Musar zu Wajikra 16:1

The Torah is called "light," because it enlightens. It is also called אש, fire. Just as one benefits from its warmth when keeping a certain distance from it, but becomes burned when approaching too closely, so it is with the "secrets" of the Torah. If someone approaches too closely to the Temple, over and beyond what his station in life entitles him to, he is liable to be hurt or even killed when he beholds what is not his to behold. We have explained this in connection with the death of two of the sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, who were described as having approached the Presence of G–d (Leviticus 16,1). The Torah did not choose to say בהקריבם, which would have meant "when they offered a sacrifice." The expression the Torah uses, indicates that these sons entered an area that was beyond their station in life. As a result, they died. Something similar occurred when the people who wanted to behold G–d died at קבברות התאוה, according to an explanation given in the book Brit Menuchah. We should learn from this that one must not attempt to occupy the position of someone who is greater than oneself in the presence of that personage. You would not be able to maintain such a posture; you are therefore well advised not to abandon your present place.

This then is the deeper meaning of the words החטאים האלה בנפשותם, "these people who had sinned against their souls." The word חוטא, is usually applied to someone who commits an unintentional sin. The intention of these people had been to improve their spiritual level, i.e. "בנפשותם." In this respect they were not much different from Nadav and Avihu, who had been referred to as גדולי ישראל, great men among Israel, and concerning whom Moses himself had quoted G–d as saying בקרובי אקדש, "I must be sanctified by those who are close to Me" (Leviticus 10,3). Rashi explains there that Moses described these two people as superior to himself and to Aaron. We are told in Sanhedrin 52a, that Nadav and Avihu anxiously awaited the death of Moses and Aaron in order to become heirs to their lofty positions. At first glance, that statement suggests that their desire was criminal. The truth is, however, that they committed a sin לשמה, for a higher purpose, they yearned for this position in order to come closer to G–d. This is why the Torah describes their death as בקרבתם לפני ה' "because of their closeness to G–d" (Leviticus 16,1). Were it not so, the Torah should have written בהקריבם, "when they offered, etc." The Torah wanted us to understand, however, that what happened was due to their offering themselves before G–d. They died while bringing incense, which is of a spiritual dimension [since only the fragrance is of the essence]. The function of the incense is to create a close relationship between the "upper"' and the "lower" world. The fact that only their souls and not their bodies were burned testifies to the nature of their error. What happened to the two hundred and fifty men who offered incense was quite similar. Their sin, too, just as the death of Nadav and Avihu was due to their desire to elevate their souls, נפשותם. Their death was due too to their having offered incense.

Adam squeezed out a cluster of grapes and became a heretic at that very moment, as our Rabbis have stated in Sanhedrin 38b. Our sages have expressed this as והיה נעשה אחר, "he turned into someone else." Noach planted a vineyard (Genesis 9,20) and when drunk became spiritually hurt, lost his sanity. Abraham planted an orchard and emerged unscathed. This is the mystical dimension of being the מרכבה, the carrier of the שכינה. The two sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, also had a glimpse of these mysteries but they died in the process. The Talmud described the experiences of the four scholars as being identical with the four people who had tried to probe these mysteries before them. As far as the death of the two sons of Aaron is concerned, it occurred because they had penetrated so deeply into these mystical matters, i.e. they came so close to the purely spiritual dimensions of G–d that their bodies could not keep up the pace. It is significant that the Torah speaks about their coming close to G–d i.e. בקרבתם, not about בהקריבם, their bringing close, i.e. sacrificing something else (Leviticus 16,1). This means that their very death was their coming close to G–d. They had brought themselves to such closeness. They sanctified G–d by their very death because they had achieved an exceptionally high spiritual level. Moses explained this to his brother Aaron in 10,3: בקרובי אקדש ועל פני כל העם אכבד, "Through those near Me I will show Myself holy, and gain glory before all the people." G–d Himself testified to the stature of these two sons of Aaron and to the fact that He felt honoured by their attempt to draw close to Him. These two sons of Aaron rehabilitated their forebear Adam. We have a tradition going back to the Arizal that these two sons of Aaron were the re-incarnation of the soul, נפש, of Adam. These re-incarnations can occur on three levels, נפש, רוח, or נשמה respectively. Nadav and Avihu were re-incarnates of the נפש of Adam as is hinted at in Numbers 9,6: ויהי אנשים אשר היו טמאים לנפש אדם, "There were two men who were impure due to the soul of Adam." Rabbi Akiva believed that the men referred to were Mishael and Eltzafan who carried the bodies of Nadav and Avihu out of the Sanctuary. He appears to have understood the word נפש in our verse as referring to that of first man, Adam (Sukkah 25b). This is supported by Leviticus 10,5 in which Mishael and Eltzafan are described as וישאום בכתנותם, as having carried them in "their tunics," the latter word referring to the כתנות אור, the tunics made of light worn by Adam prior to his sin.