On the very day that the Mishkan was erected, a terrible tragedy occurred and the two tzadikim, Nadav and Avihu the sons of Aharon, suddenly died. Sefer Otzros Hatorah quotes Sefer Shaarei Armon as asking why Hashem specifically chose to punish them on this joyous day. Why would He mar the great joy that Klal Yisroel had been eagerly anticipating? Why couldn’t He punish them tomorrow?
He answers with a moshol of a king who wanted all of his subjects to be happy. To this end, he hired experts to build nice house, parks, orchards, etc., for them all to enjoy. This led many people to move to his kingdom. One day, the king came to inspect the city and to see if everyone was truly happy. The residents arranged a festive reception for the king, including a lavish feast. In the middle of the feast, the king turned to his subjects and asked, “Is everyone here happy with everything I made for you?” Everyone answered that they were very happy.
The king then asked, “Does anyone have any complaints?” One man got up and said, “Yes. I have a complaint. There is no doctor in this city!” The king immediately said that he would send them a good doctor.
When the new doctor arrived in town, everyone came to greet him, dressed in their best finery. The king himself attended the reception in honor of the doctor. The doctor was very surprised by all this honor and thought to himself: It seems like these people don’t know what a doctor does. They seem to think that I am a miracle worker who can make the blind see and revive the death...
In the middle of the reception, the king asked, “Is every resident of the city here?” The people looked around and discovered that one man was absent because he was sick in bed. The king then said to the doctor, “This is your chance to prove yourself. Go take care of this sick man.”
The doctor went to the man’s house, checked him and gave him some medicine. A short time later, the man died. All of the residents were very upset. They asked, “Is this the great doctor that was supposed to be able to heal people?”
The king was very angry at the doctor and he told him, “From what I’ve heard, this was not a serious illness. Why did the patient die?” The doctor replied, “I killed him!” The king was shocked by the answer until the doctor explained, “If I would have healed this man, it would have been very detrimental for all of the residents of this city. They would have believed that I can cure any ailment, so they wouldn’t have taken care of their health. I wanted them to know that my abilities have a limit. They had to know that I cannot cure everyone!” The king accepted his answer and recognized its wisdom.
The nimshol is that before the Mishkan was erected, the Jewish people were careful to avoid aveiros because they had no way to atone for them. But once it was erected, there was a danger that they would think that they are now free to do whatever they want, and they can always go to the Mishkan for a kaparah. In order to ensure that no one had this mistaken idea, Hashem caused the great tzadikim, Nadav and Avihu, to die specifically on the day that the Mishkan was inaugurated. Klal Yisroel learned from this that they must still fear sin and stay away from aveiros.
