Musar su Salmi 75:5

Eve was the reason that death came into our world, as we know. Vayikra Rabbah 20,2 on Psalms 75,5 states: "I said to wanton men: 'do not be wanton.'" Elisheva, daughter of Aminadav, did not rejoice in spite of five joyous events on the same day: The appointment of her husband as High Priest, the appointment of her brother-in-law Moses as king, her brother Nachshon as prince, her sons Eleazar and Itamar as deputy High Priests, and her nephew's Pinchas elevation to the priesthood. In spite of all this, her sons Nadav and Avihu entered the Sanctuary with אש זרה resulting in their death and turning her joy into mourning. This is why David warns us in the Psalm not to indulge in excessive joys. It is not given to the righteous to experience so much joy in this life. The Midrash mentions that G–d does not rejoice anymore in this world since He had to withdraw His שכינה due to Eve's sin but will rejoice only in the World to Come as we know from ישמח ה' במעשיו, that "G–d will once again rejoice in His accomplishments" (Psalms 104,31) [as He did when He completed the universe. Ed.]. In this world only the wicked experience true joy. There are several difficulties in this Midrash. Why does the author speak about Elisheva's having seen five joyous events on that day instead of the same joyous events "seen" by her husband Aaron? Did not her husband experience even greater joy on that day when he personally was elevated to the position of High Priest? He saw his brother crowned as king, his sons installed as deserving children, as mentioned in the Torah by the words למשפחותם לבית אבותם, "belonging to their families because they are descended from the house of their respective fathers," meaning that his sons are compared to him even more than to their mother? His sons became his deputies which demonstrated how closely they resembled their father in character traits. Some people want to answer our question by referring to the Talmud in Avodah Zarah 31 which regards the wife of a חבר, a pious person, as being equal to her husband. This means that she experienced that her sons regarded themselves as related to their mother as intimately as to their father. This is in line with the advice of our sages (Baba Batra 110a) who counsel a person to examine the brothers of a prospective bride to see what character traits he may expect to find in his bride. When the Torah reports the marriage of Aaron to Elisheva in Exodus 6,23, it stresses that Elisheva was Nachshon's sister. This proves that he was influenced by the character qualities of Nachshon. Still, I regard this answer as somewhat forced.

We should remember that Aaron represented the mystical dimension of Adam. If this was so it is reasonable to regard his wife Elisheva as equivalent to the mystical dimension of Adam's wife Eve. Eve sinned primarily by allowing her eyes to seduce her. The Torah emphasises that "she saw that the tree was good as food, pleasant to behold, etc." This is simply a description of the urge to become honoured. This urge brings about the קליפה that women behave arrogantly. In explaining the verse in Psalms 75,5, the Midrash describes Elisheva's joys as the root of her experiencing some haughtiness. When the Midrash emphasises "Elisheva saw her husband elevated, etc.," it wishes to draw our attention to the fact that in contrast to his wife, Aaron did not "see," did not become haughty on account of the honours and joys he experienced on that day. Aaron acted as if he had not seen these honours which could have caused him to become haughty. When Nadav and Avihu died Elisheva suffered a similar disappointment to the one Eve experienced when death was decreed on mankind, i.e. on her sons and descendants. The Midrash begins with the word תדע, "Know!" meaning that if you want to understand the whole occurrence you would do well to study the chapter of Eve's seduction in גן עדן.