Page 351 - 24107

24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 11 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Black
#24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 11 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Yellow
24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 11 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Magenta
#
Shemini 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 11 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Cyan

the idol worship prevalent in his day, led to King Nimrod ordering
him cast into a fiery furnace. Reluctant to come out in support of
Abraham, Haran decided that if Abraham was saved he too would
risk being cast into the fire, but if not, he would side with Nimrod.
A miracle occurred and Abraham emerged unscathed. When Haran
witnessed Abraham’s miraculous salvation, he spoke up, but this time
no miracle occurred and he died. Since his willingness to be tested was
not based on true belief, he did not merit salvation.
In both Haran and Aaron’s cases, their tragic flaw was a lack
of self-confidence. And so, parenthetically, on the day of the
Tabernacle’s dedication, Aaron was characteristically full of regret
for his participation in making the Golden Calf and remained unsure
of whether he was, in fact, fit to perform the role of High Priest.
His lack of confidence was intensified by the fact that the Divine
Presence had not yet rested on the Tabernacle, something for which
he blamed himself. Finally, Moses prayed with him and “a fire went
forth from before God and consumed upon the altar the elevation
offering and their fats, and the people saw and sang song and fell
upon their faces” (see Rashi on Leviticus 9:23-24).
In light of Haran and Aaron’s fatal flaws, we can explain that
Nadav and Avihu wanted to repair not only their own previous
incarnation’s (Cain’s) and Adam’s sins, but also their father’s history
of indecision and lack of self-confidence. Indeed, Nadav and Avihu,
attempted to rectify both their father’s indecisiveness and Haran’s
hesitancy – his reluctance to follow Abraham into the fire – by making
a fire offering. On a deep level, Nadav and Avihu correspond quite
precisely to Haran as they too died before and because of their father.
The Torah recounts that “Haran died in the lifetime of (al penei)
Terah his father, in his homeland, Ur Kasdim” (Genesis 11:28). Rashi
explains that he died both in front of – this is the literal translation
of the words al penei, translated above as “in the lifetime of” – and
because of his father, for Terah accused Abraham before Nimrod of
smashing his idols. This subsequently led to Haran’s being cast into
the furnace. Interestingly, Rashi also explains that “Ur Kasdim”
means the “fire of Kasdim,” so fire is a significant motif in Haran
and Nadav and Avihu’s lives and deaths. Nadav and Avihu, like

351

#24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 11 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Yellow 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 11 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Magenta 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 11 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Cyan 24107-EYAL - 24107-EYAL | 11 - B | 18-01-28 | 12:12:05 | SR:-- | Black #