Last week’s Torah portion is “Shemini” (Leviticus 9:1-11:47), and among its episodes is the death by fire of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron.
The death of Nadav and Avihu is as mysterious as it is painful. We are actually not completely sure why they died.
On the surface, as the Torah itself says, Nadav and Avihu, the eldest sons of Aaron, were killed for offering an unauthorized fire offering. As it says, “And Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aaron, took their fire pan and lit it on fire along with the incense. This was a strange fire before the Lord…and a fire came forth and killed them.”
Other reasons given by our sages as to why Nadav and Avihu were killed include: They were drunk when they brought their offering, they weren’t wearing the required garments when officiating, they entered the Sanctuary without first washing their hands and feet, they refused to marry for reasons of arrogance, they made a ruling in Jewish law in the presence of the “chief rabbi” Moses, and they wanted Moses and Aaron to die so that they could take over. The Nadav and Avihu story is a very complicated episode indeed.