This is my first blog in a long while as I was on extended vacation and had some family issues to deal with. It is certainly good to be back and blogging again, and I hope to see some familiar readers from my previous blogs as well as some new “faces.”
The Chumash, or the five Books of Moses in the Hebrew Bible, is divided into weekly portions. This week’s portion is called Acharei Mos, after the death of Aaron’s sons. This is continuing a story that occurred in an earlier portion when Aaron’s sons, who were serving as priests, were killed when they offered strange incense on the altar. A commandment followed this incident forbids priests from being drunk when serving in the Sanctuary, and the Commentator Rashi concluded that the sons of Aaron died because they drank too much wine.
After an extended description of laws dealing with kosher animals and of ritual purity and impurity, we are brought back to the place where the narrative left off, namely, after the death of Aaron’s sons. From there, the Torah describes the priests service on Yom Kippur. A warning is given to the priests only to enter the Sanctuary at proper times and when they are sufficiently prepared so they will not die. Rashi interprets this to mean that this is an additional reason why Aaron’s sons died; they lacked preparation before their holy service.
So which is the real explanation? Were Aaron’s sons drunk or simply not prepared? The Lubavitcher Rebbe says both reasons are consistent. There are those who are only concerned with holiness, who want a “spiritual high.” This is compared to people who only want to learn Torah and pray but do not want to go out into the world, get married, make a living and deal with people. This is a kind of “drunkeness” which is an incorrect form of serving Hashem, who wants people to bring Holiness into the world.
There are those involved in worldly affairs,wether they be Presidents or peasants, who desperately want to shake off the burden of materialism and be more spiritual. However, Hashem warns such people that one must learn to deal with the physical world, to delve into the laws and commandments about kosher animals and physical purity, rather than escaping physicality, since the purpose of the Torah is to deal with Holiness on a physical level.
Judaism provides a balance between spirituality and physicality by giving holiness a purpose and providing commandments to fulfill in the physical world.