Parasha Shemini: Fire on the Eighth Day

Cross-posted from The Set Table.

Our parasha draws its name from the opening phrase—Vay’hi ba’yom ha’shemini—”On the eighth day.” (9:1) After seven days of preparations for the mishkan led by Moses, the dedication of Aaron and his sons as priests is completed on the eighth day. On the significance of the number eight, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe comments:

The number “seven” signifies the normative order of the world…[days of the week, years in the Sabbatical cycle]…Seven, therefore, is the symbol for the order of nature. The number “eight” is beyond “seven,” alluding to the supra-natural, an emanation of G-dliness which, like a miracle, transcends the normative order.  (Living with Moshiach, p. 83)

In this case, the transcendent miracle which the people await is God’s visible acceptance of the offerings on the altar. The people know that the purpose of the mishkan is for God to dwell among the people. However, they also remember their sin with the golden calf. Thus, they are eager to see a manifestation of God’s presence which will assure them that atonement has been made.
In Leviticus 9:6 Moses foretells the appearance of the presence of the LORD as a response to their obedience. This becomes a sign of restoration and a cause for rejoicing for Israel:

…and the presence of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came forth from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fats on the altar. And all the people saw, and shouted, and fell on their faces.
(Leviticus 9:23b-24)

We noted that our parasha began with the word “Vay’hi“—which, the sages have observed, is a word indicating misfortune. This is revealed when Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu offer alien fire on the altar:

And fire came forth from the LORD and consumed them; thus they died before the LORD.
(Leviticus 10:2)

Praises turn to shock and grief. The entire community mourns, save Aaron and his surviving sons, who are forbidden to do so. Pesikta d’Rab Kahana provides an overview of numerous shortcomings of Nadav and Avihu proposed by rabbinic commentators: they ventured too near to God’s presence; they brought a superfluous offering; they offered strange fire; they stared at the Presence of God; they took no counsel with each other; they lacked the prescribed number of garments; they presumed to render a halakhic decision in the presence of Moses their master; they “treaded on the heels” of Moses and Aaron, saying “In no time these two old men will die, and in their place we shall assume authority over the community” (Piska 26.6-11).

Yet Moses statement of comfort to his brother Aaron suggests a further interpretation:

Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said, “Through those near to Me I show Myself holy, and gain glory before all the people.” And Aaron was silent.
(Leviticus 10:3)

Thus R. Hiyya bar Abba asks: “Since Aaron’s sins, [Nadav and Avihu], died on the first of Nisan, why does Scripture mention their death in connection with the Day of Atonement? [c.f. Lev. 16:1] To teach that as the Day of Atonement atones for Israel’s sins, so the death of the righteous atones for Israel’s sins” (Piska 26.11). Despite Nadav and Avihu’s shortcomings, their death becomes a means of glorifying God, and points to the atonement made through the death of the righteous.

All of this transpired “on the eighth day.” The Talmud connects the number eight to the days of the Messiah (see Arachin 13b). If the miracle of God’s presence on the eighth day of the mishkan brings with it a burning judgment, how much more will the future revelation of God’s glory throughout the whole earth at the days of the Messianic era also bring a judgment like fire from God’s presence? This is a judgment of sanctification, as it says: “I will be sanctified by those near to me.”

As we seek to prepare ourselves and the world for the entrance of the Messianic era, let us live lives of holy fear before the God who is a consuming fire.

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The Second Soul of Shabbat

When G-d drove Adam from Paradise, he retained part of his soul to remain there. On Shabbos, G-d releases that part and gives it back to man. This is our extra soul of Shabbos. On this day we are given the opportunity to return to Paradise.

Now, I must be satisfied with Paradise on Shabbos; in the future we hope to be brought to Jerusalem of High.

~Reb Shlomo Carlebach

There is a tradition within Judaism that on Shabbat we all receive an extra soul with which to enjoy the Sabbath. As I said in a previous post, in the past I had found this idea intriguing and even beautiful, but I didn't see any way to integrate it into the rest of my beliefs. However, recently an idea occurred to me which I want to share with you.

The Talmud says that Shabbat is "a taste of the world to come." (Berachot 57b) The author of the letter to the Hebrews made a similar point when he or she wrote "So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God." (Hebrews 4:9a) The point is the same: the Sabbath is a sign pointing not just to the past, but also to the future.

So what about this second soul? Well, if in order to experience the joy of Shabbat, God gives us each week a neshama yiterah, a second soul, how much more does this imply that we should receive a neshama yiterah gedolah in order to experience the joys of the world to come, where we will enjoy an even greater rest and know an even greater delight?

In fact, since the sages say in that same passage of Talmud that "Shabbat is one sixtieth of the world to come," then that implies that the neshama yiterah we receive on Shabbat must be one sixtieth of the neshama yiterah we receive from God in order to enter into the World to Come!

I believe this is in fact a teaching of Yeshua, when he said in a discourse to one of the teachers of Israel:

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)

Yeshua taught that in order to see the kingdom of God, a person had to receive from God a second soul. This is no less than the fulfillment of the promise God made to Israel through the prophet Ezekiel

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. (Ezekiel 36:26a)

So, when we sanctify the Shabbat, let's thank God for the little neshama yiterah with which we can enjoy the beauty of the day. And let it also remind us each week to thank God for the greater neshama yiterah by which we will one day enter into the great Shabbat which is the World to Come.

Shabbat shalom, friends.