‘Playing with Fire’ Parashat Shemini 5785

It was the eighth and final day of the Consecration Ceremony for the Tabernacle (Mishkan). Moshe promises the Jewish People a Divine Revelation [Vayikra 9:4]: “Today, G-d will appear to You”. Aaron completes sacrificing the consecration offerings, he blesses the Jewish People, and then, on cue, G-d makes a grand entrance [Vayikra 9:24]: “Fire went forth from before G-d and consumed the burnt offering and the fats upon the altar, and all the people saw, sang praises, and fell upon their faces.”

And then disaster when two of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, are struck dead [Vayikra 10:1-2]: “Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, each took his firepan, put fire in them, and placed incense upon it, and they brought before G-d foreign fire, which He had not commanded them. Fire went forth from before G-d and consumed them, and they died before G-d”. While our Sages in the Midrash propose a litany of unwritten sins committed by Nadav and Avihu that might have warranted their death, it seems clear that they were guilty of offering incense when they were not commanded to do so. They were playing with fire.

One would think that the catastrophic results of the unprompted offering of incense would be incorporated into some kind of safety guideline not to be repeated but this was not so. Shortly after Nadav and Avihu are killed, Korach rebels against Moshe, asserting that he and Aaron have turned the leadership of the Jewish People into a monarchy. Moshe tells Korach that if he is so certain that he can assume the religious leadership, why doesn’t he try offering up incense? Korach takes up the challenge and finds two hundred and fifty men who are willing to give it a go. Unsurprisingly, catastrophe repeats itself [Bemidbar 16:35]: “A fire went forth from G-d and consumed the two hundred and fifty men offering the incense.”

While the wording of the Divine punishment dispensed to Aaron’s sons and to Korach’s men is nearly identical, the results of the punishment are not. After Nadav and Avihu are killed, Moshe directs his cousins to remove the bodies from the Mishkan [Vayikra 10:4]: “Draw near; carry your kinsmen from within the Sanctuary, to the outside of the camp.” After Korach’s men are killed, there are no bodies to retrieve. Moshe tells Aaron’s son, Eleazar [Bemidbar 17:2]: “Remove the fire pans from among the charred remains and scatter the coals abroad, for they have become sacred.” All that is left is a pile of charred remains along with two hundred and fifty gold firepans. Our Sages are sensitive to this disparity. Regarding Aaron’s sons, the Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin [52a] records that two threads of fire entered their nostrils, burning their souls while leaving their bodies intact, whereas regarding Korach’s men, the Talmud in Tractate Sanhedrin [110a] describes the fire as a physical, consuming flame that burned them entirely, leaving no remains. Why were two dissimilar punishments administered for two similar sins?

The most straightforward answer is that while the sins were identical, the reasons for committing them were very different. Nadav and Avihu craved a closeness to G-d and they got too close while Korach’s men were staging a junta. Everyone got what they deserved: Nadav and Avihu were killed while Korach’s men were destroyed. Nevertheless, if we take a closer at the wording, we can gain additional insight. When Nadav and Avihu offer incense, fire comes out “from before G-d (milif’nei Hashem)”. When Korach’s men offer incense, fire comes simply “from G-d (me’et Hashem)”. To grasp the difference between the two terms, we must take a deep dive into the world of missile energetics.

A missile is essentially a truck that takes a bomb, better known as the “warhead”, from Point A (the launcher) to Point B (the target). Both the warhead and the Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) that takes the warhead to the target, are made of “energetic” material, a substance that releases energy rapidly. The warhead and the SRM perform two very different missions: SRM’s are designed for propulsion, providing the thrust needed to launch the missile. The energetic material, known as the propellant, burns in a controlled manner to produce high-pressure, high-temperature exhaust gases that are expelled through a nozzle to generate a desired thrust profile. Warheads, on the other hand, are designed to deliver a destructive effect upon impact or detonation, using energetic materials to create explosions and other effects to take out targets. SRM’s use composite propellants, such as aluminium powder, ammonium perchlorate and HTPB, to provide sustained thrust through controlled combustion. The burn rate is slow, lasting seconds to minutes, with a focus on stability, efficiency[1], and safe handling. Warheads, on the other hand, use high explosives like HMX or RDX for rapid detonation, releasing their energy in a fraction of a second to create a destructive shockwave and blast. Warheads prioritize maximum energy density and are more sensitive than SRM’s to ensure reliable detonation. Warheads are usually covered with a casing that fragments upon detonation. These fragments are the primary lethal mechanism of most missiles, causing damage through their high-speed impact. Warheads and SRM’s are not interchangeable. A warhead cannot be used to propel a missile as it would cause the missile to disintegrate and a SRM cannot be used to destroy a target because of its slow the release of its energy.

Let us consider Nadav and Avihu’s fire as an SRM and Korach’s Men’s fire as a warhead. The fire that killed Nadav and Avihu was a precise, internal judgment, burning their souls without destroying their bodies, mirroring the controlled burn of an SRM propellant, releasing energy steadily and predictably to achieve a specific purpose (thrust). Just as an SRM’s combustion is carefully engineered, the fire of Nadav and Avihu was a targeted Divine act, confined to their spiritual essence to preserve the Mishkan’s sanctity. SRMs prioritize efficiency (specific impulse) over raw power, ensuring sustained performance without overwhelming the system. Similarly, Nadav and Avihu’s fire was efficient in its spiritual goal, purifying the sacred space without public spectacle. The Zohar (3:33b) even suggests that their souls were elevated through this fire, indicating a transformative, controlled effect akin to an SRM’s steady thrust. The fire that consumed Korach’s men was a public, dramatic display, burning them entirely and leaving no remains. This aligns with a warhead’s rapid detonation that maximizes destruction. Just as a warhead creates a shockwave and fragmentation to devastate a target, the fire on Korach’s men was a sudden, overwhelming force meant to eradicate the rebellion and intimidate onlookers. Warheads prioritize energy density over stability, releasing their full power in a fraction of a second. Similarly, the fire on Korach’s men unleashed maximum destructive energy to serve as a public warning.

Now we can return to the difference between a fire “from before G-d” to a fire “from G-d”. The Torah compares G-d to fire [Devarim 4:24]: “G-d is a consuming fire”. Divine power is a metaphysical warhead. It cannot be contained within the walls of our corporeal world – it would destroy it. This power is the consuming fire that obliterated Korach’s men. Does this mean that G-d must forever remain outside of our world for our own safety? Can the Infinite touch the finite without destroying it? The answer is “yes”. Note that when G-d sends down a fire to consecrate the altar, that fire comes from “before G-d”. This fire is a directed, slow-burning flame that brings G-dliness into our world in doses that propel man forward without reducing him to atoms. This fire eats up the sacrifices of the consecration, leaving everything else intact and imbuing the Mishkan with holiness. I suggest that the “foreign fire” that Nadav and Avihu offered “before G-d” was the remnants of the very same fire that G-d had sent to earth only moments earlier, a fire alien to our world. Nadav and Avihu thought that if they could return that same fire back to G-d, they would complete some kind of loop, cementing that G-dliness into our world. Sadly, they were wrong. G-d may enter our world but we may not enter His. Fire will keep you warm but if you play with it, you’re going to get burned.

Ari Sacher, Moreshet, 5785

Please daven for a Refu’a Shelema for Shlomo ben Esther, Sheindel Devorah bat Rina, Esther Sharon bat Chana Raizel, and Meir ben Drora.

[1] Large amounts of impulse in a small volume