THE DEEPER MEANING OF THE DEATHS OF NADAV & AVIHU: THE AVODAH OF HISKALELUS (INTEGRATING WITH HASHEM)
Parshas Shmini begins with the verse ויהי ביום השמיני “And it was on the eighty day.” The Gemara says that whenever the Torah uses the word ויהי/”And it was”, it suggests something painful that transpired. In this week’s parshah, what painful event transpired? The Gemara identifies it as the deaths of the two older sons of Aharon HaKohen, Nadav and Avihu, who were punished by death by Hashem [for entering the Kodesh Kodashim].
The simple understanding is that it was a painful time, due to the deaths of Nadav and Avihu. According to this understanding, it was pain in the simple sense. But there is a deeper understanding, that the deaths of Nadav and Avihu were a form of the “kiss of death” of Hashem [the most sublime form of death possible which is reserved for the greatest tzaddikim], and therefore, they died out of the sheer experience of unifying and integrating their being with Hashem. They did not die in the usual sense.
The simple type of death is when the body and soul are separated from each other, where a separation is created. Normally, death is a power of tzimtzum/constriction, which causes separation, the opposite of connection. However, on an inner level, we explained earlier that tzimtzum/constriction is a form of unification, so there is an inner level of death which is experienced as “Kiss me with the kisses of Your mouth” – the bonding of the soul of a created being, with its Creator.
The “pain” which the people felt because of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu was therefore not simply the normal form of pain which we are familiar with. but a “pain” which can be defined as “pain” because it is a contraction of the self. This is exactly what happened at the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, who died through the “kiss of death” of Hashem. They became integrated (miskalel) in the Creator.
This happened specifically on the eighth day of the inauguration of the Mishkan, in line with the concept that we explained earlier. The first seven days of the Mishkan, in which there was avodah of Moshe, represents action. As long as there is action, there is a sense of self. Whenever a person is in a state of action, he cannot “contract” the self and expose his true inner dimension. When a person “contracts” into himself because he is in a state of action, he cannot access the Infinite and instead he will experience his own existing self.
In contrast to this, the eighth day of the Mishkan represents the removal of the self. It is precisely this removal of the self which Nadav and Avihu reached, which brought about their deaths.
INTEGRATING WITH HASHEM – IN PLACE, TIME AND SOUL
Moshe said to Aharon, “Aharon, my brother. I had known all along that the Temple would become sanctified through those who know the Creator” (referring to the deaths of Nadav and Avihu).” How was it that Moshe could say “I had known all along”? Why should Moshe think that on this great day of rejoicing, a tragedy like this would occur at the very place of the celebration? And why would the deaths happen specifically to “those who know the Creator”?
It is based upon what we have explained until now. The eighth day of the Mishkan represents the point where there is a removal of the self, and an integration of the inner self with the Creator. It is a “contraction” in the sense of contracting the self, and entering into one’s innermost dimension [which is beyond the self, for it is the point of integration with the Creator]. Since there exists such a point in the soul, it follows that there must be an ability in a person to accept this integration.
[Everything is revealed in three dimensions - place, time, and soul.] In “place”, this concept of integrating with the Creator existed by the Mishkan. In “time”, it was manifest on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, the time when kings are anointed. In the “soul”, it is manifest in the concept of the “kiss of death” of Hashem, which is a form of integrating (hiskalelus) with the Creator. It can only be experienced by one who “knows the Creator” – such as the souls of Nadav and Avihu.
