Комментарий о цитате к Хавакук 2:5

The view that they entered intoxicated with wine holds that strange fire refers to wine that burns within a person like fire, as it is written Woe unto them that rise up late at night, when wine inflames them (Isaiah 5:11), which is literally a burning from the fire that the wine kindled within them. And although the commandment Do not drink wine or strong drink had not yet been given to them, nevertheless, following the principle of Offer it now to your governor (Malachi 1:8), they should have reasoned that one should not enter the King’s gate while drunk.
Strong evidence for this view comes from what is written And upon the nobles of the children of Israel He laid not His hand (Exodus 24:11). This implies that they deserved to have His hand laid upon them for having eaten, drunk, and feasted their eyes on the Divine Presence with the coarseness of heart that comes from food and drink. And our Sages said that the Holy One, blessed be He, did not want to disturb the joy of the Torah, so He waited for this day. But this is difficult to understand: why this day rather than another? Furthermore, this day too is called the day of His heart’s gladness, as our Sages interpreted: the day of His wedding refers to the giving of the Torah, and the day of His heart’s gladness refers to the dedication of the Temple. So He should have waited even longer.
But rather, on this day they repeated their folly and offered strange fire before the Lord that burned within them from the wine, and through excessive drinking they came before the Lord improperly. Therefore, the Lord did not want to wait any longer, lest the matter appear permissible in their eyes, for “one who commits a transgression and repeats it, it becomes permitted to him.” Thus, after the death of Aaron’s two sons, Aaron was commanded, With this shall Aaron enter into the holy place (Leviticus 16:3) — on the Day of Atonement, a day when a person afflicts his soul, for then he comes before his Creator in humility, not with coarseness of heart, for wine is a traitor; the arrogant man shall not abide (Habakkuk 2:5).

Yet God does not give him the power to eat thereof. That he should be happy with his portion to find satisfaction in his wealth, for he strives to oppress and to accumulate much wealth, as the matter is stated, “and he is like death and is never satisfied,”²Chavakuk 2:5. and also He does not give him the power to perform charity, from which to eat in the future, but a stranger will take that money and perform charity and he will benefit from it.³According to Targum, the verse is dealing with a person who dies on account of his sins without leaving heirs. His wife marries a stranger who enjoys the estate that he left. However, the Midrash Aggadah explains it as referring to Torah study.

The reason for leprosy specifically, is because we find (Arakhin 16a) that leprosy comes due to haughtiness of spirit and evil speech. Thus, Uzziah became leprous because his heart became haughty to the point of destruction (II Chronicles 26:19), and from the words of the prophets we learn, as it is written, The arrogant man shall not dwell in peace (Habakkuk 2:5) — he will not remain in his dwelling because he will end up sitting alone outside the camp. And if the Israelites had not believed in Moses’ prophecy, they presumably would have suspected him of wanting to rule over them and drag them after him. And if they had said to him, “The Lord did not appear to You,” speaking directly to him, they would certainly have been among those who speak evil speech, and for these two reasons they would have been stricken with leprosy. Therefore, the judgment turned back on Moses who suspected them unjustly.
And the leprosy was specifically in the hand, as our Sages said (Arakhin 15b), it is written, Death and life are in the hands of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Does the tongue have a hand? Rather, just as the hand can kill, so too the tongue can kill, as it is said Their tongue is a sharpened [shachut] arrow (Jeremiah 9:7). It is written [though not read], “slaughterer” [shochet], because one who intends to slaughter others ends up being slaughtered himself, as evil speech kills three [the speaker, the listener, and the subject] (Devarim Rabbah 5:10).
Similarly, Korach was among the group of mockers, as it states in the Midrash (Shochar Tov, Psalms 1), and a sign for this is that the initials of “Korach” [קרח] stand for “bow, spear, sword” [keshet romach cherev], as it says The sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword (Psalms 57:5).
And the reason Korach was not punished with leprosy like Moses was because he was liable for a more severe punishment [kim lei bedraba minei], as he denied the fundamentals of faith and the Torah of Moses, and wanted to abolish authority, for which reason he was judged to be among those swallowed up by the earth. Furthermore, he had already seen the great work of God which the Israelites had not seen during Moses’ first mission.
This is what is meant by a reminder to the children of Israel… so that no stranger [meaning one who is not a priest] should approach to burn incense. For the stranger who approaches presumably disputes Moses’ prophecy. Nevertheless, the approaching stranger will not be like Korach and his assembly in terms of punishment, because Korach and his assembly committed great sins beyond this. Rather, it will be as God spoke through Moses to him — just as Moses was stricken with leprosy on his hand, so will anyone who disputes the priesthood be stricken with leprosy.

[16] The grave and the barren womb The grave represents the kingdom of Babylon, for it is stated regarding Nebuchadnezzar (Hab. 2:5): “who widened his desire like the nether- world.” And the barren womb, that is Media, in whose time mercy (רחמים) was held back from Israel, as it is said (Esther 3:13): to destroy, kill and cause to perish.”