so, Samuel too was a righteous man and a great prophet, as it is said, "And all Israel knew" (1 Samuel 3:20), yet his sons were not like him, as it is said, "And his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after gain" (1 Samuel 8:3). If so, of whom is it said, "Who walks in his integrity"? This is Aaron, who saw his sons alive, standing and serving in the high priesthood. Therefore, "Take Aaron and his sons."

Another interpretation: "Take Aaron." The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "Open with him with words, because he flees from authority"; and "take" is nothing other than a language of persuasion. For so Nebuzaradan, whom Nebuchadnezzar commanded concerning Jeremiah, he said to him, "Take him and set your eyes upon him" (Jeremiah 39:12). And so it says concerning Sarah our mother, as it is said, "And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house" (Genesis 12:15), for she did not wish to go, and they persuaded her. And as it says concerning Dinah, "And he took her and lay with her and afflicted her" (Genesis 34:2), for she did not wish, and they persuaded her. So too with Aaron, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "Open with him," because he flees from authority, as it is said, "Take Aaron."

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