In this week’s Torah portion, Nadav and Avihu, two of the sons of Aaron the High Priest, died a tragic yet intriguing death. They sacrificed their lives by going into G-d’s inner chamber, the Mishkan, uninvited. They brought a ‘strange fire’, a sacrifice of Ketoret, spices and herbs, when they were not commanded to. The sense of Divine Presence had called to them, the desire to unite with G-d became so strong, that they could no longer avoid it. This sacrifice, this unwelcome visit, was a death sentence for them. Their souls were drawn heavenward, leaving their bodies behind, as they reached towards G-d, losing touch with the material world.

We Jews are created of two seemingly opposing elements, soul and body, light and vessel. Without a body, the soul would not have the power to interact with the corporeal world, without a soul, the body would have no reason to exist. The two create a whole Jew, a complete being. The soul is compared to a candle, whose light draws ever upwards, longing to leave the wick, the body, behind.

The sons of Aaron became inebriated with the desire to unite with G-d. They became souls who no longer found meaning or reason to remain in their bodies. This was a tragedy. They missed the point. G-d wants us to desire and long to unite with him, we accomplish this through meditation on the greatness of G-d, through prayer. Yet the ultimate purpose for our existence is not to remain in prayer and meditation all the days of our lives. Our mission is to interact with the world around us so that we may bring light and healing through the fulfillment of G-d’s commandments. We can only do this when we are grounded and connected to our bodies, to our physical existence.

Our goal in this world is to find the beauty and light of G-d within the physical and corporeal. To become beacons of light, messengers of G-d, and, ultimately, to shift the balance towards the light so that the era of Moshaich, the era where evil is vanquished and good abounds, will be upon us.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Zushe Cunin