With this in hand, we can move to the wonderful explanation of the Oznaim LaTorah. When Moshe Rabbeinu asks Hakadosh Baruch Hu:
הוֹדִעֵנִי נָא אֶת דְּרָכֶךָ וְאֵדָעֲךָ – Make known to me now Your ways, that I may know You, he is asking, “Teach me Your ways in the upper worlds.” Hakadosh Baruch Hu responded: לֹא תוּכַל לִרְאוֹת אֶת פָּנָי כִּי לֹא יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם וָחָי – You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live! The Gemara explains (Berachot 7a): Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe, “When I wanted to reveal to you My ways in the world, you did not want to know; now that you want to know, I do not want to reveal!”
How can we understand such a Gemara? Does Hakadosh Baruch Hu take revenge on Moshe Rabbeinu? When Moshe hid his face – וַיִּסְתֵּר מֹשֶׁה פָּנָיו – Chazal say (Shemot Rabbah, 45:5) Moshe did not act properly by hiding his face, for if he had not hidden his face, Hakadosh Baruch Hu would have revealed to him what is above and what is below, what was and what will be. This means that Moshe would have understood the perplexity of צַדִּיק וְרַע לוֹ וְרָשָׁע וְטוֹב לוֹ – the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper, and thus he would have had no questions about the conduct of Creation from Day one through Day 6000. Instead, he sought to see and understand only later but was denied.
The Etz Yosef explains that this was not a punishment or act of revenge from Hakadosh Baruch Hu. It was simply a matter of timing and surroundings. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe: “When I wanted to reveal to you My ways in the world, there was a state of purity in the world that would have allowed you to understand them. But today, after Cheit Ha’Eigel, great impurity descended upon the world, so even if I wanted to reveal it to you, you would not be able to understand! This world is so defiled that I cannot explain My ways to you even if I wanted to!”
The Oznaim LaTorah presents a most wonderful yesod. Nadav and Avihu are invited to ascend the mountain; they know that when Hakadosh Baruch Hu wanted to reveal His ways in the world to Moshe Rabbeinu, he declined to see. They ascend the mountain, and the Torah tells they saw Hashem (וַיֶּחֱזוּ אֶת הָאֱלֹהִים) – meaning, they sought to contemplate and understand His ways! But here, Hakadosh Baruch Hu did not oblige. They did not die on that day – why? Because at that time, they had not yet sinned with the calf; they could still contemplate the Attribute of Divine Justice, and how it operates in Creation. All this was done through eating and drinking, as it says וַיֹּאכְלוּ וַיִּשְׁתּוּ. At this stage, however, they still lacked the capacity to receive and grasp insights into how Hakadosh Baruch Hu conducts Creation. Nadav and Avihu said to one another: “The reason Hakadosh Baruch Hu won’t reveal His ways to us is because Moshe and Aharon are still alive and they did not want to know Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s ways. Therefore, He does not want to impart these insights to us either!”
Thus, they said to each other, “When will these two elders (Moshe and Aharon) die, and you and I will then lead the generation?” Meaning, “You and I will be able to receive the insight into how Hakadosh Baruch Hu conducts His world!” When Moshe sought to know the secret of Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s ways in the world and said הַרְאֵנִי נָא אֶת כְּבוֹדֶךָ, Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him: “I can no longer” – because the impurity of Cheit Ha’Eigel had already descended upon the world! Nadav and Avihu said: “But now the day is coming when Hakadosh Baruch Hu will atone for Cheit Ha’Eigel – the day of the Mishkan’s dedication! And if the sin of the calf is atoned for, perhaps we can then attain the insight into Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s ways in the world!”
So, what did they do? The Oznaim LaTorah says, they entered the innermost sanctum of the Mishkan and waited for the Shechinah to descend. Why? They wished to see it and contemplate if they now understood Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s ways in the world! And to ensure they would not be harmed by Midat HaDin, they offered Ketoret. And why specifically incense? So that if, heaven forbid, there was a plague, the Ketoret would stop it (just as it later did when the congregation of Korach died). Thus, it follows that their entire intention was to ascend spiritual levels and understand Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s ways in the world. They wished to achieve a level that was even denied to Moshe Rabbeinu after Cheit Ha’Eigel.
When the event at Har Sinai concluded, Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to Moshe: “You are not going back home,” as it says וְאַתָּה פֹּה עֲמֹד עִמָּדִי – And you, stand here with Me. “You are now detached from the affairs of this world and materialism!” Nadav and Avihu saw this and said: “If so, we will not marry!” (One of the sins Chazal attribute to Nadav and Avihu is that they did not take wives.) They reasoned: “If Moshe Rabbeinu must be detached to know Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s ways in the world, so too will we be detached!” Thus, it follows that their sin was attempting to ascend spiritual levels higher than their capacity!
It is related that the Maggid of Dubno once came to the Vilna Gaon and asked him: “Rebbe! Give me a blessing that I may merit to receive your yetzer hara!” To us, who wouldn’t want the yetzer hara of the great Torah scholar Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky? What kind of yetzer hara does he have – to complete only 80 pages of Gemara each day? The Gaon of Vilna said to him: “Believe me, it’s not worth it for you!” The Maggid asked, “Why is it not worth it?! What kind of yetzer hara does the Rebbe have – to sleep two hours a day in four parts?!” The Vilna Gaon answered, “You have no idea how many times the yetzer hara tries to convince me to climb to heights in learning that are forbidden for me to reach!”
This, then, was also the sin of Nadav and Avihu: And a fire went out from before Hashem and consumed the burnt offering and the fats on the altar, and all the people saw and sang and fell on their faces – everyone fell on their faces, except Nadav and Avihu! They entered the innermost sanctum with Ketoret to gaze at the Shechinah and try to understand Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s ways in the world – they repeated what happened at Sinai, where they saw Hashem and they ate and drank while everyone else fell on their faces.
“We want to learn the ways of Hakadosh Baruch Hu!” But since they were not at that level, immediately a fire went out from before Hashem – two flames of fire came out from the Kodesh Hakodashim and entered their noses!
According to the plain meaning, in a lighthearted manner, the sin of Nadav and Avihu – for us, is a Mitzvah. What are our greatest aspirations? Another hour of Torah, more tzedakah, more strengthening in guarding our speech, etc. – all our aspirations are to elevate ourselves modestly. David HaMelech says: בְּשׂוֹא גַלָּיו אַתָּה תְשַׁבְּחֵם – You praise the waves when they rise. The sefer Margaliot HaShas (Sukkah 50b) writes based on the Zohar: Hakadosh Baruch Hu praises the waves of the sea for rising and desiring to return to their upper source. It is known that before Creation, all the waters of the world were above, and during Creation, Hakadosh Baruch Hu separated the upper waters from the lower waters. The lower waters desire to ascend and cleave to their Creator, and so, the waves of the sea rise constantly, and for this, Hakadosh Baruch Hu praises them.
Thus, it follows that a person who seeks to draw close to Hakadosh Baruch Hu – Hakadosh Baruch Hu praises him. But on condition that he does not cross the boundary and traverse beyond his level. Nadav and Avihu, who were numbers three and four in leading Bnei Yisrael, sought to elevate themselves above the level of Moshe Rabbeinu and were therefore punished.
The Oznaim LaTorah says, despite the fact that Moshe Rabbeinu hid his face for he was afraid to look at Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Hakadosh Baruch Hu chose him to be the giver of the Torah, even though he refused to know His ways in the world at the time! “You didn’t want to know? Fine, there’s no need! My ways will remain hidden!” Moshe remained the leader of Bnei Yisrael nonetheless, and now, Nadava and Avihu were punished for seeking to elevate themselves above their leader. The Gemara says (Eruvin 63a): Nadav and Avihu did not die at the time they offered Ketoret on the day of the ...
